Sport-Blog.com

Who says the college football offseason is boring? There is plenty of news coming out of southern California, but unfortunately, none of it is good. The USC Trojans, who finished second in the country last year after falling to the University of Texas in the National Championship title game, have been suffering one blow after another ever since then. Let's take a look at what's happening with this Pac-10 powerhouse.

First of all, spring practices turned out to be very costly for the team. There were a whole slew of injuries over the last month, and several key Trojans players will be inactive for an unspecified length of time. Chief among those is John David Booty, whom many felt had been pegged the heir apparent for departed star Matt Leinart. Booty made it through exactly one spring practice before complaining of back pain. He opted to have surgery immediately in order to deal with the problem, which has been a recurring one throughout his career. During the 2005 season, Booty saw a significant amount of playing time as he came on in the 4th quarter of numerous games that the Trojans had already put out of reach. That kind of playing time had to boost his confidence, and will certainly help make the transition to starter a lot easier.

Another key injury during spring workout was a blown knee suffered by fifth-year senior Hershel Dennis. The injury occurred on Dennis' first day of camp and was severe enough to require surgery. Since he injured the same knee that kept him out of the lineup last year, he is projected to miss the entire season. Tailback Desmond Reed also sat out most of the spring workouts due to a foot injury, and his recovery timeline is still unknown at this point. Sophomore tailback Michael Coleman missed all of spring practice due to hip surgery, while fullback Jody Adewale didn't work out much because of a groin injury. To top it all off, tailback Desmond Washington was declared academically ineligible to participate in the Trojans' spring sessions.

The USC football program has had significant troubles off the field as well. These problems have embroiled both past and present players, and have served to somewhat tarnish the once golden image of the team. The biggest story concerns that of former USC running back and 2005 Heisman trophy winner Reggie Bush. In the past couple of weeks, a story has surfaced containing allegations that Bush's family lived rent-free in a southern California home that was purchased by a would-be sports agent. The agent, of course, was interested in representing Bush once he turned pro. This same man has now filed a lawsuit against Bush and family, alleging that the family owes him back rent for the entire year. The man is also seeking damages since Bush opted to sign with a different sports agency.

Nevertheless, if the man can prove his case and show that Bush's family did live rent-free and that they accepted cash as he alleges, then that would be a clear violation of NCAA policy. The potential ramifications against USC are significant. The NCAA could declare Bush to have been in violation of league policies, and they could then force the Trojans to forfeit the games that Bush played in. That action seems to be a bit extreme, and not many experts believe that the NCAA will actually do that. A more likely scenario might be that the NCAA would put the USC program on probation. Either way, Bush is free to sign with this new NFL team, the New Orleans Saints. Yes, that's right: New Orleans. It turns out that Bush, who held the number one spot on every mock draft published since December, was actually passed over by the Houston Texans, who instead chose defensive end Mario Williams of North Carolina State. Bush ended up being the number two overall pick, which will cost him millions of dollars in guaranteed contract money. The Texans didn't give a reason as to why they chose Williams over Bush, but most experts are speculating that the Houston organization feels Bush's agent is too contentious to deal with.

Bush wasn't the only former Trojan player to get drafted lower than expected on Saturday. Leinart also experienced something of a freefall. The 2004 Heisman winner was projected to go in the top-5 of this year's draft, but ended up not being selected until the 10th position when the Arizona Cardinals picked him. Although the Cardinals' organization is probably a better overall fit than the Tennessee Titans would have been, it was clear that Leinart did not expect to drop that far. He had visited with the New York Jets earlier in the week, and had even met with one of New York's most famous residents, Donald Trump. Many feel that Leinart would have thrived in the New York market, but now he will be playing in the desert for at least the first part of his career. It remains to be seen how well Leinart, who is used to hanging out with Hollywood A-list celebrities, can handle playing in the relatively small media market that is Arizona.

Another USC alumnus, tailback LenDale White, was projected to be a first-round draft pick as well. But he too experienced a dropoff in interest from NFL teams. White's problems stem from the fact that he failed an NFL-sanctioned drug test during one of the league's workouts. He ended up not being picked until the second round when the Titans, who also chose Vince Young in the number three spot, picked him with the 45th overall selection. Being taken in the second round instead of the first will cost White millions of dollars in signing bonuses.

Back on campus, there is even more off-field drama unfolding around second-string quarterback Mark Sanchez. Sanchez had taken over the starting quarterback duties in spring practice while Booty was out with his back injury. But just last week, the sophomore was arrested for an alleged sexual assault perpetrated against a female USC student. Details of the case are hard to come by, but whichever way this plays out, the Trojans certainly don't need even more media scrutiny.

It's hard to believe that just a few months ago, prior to the Rose Bowl in early January, the Trojans were on top of the college football world. They had the best players in the country and had three potential first-round draft picks moving on to the NFL. Plus, they still have a talented lineup in Los Angeles, and were ready to reload for another shot at the National Championship. But they're now finding out the hard way that when it rains, it pours. It will be interesting to see how the team responds to these hardships.