QB Max Browne commits to USC

Lane Kiffin and the USC program added a prize ESPNU 150 Watch List prospect to its class of 2013 on Wednesday when Sammamish (Wash.) Skyline quarterback Max Browne chose the Trojans over Alabama, Oklahoma and Washington at a news conference at his high school.

Browne is considered one of the nation’s top prep passers after completing 70 percent of his passes for 4,034 yards and 45 touchdowns as a junior.

The commitment doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as the 6-foot-5, 205-pound Browne decided to announce his decision immediately after a three-day unofficial visit to USC, where he was able to spend time with the Trojans coaches as well as some one-on-one time with quarterback Matt Barkley.

Read more: espn.com

Ohio State’s sanctions have USC loyalists questioning Trojans’ anew

The NCAA, in its infinite bureaucratic wisdom, slapped Ohio State‘s football program upside the head Tuesday.

It certainly wasn’t a love tap. Nor was it a kick to the groin, a feeling familiar to those who revere USC.

In Columbus, Ohio, where college football ranks in importance only a tiny notch above visits from the Pope, there is weeping to match the gnashing of teeth. One local news report began by saying that the “NCAA had rocked Buckeye football to the core.”

Read more from LATimes.com

12.21.11

More QBs join elite list, and watch out for Ducks offense

September is in the books, and eight Pac-12 football teams already have reached the one-third mark for the season. Stanford and Oregon appear clearly the class of the league, and at the other end, Oregon State has been even worse than the direst predictions.

What we learned

• The battle to represent the Pac-12 South in the first title game is looking like a two-team race. Arizona, Colorado and UCLA simply don’t have the chops, and USC is ineligible. So it’s on Arizona State (1-0 in the Pac-12) and Utah (0-1) to sort it out. The Sun Devils, who rocked USC, 43-22, have a telling two weeks Oct. 8 and 15, going on the road to Utah and Oregon.

seatletimes.com
9/25/11

USC learns that the cost of honor is high

On a strange and sullen Friday in the Pac-10 tournament, the area in front of the USC bench was deathly quiet.
Trojan athletics have rarely sounded stronger.
Among the many empty seats at the Staples Center was one involuntarily vacated by USC Coach Kevin O’Neill, whose rants were squelched when his boss, Pat Haden, once again buffeted “Fight On” with his own two-word chant.
No Fools.

O’Neill embarrassed the university in a Thursday night altercation with an opposing booster, and quicker than you can say new era, he was gone.
latimes.com
3/11/11