Safety Troy Polamalu A Danger To Pittsburgh's Opponents

There goes Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu, using his uncanny instincts to leap, Superman style, and sack the quarterback an instant after the ball is snapped.

And there's Polamalu again, reaching back to snare an impossible one-handed interception, the ball stuck like Velcro in his grasp.

Polamalu, among the NFL's best defensive players, is everywhere on the field — and the Steelers (4-1) are back in a familiar spot, atop the AFC North as one of the league's three one-loss teams.
The man with the cartoonish large pouf of jet-black hair cascading across his shoulders conjures a different type of cartoon for wary opponents.

"He's like 'Where's Waldo?'" Tampa Bay Coach Raheem Morris said recently. "You've got to know where he is on the field."

Miami will certainly be keeping tabs. The Dolphins play host to Pittsburgh on Sunday and will be especially aware of playing keep-away from Polamalu as they try to get the ball into the hands of star receiver Brandon Marshall.

How much of a game-changer is the former USC safety? Consider that the Steelers won three of their first four games this season without the services of suspended quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, yet were completely lost last season when Polamalu was sidelined with a knee injury. He makes that kind of impact.

The 16th overall pick in the 2003 draft, Polamalu is on a collision course with Canton and is among an elite collection of All-Pro NFL players to emerge from Los Angeles schools in the past two-plus decades — a group that includes USC's Junior Seau and Tony Boselli, and UCLA's Troy Aikman.

So what separates Polamalu from other safeties? A few experts on the position make their case.
 
Hands

NBC's Rodney Harrison, another two-time All-Pro safety, calls Polamalu "the defensive Randy Moss" for his ability to pull down any pass in his area code.

"I've never seen a guy make so many one-handed interceptions," Harrison said. "Every time that ball hits his hands. I don't care if it's one-handed, if it's behind him, if it's on the sideline, he's going to catch it and he's going to make sure he taps his feet."

Steelers fans won't soon forget the leaning, left-handed pick Polamalu made against Tennessee in last year's opener, a candidate for the most spectacular defensive play of the year.

Feet

One of the reasons the Steelers can get so creative with Polamalu, nudging him close to the line of scrimmage or deep in the defensive backfield, is his ability to cover ground so quickly.

"He's got feet like a running back," said NBC's Tony Dungy, a Super Bowl-winning coach and a former Pittsburgh defensive back. "He's not off balance very much, he can change directions quickly, and he's hard to knock off his feet when you're trying to block him.

"His feet allow him to stay in position and not miss many tackles."

Instincts

Harrison says the Steelers safety has such a good feel for what's about to happen, it's as if he has "football ESP." Hall of Fame safety Rod Woodson, also a former Pittsburgh star, said those instincts allow Polamalu to bend the rules a bit in defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau's system.
"I remember when I was with Coach LeBeau in Pittsburgh, and he would always tell us not to turn our back to the ball," said Woodson, an NFL Network analyst. "Well, heck, Troy always turns his back to the ball. I asked Coach, 'Why do you let him do it?' And Coach said, 'Because he can.'

"I think that's an indication of how good he is as an athlete, knowing where he wants to go, and over the years becoming a student of the game. When we first saw Troy come into the league, he was kind of just a kamikaze guy. He was all over the place but wasn't making a whole bunch of plays, he'd miss some tackles. But what he's done the last three years, he's taken his game to the next level."

Heart  

As wild as he is on the field, Polamalu is remarkably humble and soft-spoken away from it.

"I don't think football comes naturally to me," he said. "I'm not like [Baltimore linebacker] Ray Lewis that can go out there and say, 'I'm the beast of the field. I own this field.' I'm more or less fighting out of fear."

That has inspired Polamalu to go to extremes when training in the off-season, including going on long runs in the middle of the night "to get my body used to things it doesn't want to do."

He and his wife are devout Eastern Orthodox Christians, and he weaves his spirituality into every facet of his life. That includes what he calls "spiritual workouts," or pushing himself to the point of total fatigue — then beyond.

For example, he has tested himself at a gym near his La Jolla home by turning a treadmill up to maximum speed, then sprinting on it as long as he possibly can until collapsing off it in a heap.

"You're pushing yourself beyond a limit where it stops working on you physically, and it starts working on your spirit," he said.

"As an athlete, if you're able to push yourself to those limits, it can give you a certain confidence. That doesn't come out of pride or ego, it comes out of humility.

"I know this guy's pushing himself hard. I know he works out eight hours a day. So I have to do something more than him in order to compete."

