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| Tuesday, November 26 Fab Five making immediate impact By Bruce Feldman ESPN The Magazine |
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Last year, The Magazine hailed Long Beach Poly High's "fab five" as its next big thing in college football. Thus far, that has held up pretty well, and it figures to only get better -- especially for the USC Trojans. See, four of the five players signed with USC. The other, TE Marcedes Lewis is at UCLA, where he already has boosted the Bruin passing game and he also is expected to help out Steve Lavin's hoops squad. But the biggest impact is at Troy. Winston Justice, the least heralded of the quintet, has made the biggest splash. The 6-foot-6, 305-pounder is starting at OT for the Trojans and has emerged as a star. He neutralized ASU star Terrell Suggs two weeks ago in USC 34-14 win over the Sun Devils. Last Saturday, Justice showed he could handle UCLA's top rushman, Dave Ball, a more physical presence who came into the game with 10 sacks. Ball got shutout too, managing just three tackles in another Trojan romp. Justice also helped pave the way for former Poly tailback Herschel Dennis, who led the Trojans in rushing. The other two Poly recruits (DT Manuel Wright and S Darnell Bing) didn't qualify this fall at Trojans, but Pete Carroll got great news last week when he found out Bing passed his SAT score and will enroll in January. Bing's arrival should be huge for USC's defense since the Trojans lose both safeties, including superstar Troy Polamalu. Carroll had already dismissed any speculation that he might move OLB Matt Grootegoed back to safety next year. Carroll loves the flexibility and savvy the 5-11, 205-pound Grootegoed gives him at linebacker on a D that has held its last six opponents to under 100 yards rushing. Bing, meanwhile, has been training daily with legendary Poly track coach Don Norford and has shed 10 pounds down to 212 and should be SC's next great safety. Wright is still hopeful that he can qualify and make it to Troy by the spring.
Random Notes
A classic long-strider, Woods is deceptively fast (he ran a 4.42 for OSU coaches), but his strength is his mitts. "He has the strongest hands I've ever seen," says OSU receivers coach Todd Monken. Those attributes, along with a rebounder's mentality, make Woods a lethal weapon in the red zone. "He's so creative and really has a unique way on fade routes," Monken says. "He can lean on his man and keep him pinned and then has that knack to adjust perfectly to the ball." Yet, for as physical as Woods is, he still has only been flagged one time for pass interference. Woods also has only dropped five passes all season. Two against Nebraska and K-State and one against Kansas.
"He's very underrated as a blocker," says Bruins tight end coach Gary Bernardi, who has graded Seidman out all season at at least 80 percent or better. "He's as god as we've had here. He almost never blows an assignment." Bernardi says maybe the best barometer of Seidman's stability has been the fact that for four years he has been the Bruins' personal protector on punt team. "You need someone who is very smart and heads-up," says Bernardi, "and Mike is." The Mackey competition is tight this year. Seidman's biggest competition comes from Iowa's Dallas Clark, Miami's Kellen Winslow II and Oklahoma's Trent Smith, who quietly has a had a terrific season. Smith's receiving numbers are down, but his impact on the Sooner attack is way up thanks to his improvement as a blocker. The 6-5, 245-pound senior showed off his skills last weekend against Texas Tech by not only snatching three passes for a touchdown, but shared Player of the Game honors with Quentin Griffin from his coaches because of his work in the run game, that including one highlight reel hit on a Red Raider linebacker.
A 6-6, 360-pound OT from North Mecklenburg, N.C., Morris was expected to start for Ohio State from Day 1, but couldn't get cleared academically this summer. The NC State compliance people have already green-lighted Morris. Now he just has to make a decision between the Pack, Georgia and Miami. Morris was on hand for the Pack's big win over FSU last Saturday. Bruce Feldman covers college football for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at bruce.feldman@espnmag.com. |
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