usc has been teaching white sec for years

smazza · October 20, 2006

the game of football

smazza · October 20, 2006

More Gray Than Black and White

Thirty-six years after USC played an unintegrated Alabama football team, authors are still trying to gauge what kind of effect the game had on race relations in the South

By David Davis, Special to The Times

October 19, 2006

On Sept. 12, 1970, USC played Alabama on a sultry night in Birmingham. By the numbers, the Trojans prevailed handily, 42-21.

And yet, by all accounts, the Crimson Tide was the big winner.

That discrepancy helps to explain why the game and its impact are so difficult to measure even today, 36 years later. That hasn't stopped a lot of smart people from trying.

In 2005, journalist Allen Barra explored the topic in "The Last Coach: A Life of Paul 'Bear' Bryant," his definitive biography of the Crimson Tide's icon.

This year, sportswriter Don Yaeger has collaborated with Sam "Bam" Cunningham and John Papadakis, two players on the USC team, to publish an entire book about the game: "Turning of the Tide: How One Game Changed the South."

In his new book "Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete" New York Times sports columnist William C. Rhoden also tackles the subject. Due next year: USC alum Steven Travers' take, with talk of a feature film or documentary to follow.

The reason for the game's mystique is black and white and, thus, irresistible to story-tellers. In 1970, Bryant's team was all-white. But after winning national titles in 1961, 1964 and 1965, Alabama had closed the decade with disappointing (for them) 8-3 and 6-5 records.

An NCAA rule that allowed colleges to schedule an extra game for the 1970 season enabled Bryant to schedule home-and-home games with USC, coached by his good friend John McKay. In 1970, the Trojans' starting backfield was entirely African American. Indeed, USC was the first racially mixed team to play the Crimson Tide in Alabama.

In the game, sophomore fullback Cunningham had 135 yards and two touchdowns in only 12 carries. Halfback Clarence Davis, born and raised (until age 11) in Birmingham, had 76 yards in 13 carries and scored two touchdowns. Black players scored every USC touchdown.

Alabama finished the season 6-5-1. (USC didn't fare much better at 6-4-1.) When they met the next year at the Coliseum, the Crimson Tide had two black players, John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson. The score: 17-10, Alabama in a whitewash.

The tide had turned. With increasing numbers of African American athletes, Alabama became the premier college football program during the 1970s, going 103-16-1, with a 12-0 season in 1979 and three national championships.

And so, through the mist of time and memory, USC-Alabama has gained mythic stature. To many, the 1970 game has come to represent a milestone in race relations, on par with Jackie Robinson's integration of Major League Baseball in 1947 and the victory of Texas Western and its all-black starting five over Adolph Rupp's all-white Kentucky Wildcats in the 1966 NCAA basketball title game.

The game in Birmingham, these advocates claim, loosened one of the last strangleholds of the racist South and, in so doing, paved the way for a more equitable system.

Alabama assistant coach Jerry Claiborne summarized this sentiment: "Sam Cunningham did more for integration in 60 minutes than had been done in 50 years," he said.

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In their books, Yaeger, Barra and Rhoden wrestle with the many untruths and half-truths that have come to surround the game. No, Yaeger reports, Cunningham didn't rush for 230 yards, as the Washington Post breathlessly reported in Ã¢â‚¬â€ pick a year Ã¢â‚¬â€ 1978, 1983 and 1990.

According to Barra, it's highly unlikely that Bryant brought Cunningham into the Alabama locker room after the game and said, "Gentlemen, this is what a football player looks like."

And, no, the game didn't lead to the integration of the university or the football team. The school had begun accepting black students in the mid-1960s (Gov. George Wallace's theatrics notwithstanding) and Bryant already had recruited black players. In 1970, Jackson was sitting in the Legion Field stands watching USC romp. He wasn't eligible to compete then because the NCAA banned freshmen from playing varsity sports.

Nor did Bryant's actions cause other Southeastern Conference teams to integrate, because they already had.

According to a Times' article published before the 1970 game, 41 black varsity players were on SEC rosters.