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USC's Stanley Havili Takes On Bigger Role

 After seldom getting the ball in USC's first three games, senior fullback Stanley Havili took on a big role in the No. 20 Trojans' 50-16 victory Saturday over Washington State.

On USC's first offensive play, Havili erased a 7-0 deficit by taking a handoff and breaking multiple tackles en route to a 59-yard touchdown. He also scored the Trojans' final touchdown on a 22-yard pass from backup quarterback Mitch Mustain.

Havili, who had a combined six touches against Hawaii, Virginia and Minnesota, rushed four times for 80 yards and caught five passes for 107 yards against the Cougars.

"It feels really good to touch the ball," he said.

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Lofa Tatupu Comes Full Circle

Standing inside Heritage Hall on the campus of USC, waiting for his soon-to-be coach, Lofa Tatupu rocked nervously from one foot to the other.

He had waited years for this moment, without any certainty it would arrive. Now he stood in the same place his father, Mosi, once stood, anticipating the arrival of Trojans coach Pete Carroll.

A door opened and Carroll practically bounded toward Tatupu, hand outstretched.

“He came in and shook my hand and said, ‘Congratulations, you’re a Trojan,’ ” Tatupu said after a recent Seahawks practice. “It’s still one of the best days of my life. It was a feeling of disbelief. I didn’t expect a scholarship. I just wanted the opportunity to play.”

Coming out of King Philip High in Wrentham, Lofa Tatupu wanted more.

He wanted what his father had. He wanted Saturday afternoons in the fall with 80,000 people cheering him. He wanted a chance to play for national championships. He wanted to be seen and, most important, he wanted to play against the best.

“I wanted to play in front of big crowds, not just the 10,000 or so we got at Maine,” Tatupu said. “The NFL? Well, I wasn’t sure about that.”

Tatupu was considered too small for the big time, a recurring theme in his life. He was maybe 215 pounds. And almost no major schools showed an interest.

“I wasn’t 6 feet tall, so everyone looked at my films and said, ‘He isn’t tall enough.’ Even my father told me I was small,” Tatupu said. “He didn’t want me to get discouraged by it.

“He kind of let me be and let me find my own way. But he knew how determined I was and he knew I wasn’t going to listen to what people were saying.”

After getting ignored by the big schools, not to mention a lot of smaller schools, Tatupu went to the only place that offered him a scholarship, the University of Maine.

But he never stopped dreaming big.

He looked at other small linebackers who made it in the NFL - Dat Nguyen, Dexter Coakley, London Fletcher - and got inspiration from them.

“I’m the same size as them and I looked at them and tried to figure out what separates them,” Tatupu said, “and it’s their mental capacity for this game. So I tried to study as much film as I could and put myself on their level in the classroom and tried to get an edge somehow. I still do. I wasn’t the prototype, but the best athlete isn’t always the best football player.”

Mosi Tatupu, who died last February, starred as a fullback at USC, then played 13 seasons with the Patriots [team stats]. Mosi got those Saturday afternoons his son desperately wanted. He got that recognition.

And even though he had his doubts, Mosi worked so his son could have those same chances, that same career. He put together a highlight tape from Lofa’s freshman season at Maine and, unbeknownst to his son, sent the tape to Carroll and to then-USC linebacker coach Nick Holt.

Holt loved what he saw on tape, then took the tape to Carroll and said, “We need to look at this guy.”
Mosi also called Carroll. And he called Carroll again and again.

“At the time we were really scrapping for players,” Carroll said. “On the tape Mosi sent us, Lofa didn’t start in any of the games, but when he got in, he made almost every tackle. We couldn’t tell how fast he was. We only knew he was making a bunch of plays.

“We were hoping we could pull the trigger for Mosi, because we love him and all of that, but when we saw how small Lofa was we thought, ‘Oh boy.’ But we had scholarships, so we said, ‘Let’s just do it.’ I just hoped it was going to work out. Knowing the history and knowing how loved his father was, we knew how big a deal it was for Lofa, but we had no idea what we were getting.”

At worst, Carroll figured, he was doing a favor for a former Trojan. At best, well he got the best. He got a defensive leader in the middle of the football field.

“He just had this marvelous savvy,” Carroll said. “We fell in love with him and he became a great player. He was one of the best linebackers who ever played there.

“He learned very, very quickly. He made sense of stuff. He was just a natural at playing the position, just as he’s been here. I’m thrilled we gave him that scholarship. Not just for Lofa, but for Mosi too. I know how proud Mosi was of him.”

Tatupu redshirted in 2002, his first season at USC.

“He did a phenomenal job on the service team,” Holt said. “But we knew as soon as he started practicing that he was going to be a good player. He just had it. He understands football.”

