Palmer’s Legacy Up in the Air

Fact: Carson Palmer is the most prolific passer in USC history.

Fiction: He is the most successful quarterback in USC history.

The numbers speak for themselves. By the time he finishes his college career this season, a career spanning four seasons and part of a fifth, Palmer will hold virtually every significant school passing and total offense record.

By the time the first quarter ends Saturday against UCLA, he could very well have the 76 yards he needs to become the career passing leader in the Pacific 10 Conference, eclipsing such quarterbacks as Jim Plunkett, John Elway, Troy Aikman and Drew Bledsoe.

Yet, for many, the only numbers that matter are those Palmer is able to help USC put on the scoreboard the next two weeks against the Bruins and Notre Dame.

“Carson Palmer’s career will hinge on these two games,” said Troy Winslow, the Trojan quarterback in 1965 and ’66. “If he plays well and they win, it will carry over for a long time.”

Despite his gaudy statistics, Palmer lacks the achievements that truly define a successful quarterback. He hasn’t won a Pac-10 title. He hasn’t played in a Rose Bowl game or another major bowl. In his 42 career starts, USC is 24-18, including 0-2 in bowl games.

Without a strong finish this season, Palmer probably will be remembered as the USC quarterback who couldn’t win the big one.

“The one thing that is going to hang over his head, and this is why this year is so important, is the wins and losses,” said Paul McDonald, the quarterback of the USC team that won a national title in 1979. “That’s a very important part of it, winning a championship or winning a Rose Bowl.

“At the end of the day, winning is all that matters. I think Carson Palmer would be the first guy to tell you that.”

Most agree, though, that Palmer hasn’t had it easy. At least in comparison to some of the more successful quarterbacks in school history.

Pat Haden played on national championship teams in 1972 and 1974, won two of three Rose Bowl games and never lost a conference game in his three varsity seasons. Yet he acknowledged that his responsibilities fell far short of Palmer’s during an era when USC quarterbacks were known more for handing off than passing.

“I played when USC was a running back-dominated team,” said Haden, whose tailback was All-American Anthony Davis. “Any moderately talented quarterback could have done what I did.

“Carson played in a quarterback-driven offense, which most offenses are these days. So there’s been a lot more pressure on him from week to week. He had to wake up every Saturday morning and say, ‘Hey, if I don’t play well, we’re not going to win this game.’

“The quarterbacks in my era and before me didn’t have to do that. We had moments when we had to win games, but not every Saturday. It’s a whole different mind-set in responsibility for the position today.”

There also is the matter of teammates. When Haden and McDonald played, in the era before scholarship restrictions, USC was a perennial national power whose backups often were better than an opponent’s starters.

In McDonald’s three seasons, from 1977 to ‘79, his teammates included tailback Charles White, the 1979 Heisman Trophy winner, and five all-conference offensive linemen who would go on to play in the NFL -- Pat Howell, Brad Budde, Anthony Munoz, Roy Foster and Keith Van Horne.

In his first four years at USC, Palmer played with only one all-conference offensive lineman -- Travis Claridge -- and without a consistent running game to help take the pressure off the quarterback.

“I don’t think he’s had a tremendous supporting cast throughout his career like some of the quarterbacks that have gone before him,” McDonald said. “And I think because of that, his [passing] numbers are even more impressive.”

Winslow, who spent the 1965 season mostly handing off to Heisman Trophy winner Mike Garrett, said the emergence this season of senior tailback Justin Fargas and an improved running game have helped Palmer enjoy his most productive season.

“Now that they’re running the ball, it’s taking all the pressure off of him,” Winslow said. “That’s the biggest difference between him now and the last three years. When you can’t run the ball, you’re dodging blitzes on every play.”

After being labeled a disappointment for much of his career, Palmer finally is living up to the immense expectations that followed him when he signed with the Trojans out of Santa Margarita High and became the starter midway through his freshman season.

In the last six games, he has passed for 1,997 yards and 19 touchdowns while USC has gone 5-1, its only blemish an overtime loss to Washington State.

“I think everybody expected Carson to play the last four or five years like he has the last month,” Haden said. “I don’t remember expectations being higher for a quarterback than when I heard about John Elway coming out of high school.

“That can be a difficult thing for an 18-year-old kid. I’ve admired the way he’s handled the down moments, because he’s had his share of those.”

(The Elway comparison is noteworthy. Stanford had a 20-23-1 record with the future NFL legend at quarterback.)

Though he doesn’t know Palmer well, Haden said it’s obvious that the 6-foot-6, 230-pound senior has exceptional mental toughness.

“It would have been easy for him to blame other people when things weren’t going well, to hang his head, to mope and complain, to transfer,” Haden said. “He didn’t. He hung in there. He never had a great running game. He went through a change in the coaching staff. And I’ve never seen him blame anybody else.

“He keeps coming back and playing hard the next week, and I think that’s a real testament to his character.”

McDonald has gotten to know Palmer as an announcer for USC radio broadcasts and admires the way he deals with success and failure.

“He has been humble throughout the whole process,” McDonald said. “He has been self-effacing. He’s always the first guy to compliment everybody else on the team. He never points a finger.

“To me, that’s the ultimate sign of a winner, not only on the field, but in life.”

Regardless of how the season shakes out, Palmer already has left his mark. Among his USC career records are: total offense (10,619 yards), passing yards (10,836), plays (a Pac-10 record 1,704), touchdown passes (63), completions (855) and attempts (1,470). He also holds the school record with 47 interceptions, but has thrown only eight this season in 380 attempts. And none in his last 93 attempts.

He is considered a potential top-five pick in the NFL draft, a reflection of his strong arm and better-than-average mobility. “He’s a physically gifted, very skilled player,” said Haden, who played six seasons with the Los Angeles Rams.

Though a longshot for the award, Palmer can advance his Heisman Trophy candidacy by playing well and helping USC defeat rivals UCLA and Notre Dame for the first time in the same season since 1981.

If he needs a pep talk before those games, he might want to chat with Winslow, a longtime high school teacher and president of the Trojan Football Alumni Club.

“[Coach] John McKay once asked us in the locker room, ‘What’s the job of the quarterback?’ Winslow said. “I said, ‘It’s good if you can run the team.’ McKay said, ‘No, the job of the quarterback is to win. No matter what you have to do, win.’

“If Carson can use his abilities to win, then he’s a winner. I don’t care if he throws the ball 30 times or 10 times. He’s got to do what it takes to win.”

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USC Passing Leaders

USC career passing leaders by rating (minimum of 135 completions):

*--* Player, Years PA PC Pct Yards Avg TD Int Rating School Paul 1977-79 501 299 59.7% 4,138 13.8 37 13 148.2 McDonald Rob Johnson 1991-94 1,046 676 64.6% 8,472 12.5 58 28 145.6 Rob Hertel 1975-77 321 176 54.8% 2,812 16.0 28 21 144.1 Brad Otton 1994-96 718 410 57.1% 5,359 13.1 40 14 134.3 Troy 1965-66 276 163 59.1% 2,075 12.7 17 14 132.4 Winslow Rodney 1985-88 1,081 630 58.3% 8,225 13.1 54 42 130.9 Peete Todd 1989-90 674 415 61.6% 5,001 12.1 29 25 130.7 Marinovich Mike Rae 1970-72 323 172 53.3% 2,684 15.6 16 17 128.9 Carson 1998-20 1,470 855 58.2% 10,836 12.7 63 47 127.8 Palmer 02 Sean 1982-83 602 346 57.5% 4,481 13.0 25 19 127.4 Salisbury , ’85

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