Carroll’s Trojans Have Spring in Their Step

The new USC offense kept Kareem Kelly up late the other night, studying his playbook, learning all those routes and formations.

“It’s been real tough,” the receiver said. “A lot of trick plays. A lot of gimmicks.”

The Trojans showed a glimpse of such complexity--expected to be a signature of new Coach Pete Carroll--before a few thousand fans during a scrimmage at the Coliseum on Saturday.

They lined up in the shotgun and multiple-receiver sets. They shifted the tight end into the backfield. They ran a reverse to the halfback, who threw back to the quarterback.

None of this is particularly earthshaking for offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who designed wide-open attacks at Brigham Young and North Carolina State. But it represents change for a USC team whose offense was criticized for being plodding and predictable last season.

“We have so many playmakers,” quarterback Carson Palmer said. “[Now] we have so many quick passes to get them the ball.”

Tailback Sultan McCullough offered a reminder that there still will be a ground game, scoring both of the starting offense’s touchdowns on five- and one-yard runs.

The defense also showed some variety, employing nickel packages and a range of blitzes.

“With Norm Chow, he’s running tricks against us all the time,” defensive tackle Bernard Riley said. “So we’ve got to bring some tricks of our own.”

Riley led his squad with four tackles for losses, including two sacks. It was an encouraging performance for the 305-pound junior, who is expected to pick up the slack for the departed Ennis Davis.

Not everything went so well for the Trojans.

The kicking game, which struggled last season, did not appear to be improved. Senior David Newbury and walk-on Anthony Boscarini missed several field-goal attempts and an extra point.

The wet conditions had Palmer completing slightly less than 50% of his passes and made for some sloppy play along the line. Tight end Kori Dickerson, switching from linebacker, led the team with three catches for 38 yards, but slipped on several routes.

Of additional concern were previous injuries to Charlie Landrigan (lacerated knee) and Chad Pierson (lower back pain) that limited the Trojans to Sunny Byrd at fullback.

“We weren’t nearly as precise as we had been during the week,” Carroll said. “We’ve got a long way to go.”