So, did the game do more for integration than the legal cases, freedom marches and boycotts led by Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights advocates starting in the 1950s? No way. Claiborne's statement only belittles the courageous efforts of many heroic individuals.

Did the game improve the lot of African Americans in the South? Yes, in that black athletes now had more opportunity to earn athletic scholarships at SEC and other Southern schools. Many of these players earned college degrees; many of them Ã¢â‚¬â€ including Jackson Ã¢â‚¬â€ had successful NFL careers.

But, just as the demise of the Negro leagues destroyed black-owned and black-operated businesses and blocked the ascent of black managers and coaches in the majors, so integration in college sports has not meant equality.

The football programs at predominantly black institutions suffered a dramatic talent drop-off. Worse, the power structure of collegiate football remains overwhelmingly white. Since 1970, only one African American has served as a head coach in the SEC Ã¢â‚¬â€ Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State. (Croom played under Bryant at Alabama.)

Currently, in the 119 Division I-A college football programs, there are only five black coaches, including Karl Dorrell at UCLA. Black athletic directors are almost as rare.

As Rhoden put it, "In what would become a model of the new post-integration sports, blacks at the college level were pushed into prominence for their stellar athletic ability, but were not pulled into the executive and coaching pipeline with equal vigor."

So, what exactly happened on that sultry night in Birmingham? A racially mixed college football team from the West Coast went down to Dixie and humiliated an all-white college football team from the South during the height of the civil rights movement.

It's that simple, really. But at the intersection where fact and legend collide, the story has mushroomed into something bigger, epic, classic. The game has become The Game.

Just the way New York City publishers and Hollywood producers like it.

Davis is a freelance writer in Los Angeles.

smazza · October 20, 2006

i remember this game

smazza · October 24, 2006

SOUTHERN CAL

INSIDE SLANT

Anybody who wears No. 55 at USC is going to have to deal with high expectations.

Keith Rivers is doing a fine job of living up to that standard.

The junior actually has been eclipsed by sophomore Rey Maualuga in terms of hype Maualuga made the cut of 10 Butkus Award semifinalists but Rivers is becoming a more complete and valuable defender, coach Pete Carroll said.

"Keith is way more confident," Carroll said. "He's playing faster, tackling better and can do more things for us now. We can blitz him, drop him in special coverage, cover tight ends, cover backs. He just gets it more, which comes with experience."

Rivers was freakishly athletic from the moment he stepped on campus, but he's been more than a pass rusher off the edge this season from his outside linebacker spot.

Rivers is second on the team, to Maualuga, with 41 tackles. Rivers has four tackles for loss, including a sack, as well as a fumble caused and recovered.

"My freshman year, it was tough for me to pick up the speed of the game," Rivers told the L.A. Daily News. "As a sophomore, I was still learning the game. I grew as a player, and now I feel comfortable in whatever situation I'm put in."

NOTES, QUOTES

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: This is definitely not the USC offense of the past few years, with the Trojans failing to get more than 28 points in five consecutive games. Steady, but not spectacular, USC might be able to pick up steam in the second half of the season as WRs Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith get healthy, and RB Chauncey Washington continues to improve.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: Like the offense, the defense has been solid, although the big plays have been missing. The concern at midseason is the lack of sacks (nine through six games) and takeaways (10). Compare that to the numbers from last season 32 sacks and 38 turnovers in 13 games. What continues to go well is the play of the LB corps, led by sophomore MLB Rey Maualugu and junior OLB Keith Rivers.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Maybe you might want me to be disappointed in 6-0 but I'm not. Maybe we wind up on the cusp of getting better and maybe we don't." USC coach Pete Carroll on his team starting 6-0.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

NEXT GAME: USC at Oregon State, Oct. 28 The Trojans are 6-0 but have plenty of room to get better, perhaps a really scary thought for the rest of the nation. USC has been living on the edge, with three consecutive games decided by a touchdown or less, but it's all adding up to a No. 2 spot in the BCS rankings and another national title game appearance.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: DE Lawrence Jackson The L.A. Daily News reported that Jackson has graded out at 90 percent or better in four of USC's six games. That's good work, but Jackson, somewhat shockingly, has yet to record a sack.