Now after five NFL seasons and three Pro Bowl invitations, Tatupu has been reunited with his college coach. Today against San Francisco will be their first game together as player and coach in an NFL regular season.

“He’s absolutely the same guy that I had down there and it’s refreshing to know that it wasn’t just an act,” said Tatupu. “To have him back up here is fun.

“He still has his way of doing things. He keeps it light. Everybody here is having fun. It’s good to see that it wasn’t just an act. It wasn’t just for college. He knows how to win.”

And Tatupu, who left USC with one season of eligibility remaining, is the same player he was at USC, only now he weighs 250 pounds.

“He’s made the same transition here that he made from Maine to SC,” Carroll said. “When he was deciding whether to stay (at USC), I was battling for him to stay. I thought nobody would know about him. The buildup wasn’t there for it. But he told me, ‘I know I can do it.’ ”

Tatupu was asked last week if he thought he still owed Carroll for taking the chance and offering him a scholarship. He smiled.

“I was very appreciative of the opportunity,” said Tatupu, Seattle’s second-round pick in 2005. “Definitely some things had to go my way to get to where I am now and it started with that scholarship. But I also like to think I had a hand in helping Pete win those two national titles.”
In other words, Tatupu has paid his debt to Carroll, something his once-and-future coach readily acknowledges.

“He was a great Trojan,” Carroll said.

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Troy Polamalu's Long Locks Insured For $1 Million

You'd think that an All-Pro safety who missed 11 games in 2009 due to a knee injury would be most concerned about other body parts, but Pittsburgh Steelers superstar Troy Polamalu(notes) also has endorsements to consider. One of his endorsements is with the Head & Shoulders company, which makes sense when you consider Polamalu's famed three-foot-long hair. It's a tribute to his Samoan heritage, and it's not something he plans to cut anytime soon.

[Photos: More images of Polamalu]

Once in a great while, a Steelers opponent will try to use Polamalu's hair against him in a game (as Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson(notes) did in 2006 as Polamalu returned an interception), and it's quite possible that the concern over such matters was the catalyst needed by Head & Shoulders to insure Polamalu's hair with Lloyd's of London for $1 million, which was reported by the Associated Press.

Then again, it could be a publicity stunt. Lloyd's is famous for unusual policies that can be turned into media gold; the company has insured Tina Turner's legs, Keith Richards' fingers, the legs of noted Riverdance ponce Michael Flatley, the bodies of several professional wrestlers (including Ric Flair -- Woo!), Jimmy Durante's nose, and Celine Dion's vocal cords (they're also talking with Virgin Galactic about insuring space travel, if that ever gets off the ground). Polamalu's hair isn't going anywhere, but it's a nice press haul for company and endorsee.

And if you want to ask Polamalu why his hair is insured ... well, just don't ask with your eyes. He can pick that up pretty well.

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Havili's Experience Crucial For Trojans

Since Stanley Havili became the starting fullback, USC has gone through four starting quarterbacks, two head coaches, a carousel of assistants, a couple of polar-opposite athletic directors and a mountain of pain handed down by the NCAA.

The fifth-year senior appears to be exactly what USC needs in these trying times: Someone the Trojans can depend on. Havili provides a vocal, trusted presence in the huddle, a dangerous outlet valve in the passing game and, lately, some punishing blocks to open running lanes.

"Stanley's a real cool guy. Everybody loves him on the team," tailback Allen Bradford said. "He's going to be
a real offensive leader this year."

In intense team sports, it's impossible for outsiders to gauge quite how leadership works. When Havili broke freshman cornerback T.J. Bryant's cheekbone in a skirmish earlier this summer, some people viewed it as another example of the Trojans' football program coming apart at the seams. People on the team, however, saw it differently.


Havili is one of the few holdovers from the end of USC's golden era under Pete Carroll, when Rose Bowls and BCS title games were the objective. The fight between the two broke out because Havili was urging Bryant to finish the drill with maximum effort, to compete in the Trojan way. He was leading. And so coach Lane Kiffin suspended him for just one practice.

Havili will be the most experienced member of the offense Thursday at Aloha Stadium, when USC opens its season against Hawaii. "This is definitely the most excited I've ever been," Havili said. "The realization of this being my last year, the first year of Coach Kiffin just makes it a plus. I'm going out with the change of Trojan identity. It's a different leader now and guys have to buy in."

A lot is riding on Thursday's outcome for Havili, who is of Tongan descent and will have family members who live on the island at the game. Hawaii recruited him as a tailback five years ago, but Havili elected to go to USC, saying, "I always wanted to compete at the highest level."

