USC Trojan Family Magazine - Autumn 1999: Trojan Football Preview (pg. 2)

DEFENSIVELY, USC welcomes back a trio of two-year starters – safety David Gibson, a senior; cornerback Antuan Simmons, a junior; and linebacker-end Sultan Abdul-Malik, also a junior. Returning 1998 starters include junior Ennis Davis and senior Aaron Williams at tackle, and junior Zeke Moreno at linebacker.
Gibson, the team’s top returning tackler (85 stops in 1998), has been moved back to his more natural strong safety position after playing linebacker last season. Simmons, who had 55 tackles and returned two interceptions for scores in 1998, is the latest in USC’s long line of outstanding defensive backs. Abdul-Malik has been Troy’s sack leader the past two years (he has 15 in his career) as an end. Davis, a 1999 pre-season All-American, was an All-Pac-10 first teamer in 1998 while notching 47 tackles, including a team-high 13 for losses. Williams had 44 stops in 1998 and a USC-topping four fumble recoveries. Moreno posted 66 tackles (10 for losses) last fall.

Precocious quarterback Carson Palmer

The defense has several other top players back: junior end-tackle Shamsud-Din Abdul-Shaheed, who started seven times in 1998 and registered 25 tackles; junior safety Ifeanyi Ohalete (a four-game starter in 1998 who had 52 tackles and three interceptions); sophomore linebacker Darryl Knight; and sophomore cornerback Kris Richard.
The Trojans’ strongest defensive unit figures to be the line, as two starters return from 1998. “No doubt, the strength of our defense is up front,” says Hackett. “We have experience and depth there. And we made some good strides there in the spring.”
But when you talk about a unit that will be affected by personnel losses in 1999, the linebacking corps jumps out.
“We’re really hit hard by losses at linebacker,” says Hackett. “That’s why we’ve moved some people to this position and why we need some younger players to step up. We have lots of bodies here and we’re looking for guys to make things happen.”
Another big hurdle ahead for Troy is in the secondary. “What was a strength the past few years becomes a question mark in 1999,” says Hackett. “Fortunately, we have some experienced players who will attempt to fill in. I was pleased with the secondary’s development in the spring.”
But the defensive unit will be hard-pressed to replace the likes of unanimous All-American middle linebacker Chris Claiborne, the Butkus Award winner and Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year last season who had 312 tackles (a USC-best 120 in 1998) and eight interceptions (a team-high six in 1998) while starting for three years (he was an NFL first-round draft choice); four-year starting cornerback Daylon McCutcheon, a 1998 All-Pac-10 first team selection and Thorpe Award semi-finalist who had 10 interceptions, 46 pass break-ups and 187 tackles as a Trojan; two-year starting safeties Rashard Cook (a 1998 All-Pac-10 first teamer with 218 career stops, including 89 last fall) and Grant Pearsall (138 tackles overall, 58 in 1998); and end Lawrence Larry.
Also gone are three players who had 60 career starts among them: linebacker Mark Cusano (224 career tackles), who played a pivotal role in USC’s 1996 and 1997 wins over Notre Dame; tackle Marc Matock (42 tackles in 1998); and cornerback Ken Haslip (32 tackles in 1998).

ON THE CRITICAL special teams, sophomore Mike MacGillivray (37.7 average in 1998) is the incumbent punter after doing a steady job last fall when he set USC season records for most punts (87) and punt yardage (3,284). He was especially effective as a placement punter, as 34 of his boots pinned opponents within the 20-yard line. David Bell, a junior who handles USC’s kickoffs, will push him for the job, as will first-year freshman tight end Jacob Rogers.

Senior tackle Aaron Williams

For the past four years, USC could count on Adam Abrams to usually deliver on all placekicks, as he drilled 44 field goals (including four that proved to be the deciding points in games) and 117 PATs in his career. He has graduated, so now the Trojans will choose between Bell and incoming sophomore David Newbury, a transfer student from Navarro Junior College in Corsicana, Tex., slated to arrive in the fall. In a pinch, USC could also turn to MacGillivray, who hasn’t tried any placekicks at USC but was 14-of-17 on field goals and 33-of-37 on PATs as a high school senior.
Senior Pat Swanson is back for his third year as USC’s long snapper on all punts and placekicks. He has performed this duty flawlessly.
John Fox will be the holder this season – the senior quarterback-turned-linebacker was the backup (but unused) holder on all placekicks for Bastianelli last year.
In Soward, USC has one of the country’s preeminent return specialists. In his career, he has returned three kickoffs for touchdowns (the NCAA record is six) while averaging 26.2 yards on 45 runbacks and two punts for scores while averaging 18.3 yards on 13 returns. Although Parker handled most of the punt returns in 1998 while Soward and McCutcheon did the kick returns, Soward could be in charge of both jobs in 1999.
Other potential returners include Morton – who has returned a kickoff for a TD and who ranks 17th on Troy’s career punt return list (338 yards) while averaging 8.2 yards per runback – as well as Richard, McCullough, Papadakis and MacKenzie.

USC'S 12-GAME schedule in 1999 is as challenging as ever. In four of the past six years, the Trojans have played slates ranked among the nation’s five most difficult.
Troy opens the season at Hawaii and also has road games at Oregon, likely Pac-10 favorite Arizona, Notre Dame (USC has won three in a row over the Irish), California and Washington State.
Visiting the Coliseum will be San Diego State (guided by former USC head coach Ted Tollner), Oregon State, Stanford, Arizona State, UCLA (which has won eight in a row over USC) and Louisiana Tech (in the regular-season finale on the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend).
“This is Year Two of a process,” says Hackett. “We showed some flashes last year. We showed some improvement. And we showed our ability to bounce back.
“But by no means were we satisfied with our showing in 1998. We need to take it up to another level in 1999. And I expect us to.”

Related Stories

Related Links

USC Sports