RB Allen Bradford The true freshman hasn't been able to settle into one position, bouncing between the defensive backfield and the offensive backfield. He's now lining up at fullback at tailback, scoring against Arizona State on a 17-yard reception on Oct. 14. The off week gave Bradford a chance to dig in and improve on offense.

QB John David Booty Considering USC is 6-0, Booty has passed all the tests thrown at him. Considering the injuries at receiver in the past month, Booty has been more than solid, completing 131-of-207 passes for 1,357 yards, with 13 touchdowns and four interceptions.

ROSTER REPORT: LB Oscar Lua missed the ASU game on Oct. 14 due to a cracked fibula and his status for the next game was uncertain. Lua has been backing up Rey Maualuga in the middle.

CB Kevin Thomas (broken foot) could return for a bowl game. He has been the primary nickel back, a job that will fall to CB Mozique McCurtis.

Starting WRs Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith are expected to be healthy when USC plays Oregon State on Oct. 28.

FB Stanley Havili (cracked fibula) will not be rushed back into action, coach Pete Carroll said. Havili, a true freshman, is eligible for a medical redshirt.

USC recently received a commitment from FB Jordan Campbell of Norco (Calif.) High.

smazza · October 26, 2006

USC REPORT

Memories are not lost in fog

By Gary Klein, Times Staff Writer

October 26, 2006

Fog that made the downtown skyline invisible from USC on Wednesday did not enshroud Howard Jones Field or interrupt the Trojans' preparations for Saturday's game at Oregon State.

But it did remind veteran players of their last trip to Corvallis, Ore., when USC came from behind to defeat the upset-minded Beavers in a game that has become known to many as the Fog Bowl.

Reggie Bush's punt return for a touchdown and tight end Dominique Byrd's leaping one-handed touchdown catch highlighted a Trojans victory that will long be remembered for the eerie conditions.

"It was very mystical that night," Coach Pete Carroll said this week.

Junior linebacker Thomas Williams recalled the bus ride to Reser Stadium and teammates whispering about the fog.

"You're not supposed to really talk on the bus but everyone was kind of looking around like, 'Are we gonna play?' You couldn't see five feet outside the window," Williams said.

Once the players got onto the field, they could not see fans in the stands. Visibility during the game was better, but not much.

Senior center Ryan Kalil had difficulty tracking quarterback Matt Leinart's passes.

"A couple times when Matt threw the ball, it kind of just disappeared in the fog," Kalil said. "I'm like, 'I don't know who's catching that.' "

Senior flanker Steve Smith had suffered a broken leg four games earlier and watched the game from home. "I was actually kind of happy I didn't have to go up there because the week before they were in sleet at Washington State and then they came to another horrific weather day with the fog," Smith said.

Smith, however, is looking forward to Saturday, especially because the forecast for the midday kickoff calls for partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 60s.

Williams also is eager to play again at Reser Stadium.

"It doesn't really matter what the conditions are," he said. "I'm just excited about going and playing another Pac-10 game in a great environment."

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Smith participated in most of the workout, but he said he still wasn't 100% and sat out scrimmage drills at the end so he would not aggravate sore ankle ligaments.

Carroll said he was continuing to push freshman receiver Travon Patterson.

"I've been on him hard to make his plays and focus in practice and be consistent out here," Carroll said. "We're trying to really implant a mind-set about competing every day on every ball that's thrown to himÃ¢â‚¬Â¦. We're just trying to establish a little bit higher mode of practice performance so it will carry over to games."

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Backup quarterback Mark Sanchez returned to practice after sitting out Tuesday because of lingering back soreness. Sanchez said he was 100%, but freshman Garrett Green remained on offense and ran the scout team for the second day in a row, allowing Michael McDonald to take some repetitions with the second-team offenseÃ¢â‚¬Â¦. Defensive tackle Chris Barrett sat out most of practice after twisting his knee. Carroll said the injury was not thought to be seriousÃ¢â‚¬Â¦. Freshman fullback Allen Bradford provided the highlight hit of the day when he caught a pass, lowered his shoulder, and ran over cornerback Shareece Wright, his former teammate at Colton HighÃ¢â‚¬Â¦. John David Booty is among 15 semifinalists for the Maxwell Award, presented to the nation's top player.

smazza · October 27, 2006

USC turning down the pressure

Trojans may be 6-0, but their inability to get sacks and create turnovers is causing concern

By Gary Klein, Times Staff Writer

October 27, 2006

A few hours before Saturday's kickoff at Oregon State, while still outfitted in their team-issued warmup suits, USC's defensive linemen will separate from teammates and congregate at midfield.