A lot is riding on this season, because Havili has NFL aspirations and will need to prove he's a capable blocker in order to improve his draft stock. At 6-foot-1, 225 pounds, he's a bit light for a fullback. New running backs coach Kennedy Pola is teaching him to make up for his size with solid technique.

"Our focus is on knowledge," Havili said.

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Uona Kaveinga's Appeal Deserves To Be Judged By Spirit Of Law

The Uona Kaveinga appeal to the NCAA deserves close scrutiny.

As they say in legalese, there are "mitigating" circumstances for the BYU player currently busting his butt in practice.

Initially, the NCAA ruled Kaveinga is not eligible to play for the Cougars this season after transferring from Southern California and enrolling at BYU in January.

The NCAA's decision not to waive bylaw 14.3 through 14.5.6 is currently on appeal by BYU in behalf of the native of Hawthorne, Calif.

NCAA rules say an athlete who transfers must sit out one year of competition. The rule was instigated to discourage players from transferring en masse from one school to another, picking a flavor of the month, after financial commitments have been made.

A waiver to this rule is given when a school receives major sanctions or penalties involving postseason play for violating NCAA rules. Players can then transfer to a school of their choice and immediately play.

This is where Kaveinga hopes there is some wiggle room. There is no precedent for his case.

While USC awaited NCAA sanctions, Kaveinga left a program with disturbing features that left him uncomfortable in December and enrolled at BYU on Jan. 4. It was a few weeks before that when USC's compliance office began an investigation into RB Joe McKnight driving around a Land Rover owned by a Santa Monica businessman and held McKnight out of the Emerald Bowl.

The NCAA slapped the Trojans with major sanctions June 10. Kaveinga, however, transferred to BYU before the actual hammer came down on USC, freeing football players to transfer without penalty.

If the spirit of the waiver rule on appeal is upheld, a legislative committee may yet rule he can play. If the letter of the rule is kept, as in the original decision, he cannot and will redshirt this fall.

Odds are, he'll be forced to sit out 2010.

His coach, Paul Tidwell, is understandably biased and wants the player on the field.

"I think he should play," Tidwell said. "The NCAA may never hear it, or if they do, they may not believe it, but Uona knew what the situation was there and he wanted a better environment. He knew with the coaching change and an investigation going on for some time that it should be a consideration.

"I hope they grant it. Unfortunately BYU has not been very fortunate with appeals and waivers for our young men. We've been turned down a lot more than we've been granted."

If Kaveinga has to redshirt, he has a redshirt year, said Tidwell. "He'll come back and be an outstanding player for us. Thing is, we do need him this year and he could help us now. Personally, I hope he gets the waiver. If they look at the whole picture and why he transferred, I hope they waive the rule so our appeal can go through."

Kaveinga's appeal should be based on the fact the NCAA's hammer was raised and in motion toward the anvil of USC's football program when Kaveinga transferred. It is common knowledge the NCAA was poised to deliver a serious decision against the USC athletic department last January. Whether he attended classes in Los Angeles or in Provo shouldn't matter. It is not a competitive advantage had he spent his winter semester in Provo as opposed to gang-ridden Los Angeles; nor does it open a floodgate of similar cases.

If the NCAA is about the student athlete, it should rule in his favor on appeal, just as we saw with much-injured Ute RB Matt Asiata, not because the cases are similar — they are not at all — but because it would aid an innocent athlete who wanted relief from an infected pool.

Five USC players have transferred since the NCAA penalized the Trojans in June.

It is true head coach Pete Carroll left his USC job Jan. 10, 2010, for the NFL in a cloud of criticism for the lack of control he established with agents and other celebrity influences among his athletes. That leaky access challenge has led Florida's Urban Meyer and Alabama's Nick Saban to take a much stricter approach to practice access this month.

It is well known that USC and the NCAA took major actions against the men's basketball and tennis programs — a signal that USC's athletic department had serious issues that were well known at the close of 2009. On Feb. 18, 2010, the NCAA began three days of hearings on USC allegations.

Is it justice if the NCAA grants him a waiver?

Maybe.

There is a precedent in recent appeals with BYU, however. Last Saturday, Bronco Mendenhall had to bite his tongue when asked about the last time he saw one in BYU's favor.

Chances are this one will be added to that list.

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Viliami Moala: Where Will He Go?

I've chalked Viliama Moala to the Trojans since defensive line coach Ed Orgeron hit LA, but recent events have me, and Moala, hesitating.

