Trojans Have Quite a Bit of Catching Up to Do

Keary Colbert finished his USC career with 207 pass receptions, the most in Trojan history.

So Colbert, now a rookie receiver for the Carolina Panthers, was more than a little curious when he sat down to watch a replay of USC’s season-opening victory over Virginia Tech.

Colbert, who combined with Mike Williams for 164 catches last season, saw USC’s young and mostly inexperienced wide receivers and flankers catch only eight passes against the Hokies. He also watched them line up incorrectly, run wrong routes and drop balls on several plays.

No worries, Colbert said in a phone interview.

“It was nothing that I didn’t go through or Mike didn’t go through as well,” said Colbert, who noted that he never caught more than two passes in a USC opener. “I don’t think it’s anything to gauge how the season is going to go.”

USC’s receivers say they intend to show progress, and perhaps some flashes of the recent past, when the top-ranked Trojans play Colorado State in a nonconference game today at the Coliseum.

USC had a bye following its victory over Virginia Tech, which gave receivers two weeks to prepare for a Colorado State team that suffered a wrenching loss to rival Colorado last Saturday.

“We’re better than we were a few weeks ago,” said sophomore flanker Steve Smith, who caught four passes against Virginia Tech, including a 46-yard reception that set up Reggie Bush’s third touchdown. “We were just getting all our jitters out against Virginia Tech, getting acquainted with the game.”

Redshirt sophomore Chris McFoy said he entered the opener with a firm grasp of the offense after being in the program for two seasons. But he added that executing assignments correctly the first time out as a starter was a challenge.

“I’m actually sweating and I’ve got grass stains -- it’s been a while since I had that experience,” said McFoy, who caught two passes. “Now I’m past that. And the bye week really helped us clean things up technique-wise.”

Freshman Dwayne Jarrett, who turns 18 today, had perhaps the most difficult transition.

Jarrett said he never played before a crowd larger than about 1,000 during high school in New Jersey. After catching two passes in front of more than 91,000 at FedEx Field two weeks ago, he said the near-sellout crowd expected today at the Coliseum will see a more comfortable player.

“I just have to stay focused because there’s going to be a lot of noise and a lot of things going on,” Jarrett said. “You have to know your assignments.”

Against Virginia Tech, USC offset the performance of its receivers by relying on running backs Reggie Bush and LenDale White. Bush caught three touchdown passes from quarterback Matt Leinart and White rushed for 78 yards in 15 carries.

The duo is expected to be at the forefront again today against Colorado State, which showed resilience against Colorado but blew a chance to win the game.

The Rams, of the Mountain West Conference, came back from a 17-0 second-quarter deficit to tie the score at Colorado’s Folsom Field. They drove to the Colorado one-yard line with 30 seconds left, but the Buffaloes stopped them on a running play as time expired, leaving Colorado State with a 27-24 defeat.

Unlike Virginia Tech, which featured versatile option quarterback Bryan Randall, the Rams rely on the passing of junior Justin Holland, who completed 29 of 41 attempts for 403 yards and two touchdowns with one interception against Colorado.

“The No. 1 thing that sets him apart is that he is a very accurate passer.... He puts the ball where it has to be placed,” Colorado State Coach Sonny Lubick said.

The Rams also feature running back Marcus Houston, a transfer from Colorado who rushed for 150 yards against USC as a freshman in 2000.

“It’s closer to Pac-10 football -- passing and running with no option -- so it should be more to our liking,” USC senior safety Jason Leach said.

Trojan quarterback Matt Leinart says he is familiar with Colorado State’s 4-3 defense because it is similar to USC’s.

“It helps because we’ve seen it every day for the past three years, but they’re very good at what they do,” Leinart said. “They’re very solid and they don’t make a lot of mistakes.”

USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow and Coach Pete Carroll are hoping they can eventually say the same thing about Trojan receivers.

“The bar is set really high for the receivers around here,” Chow said.

Carroll is looking for steady progression as the Trojans move toward Pacific 10 Conference play.

“Before Game 3 or Game 4, we’ve got to be right,” he said.

Colbert expects that the receivers will be right on schedule.

“They’ll be fine,” he said. “It just takes some time.”