Booty Call
Take a bow John David Booty. If there were any doubters before the Rose Bowl about the Trojan's newest quarterback, they've since been silenced. Before he was taken out with just over two minutes remaining in the game, Booty had already put up 391 yards and 4 touchdown passes against the vaunted Michigan defense. And it wasn't just the amount of yards or touchdowns. It was the way in which they were amassed. With deep outs and straight up streaks down the field, Booty put perfect touch on his deep balls to make him look more like his counterpart Chad Henne who was touted as the strongest arm in the country.
It wasn't all good for the junior QB out of Shreveport, LA though. He threw to Dwayne Jarrett all day. And Jarrett responded with a season high 11 catches for a season high 203 yards and 2 touchdowns. One might wonder how this could possibly be a bad thing? Well, Steve Smith is a senior, and Booty might have just played his star junior receiver (Jarrett) into the first round of the NFL draft.
But forget about the negatives for the time being. Forget about the draft, forget about where a top junior WR like Calvin Johnson or Dwayne Jarrett might end up if they declare for the draft (the Lions again pick in the top 5, they can't possibly take another WR, can they?). And forget about next season, for a minute. John David Booty is a star. He was shunned from the first game of the season. There was no way USC could fill Matt Leinart, who had no chance to fill in for Carson Palmer, could they? Who was this John David Booty guy? Before starting in his first game this season, he had only seen action in eight games in his previous two seasons at USC.
Apparently that was all he needed. In 13 games this season, Booty amassed 3347 yards passing with 29 TD passes and only 9 interceptions all season long. Those stats look awfully familiar. Oh that's right, former Trojan Matt Leinarts stats when he won the Heisman in 2004? 3322 passing yards, 33 TD's and 6 INT's.
He may not be the next Carson Palmer. He may not be the next Matt Leinart. But he is the next great Trojan QB in a historic line. So if Trojan fans were worried after their disappointing season ending loss to UCLA, the Rose Bowl victory and Pete Carroll's proclamation that he has his best recruiting class coming in next year in his tenure at USC should allow them to stop worrying. Here's to the 2007 preseason #1 team.
It wasn't all good for the junior QB out of Shreveport, LA though. He threw to Dwayne Jarrett all day. And Jarrett responded with a season high 11 catches for a season high 203 yards and 2 touchdowns. One might wonder how this could possibly be a bad thing? Well, Steve Smith is a senior, and Booty might have just played his star junior receiver (Jarrett) into the first round of the NFL draft.
But forget about the negatives for the time being. Forget about the draft, forget about where a top junior WR like Calvin Johnson or Dwayne Jarrett might end up if they declare for the draft (the Lions again pick in the top 5, they can't possibly take another WR, can they?). And forget about next season, for a minute. John David Booty is a star. He was shunned from the first game of the season. There was no way USC could fill Matt Leinart, who had no chance to fill in for Carson Palmer, could they? Who was this John David Booty guy? Before starting in his first game this season, he had only seen action in eight games in his previous two seasons at USC.
Apparently that was all he needed. In 13 games this season, Booty amassed 3347 yards passing with 29 TD passes and only 9 interceptions all season long. Those stats look awfully familiar. Oh that's right, former Trojan Matt Leinarts stats when he won the Heisman in 2004? 3322 passing yards, 33 TD's and 6 INT's.
He may not be the next Carson Palmer. He may not be the next Matt Leinart. But he is the next great Trojan QB in a historic line. So if Trojan fans were worried after their disappointing season ending loss to UCLA, the Rose Bowl victory and Pete Carroll's proclamation that he has his best recruiting class coming in next year in his tenure at USC should allow them to stop worrying. Here's to the 2007 preseason #1 team.
posted by Trevor at 8:07 PM
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