The Trojans have already taken two major defensive line recruits in the 2011 class, after inking five-star DT George Uko in the last class. Could Antwaun Woods and Jalen Grimble fill out USC's allotment for DTs in the 2011 class?

Defensive line is also the strongest position groups on the USC defense, and one of the youngest. I'm not sure if another defensive lineman—even one as good as Moala—is their top priority.

Perhaps I'm just looking for a reason to second-guess what should be a slam dunk of a commitment, but Moala is hesitating to name a leader or even to devote too much time to his decision.

Is it because he already has the Trojans picked out? Could he be favoring a school like Cal, one closer to his home and in which he's expressed early interest?

Or is the interest from SEC powerhouses Florida and Alabama making him reconsider the Pac-10?

Nothing ought be said, or even guessed at, until Moala says more.

Stanley Havili Torches Trojan Defense

USC fullback Stanley Havili had five catches for 129  yards and three touchdowns in Saturday's spring game.

Havili is the best receiving fullback in the nation.  He has 84 catches for 894 yards and 10 touchdowns in his career.  Matt Barkley has already stated an importance in checking the ball down and Havili figures to benefit from that strategy.  He can be a valuable option in Pac 10 leagues when looking for a bye week fill-in.

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Quintet of Stars Leads Grant Union

After falling one point shy of likely having an opportunity to defend their California state championship (in the CIF Open Division), the Grant Union High School (Sacramento) football team isn't asking questions.

They haven't asked why they couldn't convert a first-and-goal situation into points. Why a game-winning field goal attempt sailed wide. Or why they were denied an invitation to a 2009 California State Bowl game. There's no point to these queries.

"We are the answer," defensive coordinator Reggie Harris said. It's what the Pacer players chant at the conclusion of every offseason huddle, every workout concluded in the Grant weight room and every time someone brings up the disappointing end to last season. And as the answer, they are looking ahead.

Over the last four years, the Pacers have been a competitive force in high school football. Harris believes that in 2006, the Pacers were arguably the best team in the state, but they were overshadowed by perennial power De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) when it came time for state bowl game selections. Two years later, the Pacers stormed to an undefeated record and a 25-20 state title win over another California power, Long Beach Poly. And despite falling short of a return trip to the title game last year -- which has some wondering whether the Pacers have enough to keep them among the state's elite in 2010 -- Harris says the team is still on track.

"We are the answer," he repeated. "That's the bottom line. There are high expectations for this team going back to state and winning it this year."

For Grant, everything starts at the top with Mike Alberghini, a Hall of Fame caliber coach preparing to begin his 42nd season at the school, the past 20 of those as head coach.

Each year, Alberghini undertakes the difficult task of building a championship-level team in the heart of northern Sacramento's troubled Del Paso Heights area. It's a region more known for poverty and rampant gang violence than college scholarship recipients. And if churning out successful student athletes and community stars under such conditions isn't enough, Alberghini must also work within the confines of public school, meaning he is unable to go out and recruit players like private schools.
Still, working against the odds, both Harris and Alberghini have made tremendous strides. This season, they will have the opportunity to watch five of the best defensive players in the state -- and it just so happens that they'll all be breaking the same huddle.

Even Alberghini, able to cut to the heart of any issue in a no-nonsense way that Bill Parcells would envy, allows himself to be momentarily caught up in the idea of unleashing a nearly unmatchable amount of defense talent at the opposition this season. For a team that pitched eight shutouts in 13 games last season, getting five starters back who will eventually sign with FBS programs is almost unfair.

"I can't ever remember having five kids this good," he said. "We have some pieces that could make it a pretty nice puzzle."

The Pieces

Just as everything Grant football starts with Alberghini, everything Pacer defense begins with defensive tackle Viliami Moala, a 6-3, 300 pound wrecking ball in the middle of the defensive line. Already holding scholarship offers from most of the Pac-10, the man known as "V" could become one of the most highly recruited line prospects in the country.

"Dominating, aggressive, relentless," Harris said about Moala. "It's a blessing that we have special athletes such as 'V' because he's a leader. It makes our job easier. He leads by example and everyone else falls in place. There are no inconsistencies."

"He has speed, athleticism, size and strength," Alberghini said. "A defensive tackle that requires a double team -- that he can sometimes beat by himself -- is very nice to have. For a while he just got by being strong. But he's developed a little bit of a motor and some anger. He gets frustrated with being double teamed now and he has that mean edge."

While Moala may be a big cog in the Grant defense, he's not a big talker. He has gone out of his way to deflect all recruiting questions, and instead focuses on what he and his teammates have an opportunity to accomplish.

