http://www.yardbarker.com/content/team/571 Recent articles about the USC Trojans en-us PAC-10 media day. USC picked to win the PAC-10. Coach Pete Carroll sparks debate about helmet-to-helmet hits. Carroll says Joe McKnight may be better than Reggie Bush. And, Brian Cushing talks about his senior year. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:52:59 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295141 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295141 If he don't play the game funny, he'll be worth the money. But, don't get it twisted, he's no Michael Carter. They got him cheap. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:14:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295086 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295086 Now i know you can only take this things with a grain of salt because its pre-season but Ohio State not losing a a NC to an SEC team is hard to belive (just kidding Buckeye fans) NC game: Ohio State vs. Georgia Rose Bowl: USC vs. Wisconsin Sugar: WVU vs. Oregon (really really?) Fiesta: BYU vs Kansas (really really?) Orange: Florida vs VT I think that only the orange rose and NC are possible but Fiesta and Sugar are ridiculous. Oregon is reloading and Kansas was a one-year wonder. Want some thoughts from the yard... Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:53:34 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295003 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295003 UC Berkeley wins court battle with tree sitters, and may begin construction on a new $140-million sports-training center. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:15:17 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294541 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294541 The 2008 pre-season power rankings have the Ohio State Buckeyes in first place, followed by Georgia. The Oklahoma Sooners come in third. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:05:48 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294367 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294367 What are the preliminary Vegas lines and bookies telling us about the Left Coast of college football? Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:21:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294227 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294227 Sean Jackson, one of these CFN bloggers, had a coherent (that was about it) write up on how the Big Ten can be better in 2008. Now, I won't get into the fact that he's just one of the many talking about the Big Ten as if it's the MAC or even the Big East circa 2004. Jackson just made some fundamental mistakes in his assessment of the conference going into 2008, mistakes which should have been, at the very least, addressed by CFN before publishing the article. Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:48:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294100 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294100 When it comes to college football, we really are just rooting for laundry. Players come and go (unless they're like Riley Skinner, who's seemingly been at Wake Forest since the dawn of time) but it's the uniforms that make college football. In that spirit, The Señior is putting the players to the wayside and ranking the game's top 10 helmets. Without further ado ... Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:14:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293581 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293581 Update on USC fullback Stanley Havili. Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:31:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293568 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293568 Update on USC football recruiting for 2009. Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:26:12 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293565 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293565 By now, you have likely heard about the recent radio interview with Carson Palmer in which he discussed his "hate" for the Ohio State Buckeyes. The audio can be found here, but if you do not have the time to listen, NCAA FanHouse breaks down a few quotes. I cannot stand the Buckeyes. It's amazing to hear what those guys think about that university and what they think about that football program and Tressel and all the crap I gotta put up with being back there. I just can't wait for two years from now when SC comes to the 'Shoe and hopefully we'll have a home game that weekend and I can go up there and watch us pound on them in their own turf. First, I find it incredibly convenient that Palmer chose to spout off on an LA radio show, as opposed to one in Cincinnati. You know, the town that his team resides? Given that Palmer has, what, one winning season in the state of Ohio, you would think that he would have a little more of an understanding of the way things work in Columbus. I also find it funny that he "can't wait" for the game in two years. You know, the one that will be against a Buckeye team that will see about 80 percent of this season's starters graduate and/or leave for the NFL. The Buckeyes have set all kinds of draft-based records on players being selected to the next level, so it seems that they're doing something right. Buckeye fans can at least be happy about the fact that Mr. Palmer has given an entire state some bulletin board material for the next football season. Something tells me that even Browns fans will use this one to build up a little more animosity against the black and orange and incarcerated. Thanks, Carson! Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:46:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293179 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293179 ...Carson should have stuck one of those John Morrell hot dogs that he advertises in his mouth or stated his opinion a little less arrogantly. Last time I checked, Cincinnati is in Ohio (even though some would rather give it to Kentucky) and most of his fans are Ohioans, who are also loyal Buckeye supporters. I respect his opinions, but he should have had a little more class and respect for OSU considering he is a prominent figure in the state of Ohio... Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:32:03 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292687 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292687 Trojan linebacker Rey Maualuga discusses his decision to forgo the NFL draft and return to USC for his senior season. Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:08:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292672 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292672 The Pac-10 gets a bad wrap for being an offensive conference only. Well, in the world of fantasy football, offense is what counts. From Seattle to Los Angeles in 2008, the west coast certainly has plenty of fantasy options. Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:41:51 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292536 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292536 Whether you believe he's a legend in the making or a liar, Urban Meyer stokes passions on all sides. Legend advocates will cite his second-year National Championship and a sophomore Heisman Trophy winner. Liar advocates are lining up against Meyer as stories continue to build, just as bridges linking Meyer to other coaches continue to burn. Consider these recent stories from other sites and sources on Meyer's recruiting tactics. It's unlikely the following schools have Meyer on their Christmas card list. LSU: Florida was ready to take all-star corner Patrick Johnson with what they thought was a bogus test score, but he committed to LSU. How did Florida respond? "Florida flagged my scores," Johnson said. "They called the compliance office." "I'm not upset," Johnson said. "Florida made an issue about the ACT score. They're cowards. They had to go behind my back. But that's OK. We play them this year (on Oct. 11 at Florida)." FSU (posted on noledigest.com): "While Gator fans will sit and give excuses or spin the details of what is going on, there is no denying that it seems like the UF staff flat-out lies to these kids. "Here is a quote from Trent Pupello (a player they initially compared to Jeremy Shockey), who is looking to leave the program this year: 'Coach (Steve) Addazio (UF tight ends coach) told me to work on my speed,' Pupello said. 'He didn't say that my speed was slow or anything. He just said that everything (at this level) is faster. "'I need to work on speed and getting stronger, which is pretty much what we all need to work on. He said that they need me at tight end, that I'll have an early chance to play and that all of the tight ends will play on the special teams.'" Michigan site (on the recruitment of Daryl Stonum): The University of Florida stayed on the four star pass-catcher well all the way through. Things crescendoed recently after a conversation with Urban Meyer. According to Stonum, Meyer had a compelling reason why he should become a Gator. "He told me that he talked to Coach Carr and Coach Soup and that they told him that I would be a much better fit in the Florida offense than I would be in the one at Michigan," Stonum recalled. "I thought, wow, my coaches are selling me out? I confronted them about it. I asked Coach Carr and Coach Soup about it, and they said they never talked to that guy and that there was no way they ever said anything like that and that they think I should be a Wolverine. I believed them. Right then, I knew just how Florida rolled." Just Funny: You can't tell the story about Jevan Snead enough (recounted in the book Meat Market). The funniest thing I read in it concerned what Urban Meyer told Jevan Snead. Snead had watched the Outside the Lines special on Tebow, which showed Meyer and OC Dan Mullen in the stands. Problem was, Meyer had told Snead, committed at the time, that he was the only quarterback they were going after. When Snead asked Meyer about it, Meyer responded, "We are recruiting him for linebacker." I had heard that before, but got a big kick out of reading it in the book straight from Snead. More LSU from Fox 26 in Houston: "Hempstead's Terrance Toliver, one of the nation's top high school football recruits, says negative recruiting tactics by the University of Florida first had him confused and bewildered. But in an unusual move, two Hempstead High School employees went above and beyond the call of duty to help Toliver make the biggest decision of his life. "After a vigorous early recruiting rush, it came down to LSU and Florida for Toliver, considered by many the No. 1 high school recruit in Texas and the best wide receiver in the nation. He ended up signing a letter-of-intent with LSU on National Signing Day Wednesday, but not before Florida coaches took several shots at LSU, leaving Toliver unsure what to do next. "'Every time (Florida recruiters) came, they just said LSU doesn't qualify their players,' Toliver told FOX 26's Mark Berman Wednesday. 'About (how) their academics are not all that. It kind of had me confused.'" "Eventually a bewildered Toliver asked his football coach Rick Sargent and Hempstead instructional coordinator Tina Johnson to go to Baton Rouge to find out the truth about LSU. The two went last weekend. 'They went and checked (LSU's) academics out and their facilities,' Toliver said. 'They just came back and told me whatever Florida was saying about the academics wasn't true.'" Notre Dame Blog: When Meyer recruited Justin Trattou he did so by the cover of night. Not that it's illegal, but he told Trattou not to tell anyone he was talking with Florida. Keep in mind that Trattou was committed to Notre Dame at the time. Amongst other things, Coach Meyer talked to Trattou about how the 3-4 defense was not a good fit for him and his football future (read: NFL, which is garbage—the Cowboys, Patriots, and Chargers all use the 3-4). Former Gators assistant coach Greg Mattison's favorite topics about Notre Dame (with several recruits), despite his previous love for the school, included how the weather sucked and the social life suffered. Case in point No. 2: Omar Hunter, same deal as before. Omar was snookered into lying to everyone from Notre Dame coaches and players to likely even his parents, especially his father, who wanted him at Notre Dame due to the academics. Hunter said that he was not talking to other schools, when in fact he was—Florida included—while being a Notre Dame commitment. In the end, Hunter was a fraud himself, but he was not the one who was truly taken for a ride. Coach Mattison recruited Hunter. He had an ax to grind with Notre Dame after leaving South Bend on not so good terms, and he definitely took it to another level with Hunter. Mattison, you see, had an assistant coaching job lined up with the Baltimore Ravens long before this past National Signing Day came around. So when Hunter switched his commitment to UF after initially deciding to attend Notre Dame, Mattison and Meyer did what came naturally. They lied to Hunter about the entire situation, telling Hunter that Mattison was not leaving Gainesville. Just by complete and total coincidence, Mattison ended up taking a job with the Ravens right after National Signing Day. Shocking! And oh yes, Notre Dame assistant coach Bill Lewis, who recently retired as a football coach, told Hunter what was about to happen. Hunter did not listen and signed with the Gators. Urban continues to build the best talent base not located in Southern California. Success certainly breeds enemies, but so does recruiting. Urban Legend or Urban Liar? Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:09:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291802 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291802