Trojans clearly not as formidable as in past years

	MAILBAG Submit a question or an opinion to Stewart. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

As the 2006 college football season reaches its midpoint, there are a million questions we could be asking. Can anyone beat Ohio State? Can Boise State reach the Top 12? Will a freshman running back save Larry Coker's job? Will the Pac-10 ever get through a game without an officiating controversy?

In terms of national-title implications, however, one question stands out to me as the most important of all: What's wrong with USC?

On one hand, it may seem strange to ask such a thing about a 5-0 team. A lot of other people would take the Trojans' "problems" in a heartbeat. Since opening the season with impressive wins over Arkansas (50-14) and Nebraska (28-10), both of whom are currently ranked in the Top 25, USC has been less than impressive in victories over Pac-10 foes Arizona (20-3), Washington State (28-22) and Washington (26-20). In each of the last two contests, the Trojans' opponent had the ball in the final seconds with a chance to win. And in the Washington game, USC's offense scored only one touchdown for the first time since Pete Carroll's first season in 2001.

The consensus is that the Trojans -- as might be expected a year after losing two Heisman Trophy winners (Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush), a 1,000-yard rusher (LenDale White) and eight other NFL draft picks -- aren't at the same level as their recent-national title-contending predecessors. And yet, according to the two polls used by the BCS, the coaches' and Harris, USC is in the exact same place it was at the end of last season: No. 2 in the country.

If the Trojans win out, they'll most likely return to the BCS national-championship game. But to do so they're going to have kick it into high gear and fix the various ills they've displayed in recent weeks.

Which brings us back to my question: What's wrong with USC? Three things.

Big plays MIA

Coming into the season, the big concern was whether John David Booty was capable of filling Leinart's shoes at quarterback. Booty has been fine, completing 65.4 percent of his passes for 1,209 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. In retrospect, the bigger question should have been how USC's offense would compensate for losing Bush, one of the greatest big-play threats in college football history. So far, it hasn't.

Through five games, Trojans tailbacks Chauncey Washington and Emmanuel Moody have combined for six gains of 20 or more yards. Bush alone accounted for 39 such plays last season. "The big play Reggie provided us with is not as obvious [this season]," said Carroll. "All you had to do was keep going to Reggie and something good was going to happen. That's different."

It helps explain why USC, despite putting up decent statistics offensively (413.4 yards per game, 19th best nationally), isn't scoring as many points (30.4 per game, down from 49.1 last season, 38.2 in 2004 and 41.1 in '03). The Trojans' drives are slower and more methodical, and often they end up with three points instead of seven. Kicker Mario Danelo already has nearly as many field goals (nine) as he did all of last season (11).

"The production has changed," said Carroll. "We're trying to get back on track and create our stuff in other ways, but there's no one guy that can do it."

Uncharacteristic defense

Carroll's defensive philosophy is all about creating sacks and turnovers, and USC has done plenty of both in recent years. Last year's team finished second nationally with 38 turnovers gained, while the 2003 and '04 national-title teams racked up a staggering 55 and 50 sacks, respectively.

This year's Trojans, however, have not been particularly adept in either area, despite the return of all-conference defensive end Lawrence Jackson and highly acclaimed linebackers Keith Rivers and Rey Maualuga. USC hasn't had a sack in either of its past two games and has forced five turnovers in its past four games. "The issue is that we haven't been getting the ball from our opponents," said Carroll. "We used to do that all the time."

Carroll has said he isn't overly concerned about the issue, that it's not uncommon for a team to go through such dry spells. He also attributed the lack of sacks the past two weeks to opponents' relying heavily on three-step drops and quick passes. Still, there is cause for concern, considering the Trojans are in a year of change defensively. In addition to USC's defense fielding six new starters, former Idaho head coach Nick Holt has taken over defensive coordinator duties from Carroll, and some believe the defense isn't blitzing as often. USC also switched to a hybrid 3-4 this season to take advantage of its depth at linebacker, but it may be that the Trojans aren't getting as much of a push up front.

"I'm really not looking at this situation of not getting the ball the last couple of weeks like we should be in 4-3 versus the 3-4," said Carroll. "Maybe it's hard to appreciate how young this group is and how little they've played together.... They've showed us a lot of playmaking ability and I think there's a huge amount of improvement for us there.

"I'd just like to see this improvement happen sooner than later."