"College is the next step, but expectations are high for us this year," he said.

Moala in the middle would be enough to boost any high school defense, but Harris has the ability to lean on Darryl Paulo in at middle linebacker as well. Paulo, a 6-3, 245 pound three-year starter, says he loves nothing more than playing downhill and stopping the run. A converted offensive guard, he began playing middle linebacker last season and was quick to adjust to the new position.
"He's another leader, a warrior," Harris said. "If Grant High School was an island, he'd be king of the island. He controls the momentum of the defense and is a very intelligent player."

Paulo, who has garnered interest from much of the Pac-10 conference and an offer from Washington State, said the switch to linebacker agrees with his football disposition. "I get a lot more freedom there," he said. "I love running around the field and hitting people."
And it doesn't stop there for Grant.

"What's really nice about our defense is that, just like in baseball, you want to be strong right up the middle, and we are really strong there," Alberghini said. His "last line of defense," Alberghini added, is free safety James Sample.

"[Sample] is a very competitive kid and another leader who doesn't make excuses for anything. He just gets the job done," Harris said.

Sample currently has offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Washington and Washington State, although Harris is surprised that the list isn't growing by the minute.

"It doesn't matter who has offered him so far," Harris said. "The question is going to be posed for coaches at the next level. They're going to say to themselves, 'Why didn't I offer this kid?' He's such a dominating force. They can either get him or play against him. He's going to be a kid just like [former USC Trojan] Taylor Mays once he is able to bulk up and get stronger in a college program."
Perhaps no player on the Pacer defense is poised to take advantage of the strength up the middle more than defensive end Faigame "Puka" Lopa. Coming off a 100-tackle, 20-sack season in 2009, Lopa currently holds scholarship offers from Arizona, Washington State, Washington and San Diego State. A 6-2, 250 pound terror off the edge, Harris is excited to see what he does as a senior.
"He's a mirror image of 'V' in that he's non-stop and consistent," Harris said. "He's rangy and can move sideline to sideline as a defensive end."

Lopa, like the rest of the Grant team, has only the goal of a state championship this year with an all-star cast of teammates.

"I started thinking about this during my freshman year," he said of playing with his fellow seniors.

"There's no feeling like playing with kids who you grew up together with in this neighborhood. It's amazing to me."

But what might be the most amazing feat of all is that with those four seniors headlining the defense, perhaps the best prospect is junior cornerback Shaquille Thompson. The younger brother of former Grant Union and University of California star Syd'Quan Thompson, he is coming off a sophomore season in which he rushed for 364 yards and seven touchdowns, caught passes for 101 yards, another score and recorded 74 tackles, three sacks and three interceptions on defense. For good measure, he averaged just over 40 yards on seven kickoff returns.

"Last season, he could have been our starting running back. This year, he could end up being our starting quarterback. He's a man amongst boys out there. He has great size and is the quickest guy on the team. At his track meets, he's just running away from people. He's the real deal," Alberghini said.
Thompson, who hesitated in stepping into a leadership role last season, deferring to more experienced teammates like tailback Devontae Butler, will have an opportunity to show what he can do out front, on both sides of the ball. And the increased role will likely garner him even more attention and offers at the collegiate level.

"Right now, Cal, talks to me and Washington a little bit," Thompson said. "I'm thinking that I might follow my brother to Cal, but then I might have to think about that. He already set his name there and I might want to go somewhere else to do my own thing."
What's certain is that Thompson is about to do his own thing this season, perhaps filling the team's biggest potential hole, at quarterback.

"I can do a lot of things if I put my mind to it and practice a lot," he said. "This year I feel I can do more to compete with the seniors -- to be at their level."

And thanks to five of the top defensive players in the state, Grant football could reach a level this season matched only by 2008's title team. With an all-state caliber player in every level of the defense, there is no limit to what this team is capable of achieving.

"All five of those kids are great team leaders and great human beings," Alberghini said. "Sometimes schools are blessed with two or maybe even three at a time. We're blessed with five."

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Soma Vainuku Joins the USC Signing Day Foray

Soma Vainuku, the top high school fullback recruit, is the newest member of USC's stellar 2010 recruiting class.

Vainuku, cousin of former Trojan and current Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga, was recruited by many schools as a linebacker, but signed on as a fullback with USC.

A four-star recruit from Eureka, California, Vainuku joins an already loaded 2010 recruiting class for USC that now stands at nineteen strong.

“Extremely athletic for his size, [Vainuku] can really move and is similar to USC back Stanley Havili,” according to a Scout.com profile. “[Vainuku] Can play linebacker too and probably projects best there in college but showed this year he can be a playmaking fullback.”

