BURBANK, Calif. — Even before coach Pete Carroll’s dynasty had died, Southern California began a yearly cycle of sky-high preseason hopes and comparatively disappointing results.
After Carroll left and the Trojans’ football program became hamstrung by NCAA sanctions for the past half decade, their modest winter successes never matched their enormous summer expectations.
Those hopes are high again, now that USC is free of scholarship sanctions and bolstered by its first full recruiting class in four years.
Coach Steve Sarkisian believes the Trojans can only break the cycle through hard work, and he can’t wait to get to it next week.
“It’s somewhat of a beauty contest right now,” the second-year USC coach said Friday at the Pac-12 football preview. “It’s great, it’s flattering that people feel a certain way about us, but ultimately we have to perform.”
With quarterback Cody Kessler leading 16 returning starters, USC was picked to win the Pac-12 title in a preseason media poll. The Trojans are No. 10 in the national preseason coaches poll.
Never mind that the Trojans haven’t won the league since 2008, or that rival Oregon reached the national championship game last season, or that the Pac-12 South might be the toughest division in the nation. USC’s recruiting prowess and its recent history as a national powerhouse are irresistible to poll voters — and to fans who grew accustomed to winning trophies during Carroll’s tenure.
“I’m not going to lie, it does feel good to be finally sanction free,” said Kessler, a Heisman candidate. “Free from all these restrictions, because it has been a long time. I don’t know if it’s necessarily extra motivation, but I think it’s an extra push.”
