Everybody’s (Mid-season) All-American
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Well, not quite everybody’s.
Phil Steele publishes the most comprensive college football magazine on the market, so comprehensive you need a jumbo Sherlock Holmes magnifying glass to read the very fine print.
But there was something missing from Steele’s Mid-Season All-American team, released this week:
USC placed only two players among the 81 on Steele’s first, second and third mid-season teams. Considering USC is ranked No. 4 in early BCS projections, doesn’t that make Pete Carroll the mid-season coach of the year? How does USC do it with such a rag-tag bunch of over-achievers?
USC fared better than UCLA, which came up with an eight-clap goose egg on Steele’s list.
Safety Kevin Ellison was the only USC and/or Pac-10 player to make Steele’s first team. Trojan linebacker Rey Maualuga made second-team defense.
Oregon had twice as many players, four, as USC on Steele’s three-deep roster, which makes you wonder how the Ducks lost to USC, 44-10.
Interestingly, USC had four defensive starters on Steele’s pre-season All-American team, but Kevin Ellison wasn’t one of them.
The four Trojans were defensive tackle Fili Moala, linebackers Brian Cushing and Maualuga and safety Taylor Mays. Moala, Cushing and Mays have since received the Steele shaft.
Can’t wait for Steele’s Three-Quarter Season All-American team, if there is such a thing.
-- Chris Dufresne
