Carroll: USC has 'no excuses' against Ohio State
USC FOOTBALL FYI
Trojans coach says an off week allows his top-ranked team to prepare for Saturday's showdown against No. 5 Buckeyes.
As the hype began shifting into overdrive for his team's game against Ohio State, USC Coach Pete Carroll today spoke admiringly of the Buckeyes' storied program and the team that will visit the Coliseum on Saturday.
But he also directly addressed the top-ranked Trojans' readiness for a game that could propel them toward another Bowl Championship Series title-game appearance.
USC had an open date after its season-opening rout of Virginia, allowing Carroll and his staff to begin installing the game plan that will be refined over the next few days.
"By the end of the week we'll have no excuses," Carroll said during his weekly news conference on campus.
Ohio State, meanwhile, is attempting to put behind last week's lackluster 26-14 victory over Ohio.
"I tried not to spend too much time looking back at that," Buckeyes' Coach Jim Tressel said during a conference call before Carroll's appearance. "It was not a stellar performance by any means."
Carroll reiterated that he would not put much stock in the way the Buckeyes played.
"They just won that game a little differently than people wanted or expected them to," Carroll said.
Ohio State running back Chris "Beanie" Wells, who did not play against Ohio because of a foot injury, appears on track to play against the Trojans. Wells has run this week and Tressel said he would attempt a more vigorous workout today before he goes "into the scuffle of all the bodies," at practice on Wednesday.
Wells is among several Ohio State players who were also recruited by USC.
"I think right after he came here [to visit] he went to Ohio State," Carroll said. "So he knew what he wanted."
gary.klein@latimes.com