The brief meeting is a game-day ritual, a time to briefly bond and state goals against a specific opponent.

Stop the run is one staple, getting sacks another.

When they are done, the linemen join hands high above their heads and adjourn to the locker room with a simple slogan voiced in unison:

"Rushmen!"

Through six games, the defensive line hardly has lived up to its moniker. In six games the unbeaten Trojans have only nine sacks Ã¢â‚¬â€ 20 fewer than Pacific 10 Conference leader Washington State (which has 29 in eight games) and only two more than winless Stanford.

Three years after the school's sports information office pumped the 2003 defensive line as "Wild Bunch II," this season's unit has statistically been a mild bunch.

Nose tackle Sedrick Ellis and tackle Chris Barrett are the only defensive linemen who have recorded sacks. Ellis has 1.5, Barrett one.

The linemen have heard whispers from fans and read bold criticism on Internet message boards.

"I think it's been way overstated," said Ellis, who sat out three games because of a knee injury. "We've been playing good games against good teams. Good teams make plays against you. It's just how you fight through those plays and make plays of your own."

Said Barrett: "We're getting there, we're just not converting. As soon as we get it done everything will be over."

The dearth of sacks has mirrored the Trojans' downturn in turnover margin, a statistical category that Coach Pete Carroll values more than any other besides victories.

During training camp, USC scrapped its traditional 4-3 defensive alignment and adopted a hybrid 3-4 scheme to put more of its talented linebackers on the field.

Sophomore Brian Cushing, who has lined up along the line of scrimmage, has six tackles for losses but only one sack.

Carroll, however, said the 3-4 is not to blame for fewer turnovers and sacks.

"I don't think it has anything to do with it," he said. "If it did, I'd switch it."

No player has been more frustrated than junior end Lawrence Jackson, who had 10 sacks last season and passed up a chance to turn pro.

The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Jackson missed part of spring practice because of a thigh bruise and several weeks of training camp because of a groin strain. The player nicknamed "LoJack" has thus far been unable to lock on to quarterbacks.

He does not have a sack.

"It's frustrating, depressing, whatever you want to call it," Jackson said. "As a defensive end, that's how you're graded, that's how you're judged: Sacks."

In USC's last game against Arizona State, Jackson narrowly missed at least two sacks.

With an open date last week, he sought counsel from coaches and also phoned former USC All-American Kenechi Udeze, now with the Minnesota Vikings, and Michael Strahan of the New York Giants.

"They all said the same thing: stay focused, keep doing the things that you do and they'll come," said Jackson, who has not recorded a sack since getting three last December against UCLA.

Jackson says he knows that UCLA's Justin Hickman leads the conference with 10.5 sacks. Washington State's Mkristo Bruce has 10.

Bruce, however, got five sacks against Stanford, which could bode well for Jackson and his linemates.

On Saturday, they face an Oregon State team that has given up 17 sacks. Stanford, which has given up a conference-worst 35 sacks in eight games, is up after that.

In preparation for those two opponents, and four other tough games down the stretch, USC spent its off week evaluating and making adjustments in several areas. Improving the pass rush was among the top priorities.

"We had a good week of ironing out some things and honing in on our best pass rushers and letting them have an opportunity," said defensive coordinator Nick Holt, who also oversees the defensive line.

Sophomore Kyle Moore and juniors Jeff Schweiger and Alex Morrow were the main beneficiaries.

"I feel I can make a difference," said the 6-foot-6 Moore. "I know I can get a little more pressure. I can get to the quarterback."

Carroll, Holt and the defensive linemen said they would mix combinations against Oregon State with hopes of creating a snowball effect.