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Masoli Make Trojans Pony Up

Oregon’s spread-option offense lived up to its billing in Saturday’s 47-20 win over No. 4 USC, the 10th-ranked Ducks spreading the field with screens in the passing game and gashing the Trojans on the ground with the option.

Jeremiah Masoli completed 19 passes, none longer than 23 yards, and also ran for 164 yards. He complemented the efforts of redshirt freshman tailback LaMichael James, who had a career-best rushing total for the third straight game, with 183 yards.

“You have to defend the entire field because of how good our running backs are, how well our offensive line is playing right now, and the quarterback,” UO coach Chip Kelly said. “It really stresses a defense when you’ve got all that clicking.”

A week after running for 154 yards against Washington, and two games after reaching 152 at UCLA, James put on his best show yet for the home crowd. He ran for 91 yards in the third quarter, when USC’s defense wilted under Oregon’s pressure.

“I was telling them to speed up,” James said. “I was like, ‘Go faster, go faster, they’re getting tired, they’re getting tired.’ And that’s what they did.”

With his patience and elusiveness Saturday, James resembled the other Willamette Valley wonder, Oregon State tailback Quizz Rodgers, who also has run the Trojans ragged the past two years. James’ yardage came on 18 carries, for an average of 9.4 yards per rush.

“They’re different in style, but very, very effective, and (James is) very fast,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “On this turf, he was flying out there tonight. We just lost track of him back in the backfield about four or five times when he got 10 or 15 yards on us. They were making seven, eight yards a carry on bad plays for them. It was a terrible night for us, and he enjoyed the fun of that one. I don’t know who’s better and that kind of stuff. They’re both really good, and they’re too good for us.”

Masoli, meanwhile, av-eraged 11.8 yards on his 13 carries. It was possible to forget that, barely more than a week ago, there were fears that the knee injury that sidelined him against UCLA might do so for much longer.

With his three-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, Masoli went over 1,000 rushing yards in his career.

“We had a tough time tackling Masoli tonight, and we didn’t feel that was going to be the big issue,” said Carroll, who said earlier in the week that Masoli’s running ability was the key to Oregon’s offense. “We thought we’d be able to get to him and get him down when we had our chances.

“They did everything that they wanted to do. It was really pretty easy for them tonight.”

Each of Oregon’s final four touchdown drives featured big runs by James and Masoli. James slipped a tackle for a 33-yard gain to set up the Ducks’ first score of the second quarter, and Masoli tucked the ball on a pass play later in the period for a 48-yard gain.

Similarly, Oregon’s first touchdown drive of the third quarter featured a 26-yard gain by Masoli, and the second included a 23-yard gain by James. The latter drive also included a 17-yard run by Masoli that was similar to his big 48-yard rush, when he took advantage of USC’s man coverage in the passing game to find room to run.

“We didn’t expect to do that, necessarily,” UO offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said of the Ducks’ season-best production. “But at the same time, our guys are capable of doing that when you get kind of close to the total package working.”

Which was the case Saturday.

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Defining Moment for Masoli and Ducks

Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli is not one to get flustered, whether it be with the game on the line or dealing with an early season slump or this Saturday's Halloween treat, No. 4 USC at No. 10 Oregon (5 p.m., ABC).

"You could be talking to him during a timeout with a minute left in the game," CCSF offensive coordinator Dan Hayes said of his former pupil, "and it would be like you called him in the middle of March just to chit-chat."

Masoli struggled in his first three games this season, including an ugly loss at Boise State from which Oregon has impressively bounced back. He was 29-of-64 for 379 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions before coming alive (21-of-25 for 253 yards and three TDs) in a 42-3 thrashing of Cal.

In hindsight, his struggles could have been about timing with a new offensive line and new receivers. Last week, back from a knee injury, he threw for 157 yards and a touchdown and ran for 54 yards and two TDs in a rout of Washington.

"Jeremiah is just a winner," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said.

And an even-keeled one.

"There are a lot of things on the line (against USC)," said the junior, who is 9-2 as a starter in Pac-10 games and 5-0 at Autzen Stadium. "We understand that, and we're a mature team, and all we have to do is go in and execute."

After throwing for 3,592 yards and 31 touchdowns at CCSF in 2007, he transferred and rose to No. 1 on the Oregon depth chart last season.

"Then he's on the cover of Sports Illustrated," CCSF coach George Rush said. "The second coming of Jesus. That can be a lot to handle. ... But I knew he'd be fine. He is clutch. He is money on the table."

