New QB Shows He's No Fake

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — He was screaming. He was pointing. He was angry.

It was first down on the Arkansas 14-yard line for USC, and the Trojans had just finished a timeout, and they had a nine-point lead, and they were casually lining up.

Yet their quarterback was acting as if he had just been bitten by a hog.

Who was this guy?

Matt Leinart never shouted like this. Carson Palmer never lost his temper like this. The Heisman dudes were bronze and stiff. Their replacement was all frowns and flailing and fury.

Who was this guy?

Moments later, we found out, an hour later, two quarters later, in an impression as enduring as the hills surrounding Razorback Stadium, we found out.

His name is John David Booty, and he's got next.

On an opening night when Pete Carroll tried out all of his new toys like a giddy kid at a birthday party, Booty was the one that worked best, Booty was the keeper, and the Trojans were just fine.

The final score was USC 50, Arkansas 14, and if you've figured that's one more point than those great Trojans averaged last year, you're right.

But if you think you know why Booty was yelling at his team in that key third-quarter moment, you're wrong.

"Oh, \o7that\f7?" he asked afterward with a smile. "No, I was only pretending to be yelling."

Before the timeout, the Trojans were in a formation that would result in a pass to Patrick Turner. After the timeout, they decided to use the same formation, but they didn't want Arkansas to figure it out.

"So I tried to make Arkansas think we were all messed up out there, so they wouldn't realize that the same thing was coming at them," Booty said with a grin.

What came at them was Turner running a 14-yard corner route into double coverage.

What came at Turner was a pass perfectly placed on his fingertips.

"It was right there, it was amazing, he could not have thrown it any better," Turner said.

Catch, touchdown, extra point, USC leads, 23-7, the rout is on, and the Booty story has begun.

With a hidden-ball trick, no less.

Twenty-four completions in 35 attempts for 261 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and plenty of admirers.

"God blessed that boy to be a quarterback," tackle Sam Baker said.

After a restrained first half, Booty completed nine of 10 passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter in an effort that broke open a game and quieted the oinks of thousands.