A big game against Oregon State could get that ball rolling.

"That day is coming," Barrett said. "It's coming."

gary.klein@latimes.com

*

There's no rush

Five of USC's nine quarterback sacks came against Arizona:

Result Sacks

USC 28, Arizona State 21...2

USC 26, Washington 20...0

USC 28, at Washington State 22...0

USC 20, at Arizona 3...5

USC 28, Nebraska 10...1

USC 50, at Arkansas 14...1

Source: USC

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Less is not more

USC last season was first in the Pacific 10 in turnovers forced and fifth in quarterback sacks a game. This year, the Trojans are at or near the bottom of the conference in both defensive categories.

TURNOVERS FORCED G Fum Int Tot

1. California 8 5 18 23

2. Washington St. 8 11 10 21

3. UCLA 7 9 8 17

3. Oregon St. 7 8 9 17

5. Arizona St. 7 8 8 16

6. Arizona 8 8 5 13

7. Oregon 7 5 6 11

7. Stanford 8 7 4 11

9. USC 6 5 5 10

9. Washington 8 2 8 10

*

TEAM SACKS G Sacks Avg./Gm

1. Oregon St. 7 26 3.71

2. Wash. St. 8 29 3.63

3. Ariz. St. 7 23 3.29

3. UCLA 7 23 3.29

5. California 8 18 2.25

6. Oregon 7 15 2.14

7. Wash. 8 14 1.75

8. USC 6 9 1.50

9. Arizona 8 11 1.38

10. Stanford 8 7 0.88

Sources: Pacific 10 Conference and Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

smazza · October 30, 2006

USC and UCLA to end up close by on the road

Two schools will play in Bay Area on the same day for first time, giving rivals a chance to revel.

By Jerry Crowe, Times Staff Writer

October 30, 2006

UCLA and USC football fans making their annual Bay Area migration this year might have to mingle with a mysterious species they wouldn't normally expect to find in great numbers on the streets of San Francisco.

Namely, one another.

For the first time since USC started playing football in 1888 and UCLA in 1919, they will visit the Bay Area during the same weekend for games against Stanford and California, USC playing at Palo Alto and UCLA at Berkeley on Saturday.

"Oh, that's great," cracked Tim Zahner, public relations manager for the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau, upon hearing the news. "Are you guys going to fight in the streets or something?"

It's an interesting question.

Will ugliness unfold in Union Square, nastiness nestle in North Beach? Will catcalls carry from cable cars, fists fly at Fisherman's Wharf?

Or will far-off familiarity fuel revelry rather than rivalry?

Typically, about 10,000 Trojans supporters make the annual trip to the Bay Area, though that number is expected to be cut by more than half this weekend because of an extensive off-season renovation of Stanford Stadium that reduced its capacity from more than 85,000 to about 50,000. Only about 5,000 tickets were made available to USC fans for a game that has been sold out since early July.

UCLA fans are expected to fill about 4,000 seats in California's 73,000-seat Memorial Stadium, but that number could grow. Tickets are still available.

But even fans without tickets are expected to converge on San Francisco throughout the weekend, crowding restaurants, bars and hotel rooms, not to mention airport security lines and Interstate 5 rest stops along the way.

"You'll have a lot of people who won't make it to the games who will still party on Friday night and take part in other events," said Joe Enloe, chairman of USC's Weekender committee and past president of the USC Alumni Assn. "With four universities partying in San Francisco, it's going to be a pretty rowdy night."

USC alumni will be based at the Westin St. Francis on Union Square, UCLA alums about a mile north at the Hyatt at Fisherman's Wharf. Students probably will settle for any room with an available couch.

The teams, meanwhile, will bunk down about 30 miles apart.

UCLA originally was to play at Cal on Oct. 7, but itineraries were reshuffled last year when the Pacific 10 Conference adopted nine-game conference schedules after the NCAA approved 12-game seasons for all schools.

And although it may be a novelty this time around, USC and UCLA fans may soon become familiar with this routine. The Trojans and Bruins are scheduled to again visit the Bay Area during the same weekend in 2009, 2010 and 2013.