Football Players

There was a running joke in the USC huddle on Saturday, the guys on offense comparing themselves to a car. And with freshman Matt Barkley starting at quarterback, it was like having a beginner at the wheel. So the tailbacks decided to pitch in. "It was up to us to help him out," Stafon Johnson said. "Give him a push-start." More like a turbocharge. The Trojans' ground game made Barkley's introduction to college football a whole lot easier by covering 342 yards -- 7.6 yards per carry -- and scoring six touchdowns in a 56-3 victory over San Jose State at the Coliseum.

UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince rolled to his right on a surprise naked bootleg with time running out against Tennessee on Saturday. He was clobbered in the end zone by defensive back Dennis Rogan for a safety. Assessing the play after the game, Coach Rick Neuheisel said, "The only thing I lost was 40 seconds." As of Sunday, add his quarterback to that bill. Prince underwent surgery Sunday to wire shut his jaw, which had two fractures on the right side, according to a source not authorized to talk publicly.

Maybe Pete Carroll just wants to have some fun, to keep former assistants Steve Sarkisian and Nick Holt guessing as Washington prepares to play USC. Or perhaps Carroll just can't help himself when it comes to all things Matt Barkley. Whatever the reason, Carroll declined Thursday to name a starting quarterback for USC's Pacific 10 Conference opener Saturday at Seattle. But with Barkley still sidelined because of a shoulder injury, third-year sophomore Aaron Corp will almost certainly make his first collegiate start.

Another day, another dollar gone? As the weeks pass and no agreement is reached with the San Francisco 49ers, receiver Michael Crabtree moves closer to missing the entire NFL season, reentering the draft in 2010 and trying his luck again. Texas Tech's Crabtree, the No. 10 pick of the 2009 NFL draft, is the only unsigned player from his draft class, and has turned down the 49ers' reported offer of $20 million over five years, with all but $4 million of it guaranteed. Neither he nor his agent have discussed the situation publicly, but it is believed Crabtree wants more money than the league's unofficial slotting system warrants because he thinks he should have been chosen earlier.

There is nothing left to see, folks, please clear the area. Tim Tebow has left the building (camera click, click and click). Take your cellphones, tweets, theories, second opinions and move on. The question that wouldn't go away -- Will Tebow play? -- was finally answered. He did, No. 1 Florida beat No. 4 Louisiana State, 13-3, and it turned out to be anticlimactic and the opposite of extraordinary. It was certainly not the kind of back-and-forth you would have expected from two Southeastern Conference heavyweights.

As a high school football game unfolded before a Cincinnati crowd of about 10,000 in a rain-dappled bowl known as the Pit, eyes strayed to the back of one end zone. There stood a handful of college players, including one wearing an Elder High shirt despite previously never having spent a minute there. Jimmy Clausen was a weekend guest of Notre Dame teammate Kyle Rudolph, an Elder grad, along with fellow Irish quarterback Dayne Crist. Rudolph outfitted both with the apparel from his alma mater.

The Oakland Raiders hoped JaMarcus Russell would take the NFL by storm. Instead, he's the most visible lightning rod for all that ails the worst team in football. Russell, the No. 1 overall pick in 2007, has had a cover-your-eyes bad start to the season, completing only 42.1% of his throws for the 1-4 Raiders and establishing a barely-there passer rating of 47.1. Over the last three games, Oakland has been outscored, 96-16. So what's gone so terribly wrong for the cannon-armed Russell, who showed promise at the end of last season and was looking to prove himself in this his pivotal third season?

He may have been only 13, but to his teammates and coaches at Hollywood High School, Spencer Juarez was already a "phenomenal" athlete who fired up everyone with his touchdown catches and impressed even more experienced players. Those teammates were in mourning Sunday, trying to come to terms with the death of the ninth-grade running back who collapsed on the field Friday evening during a freshman-sophomore football game against West Adams Preparatory High. He was taken to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and pronounced dead about 3 p.m. Saturday.

Charles Young watched USC tight end Anthony McCoy play against Notre Dame and marveled. Young, an All-American tight end on USC's 1972 national championship team, saw McCoy produce more receiving yardage than any tight end in USC history, often spectacularly. "I like his style," said Young, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and a three-time NFL Pro Bowl player. "I like the way he walks onto the field with panache. "He exudes confidence that says, 'I'm the best.

Matt Barkley stood in the pocket and took the hit. Surrounded by reporters Tuesday after practice, USC's freshman quarterback never flinched when blitzed with questions about his recent struggles. "I'll take the responsibility for that and for the offense because it does start with the quarterback," he said. As the Trojans begin the final quarter of their schedule, Barkley is hoping to recapture the efficiency that mostly characterized his play in the first half of the season.