Masoli will try and hurt USC with his quick decisions in the perimeter passing game. The Trojans, meanwhile, are excited about the emergence of running back Allen Bradford, as coach Pete Carroll has been trying to replace power runner LenDale White since 2005.

Kelly, asked about USC's latest "thunder and lightning" backfield of Bradford and Joe McKnight, said: "They've got thunder, lightning, hurricane, typhoon. You name a storm, they've got it; they've got so many running backs at that place."

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The Samoan Sledgehammer is Looking Good

The Cincinnati Bengals pulled off a major coup after they were able to pluck star USC linebacker Rey Maualuga in the second round of the NFL draft. Rewind to the beginning of the 2008 collegiate football season and the consensus was that Maualuga was a sure top-10 draft pick come draft day. Unfortunately, Maualuga suffered a hamstring injury at the combine

that ultimately hampered his position on draft day.

Maualuga has been making waves since day one of training camp. Maualuga made his presence known at his first practice, “his first as a pro in shoulder pads...right away on the first snap he drilled running back Brian Leonard and tossed him aside like crumpled paper.”

When asked about his performance on the field, defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer could not hold back his pleasure, telling reporters, “Oh yeah. Pretty good. Pretty good. He made every tackle in the period.”

Zimmer must be incredibly excited at the possibilities he will have on the field next season with Maualuga paired up with fellow USC alum Keith Rivers at the linebacker spots. Head coach Marvin Lewis, a great defensive mind himself, is already salivating at the different formations and techniques that he will use to get the most out of Maualuga. Lewis had this to say about Maualuga's skills:

"As far as how you play defense in the NFL, we’re an ‘over’ defensive football team (DTs shifted towards the tight end). The guy that has to play in that bubble (gap created by the DT shift) is our linebacker. I think Rey has demonstrated those skills. He’s the guy that has an opportunity to become a part of the pressure defenses."

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Getting to know . . . Fili Moala

Position: Defensive tackle.

Jersey No.: 95.

Height, weight: 6-4, 303.

Age: 24.

Family: Wife, Jordan.

Hometown: Born and resides in Buena Park, Calif.

College: USC.

Pro tenure: Rookie, drafted in second round, 56th overall.

Your name is? "Tongan. Tonga is about an eight-hour flight from Samoa, about a six-hour flight from Fiji, in the South Pacific, north of New Zealand. It's similar to Samoan or Hawaiian. We're friendly people."

But you're a California guy? "Yeah, born and raised, first generation, my parents are from the islands. Grew up in Inglewood, California. I'm a Lakers fan."

What do you like to do? "I like to fish. Whatever, freshwater, saltwater, I just like the sport. Hang out, good friends and family, barbecue a lot, snowmobiling and snowboarding. I've got a lot of family in Utah."

Your parents understand football? "Yeah, over the years. When they first got here, my dad played a lot of rugby and boxed. Football was new to him, but the Rams were still in L.A. and he took to the Rams. That was basically the start of his football education."

So if he played rugby and boxed, that makes you the second-toughest Moala in the family? "He's got some years on him, so I think I take over by default."

Anything stand out about camp? "You've just got to take the positives and work on the negatives. I like how things are run. It's about getting better as a football player. That's everyone's goal. They're not about running you into the ground. It's about progress and production."

This thick facial hair the regular look? "Nah. This is about 2 1/2 weeks of just hanging out."

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Hope in Cincinnati

Training sessions and fitness training camp prior to the final of the Bengals have brought together two of the young supporters who have created more expectations in recent years: Keith Rivers and Rey Maualuga.

Injuries, their enemies.

Both have been recruited in the past two Drafts after being stellar players on the defensive from the University of Souther California. Rivers was the first selection of the "Bengali" in 2008, but suffered a broken jaw in his rookie season in which a blocked him from Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward on October 19.

Maualuga, meanwhile, who was one of the prospects for 2009 to be recruited in the first round, finally fell to number 38 to be taken in the second round by Cincinnati.

Both players were very consistent as to miss school only 11 games between them with the Trojans (Maualuga 6, Rivers 5) and now they are both part of the resurrection of the dreadful Bengals, who have had only one winning season in the last 18 years .

After his injury in 2008, Rivers lost 20 pounds when his jaw had to be traded. Already recovered in health and weight and now asked to be moved inside to outside supportive.

For its part, the first Samoan Maualuga has a season to adapt, but his trainer is confident that the process is complete.

"We're still very excited about the King," said coach Marvin Lewis. "I think he will go on special teams and everything. Find a way to search assignments for a King on the pitch as long as possible. "

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