Football

USC cornerback Brian Baucham did not practice and will miss Saturday's Pacific 10 Conference opener at Washington after suffering injuries in a motorcycle accident Thursday morning, the school announced. Baucham, a redshirt freshman from Torrance, was traveling north on the Harbor Freeway when the accident occurred. Baucham was taken to the hospital and treated for abrasions and was recovering at home, the school said. Baucham could not be reached for comment. An officer with the California Highway Patrol said an incident occurred on the northbound 110 Freeway at 6:34 a.m. that required transport of a motorcyclist to the hospital, but she could not confirm that Baucham was involved.

With a showdown against third-ranked USC growing close, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor has found himself in a tight spot from which he cannot seem to scramble free. The sophomore wrote a tribute to Michael Vick across one of his eye black patches in the season opener against Navy. When asked about honoring the convicted felon, he offered an interesting reply. "Not everybody's the perfect person in this world," he said. "Everyone kills people, everyone murders people, steals from you, steals from me, whatever . . . . " This week, as the controversy gained momentum, Coach Jim Tressel offered his support of Pryor by saying: "Whether it was a coverage read or a defensive guy not playing a gap or whatever, these are all moments that we can learn from."

There was a distinctly medical tone to the USC football practice on Thursday, and the prognosis was encouraging. The good news started with a visit from a doctor who is treating Stafon Johnson for the severe throat injury the tailback suffered in a weightlifting accident last week. Johnson had undergone a series of tests earlier in the day. "They were beside themselves with the wonderful results they got, to see how everything they worked on is looking great at this point," Coach Pete Carroll said.

This is the fifth in a series of seven 2009 college football story lines. Next week, columnist Chris Dufresne begins a daily countdown of his preseason top 25. Five questions as college football camps open: 1. Is Notre Dame really a national title contender? Get a grip, Gipper. That said . . .

USC said goodbye to one assistant coach and welcomed back another Tuesday. A few hours after Nick Holt was introduced as Washington's new defensive coordinator, USC Coach Pete Carroll announced that Carl Smith would return as quarterbacks coach and that he would also call plays. "His background and his work with quarterbacks over the years gives us a tremendous asset," Carroll said of Smith, a member of USC's staff in 2004 and a former NFL offensive coordinator.

Matt Barkley enjoyed the relative comfort of home in his debut as USC's starting quarterback, more than 85,000 fans cheering the freshman as he led the Trojans to a season-opening victory over San Jose State. The atmosphere will be about 100,000 times more hostile Saturday when the Trojans play Ohio State at the "Horseshoe" in Columbus. More than 105,000 fans are expected to fill Ohio Stadium to root on the Buckeyes and make things especially tough on a true freshman quarterback playing his first road game.

For a while Wednesday, the trainers-table area at USC's practice facility looked like a convention for injured Trojans starters. Quarterback Matt Barkley sat on a folding chair with an ice pack on his right shoulder. All-American safety Taylor Mays camped on the table, taking weight off his sprained right knee. And tailback Joe McKnight , suffering from migraine headaches, stood with a towel wrapped around his head to shield his eyes from the sun and his ears from music blaring from loudspeakers.

UCLA tight end Logan Paulsen is awaiting results of a CT scan on his right foot, injured during Saturday's scrimmage. The injury left the Bruins short-handed at tight end in spring practice, resulting in the seemingly annual position switch for Nate Chandler, who was back at tight end Monday. "We'll probably leave him at that position," said Coach Rick Neuheisel. "It's imperative we have some depth at tight end."

It's not yet certain who will start at quarterback for USC in the Sept. 5 opener against San Jose State. But the competition promises to get interesting next week. Aaron Corp took another step in his comeback from a leg injury Thursday with two sharp performances in seven-on-seven passing drills. It was Corp's first work with more than one receiver and defender since Aug. 10, when he suffered a cracked bone in his left fibula. "He had two really good practices under the circumstances," Coach Pete Carroll said.

USC was once again the choice in a Pacific 10 Conference football preseason poll, it was announced at Thursday's media day. The Trojans, who have won or shared the last seven conference championships, were the leader by a landslide, getting 28 of 32 first-place votes. Here's some more USC football news, one week before the Trojans are scheduled to open camp: No pressure?