USC Practice Report...

From Ben Malcolmson at USCRipsIt.com (who has the world's best job behind Pete Carroll, following USC Football 24/7. Lucky SOB! =P):

Dispatch from Howard Jones

By Ben Malcolmson on August 16, 2009 6:22 PM

Thoughts from Sunday's practice, through the eyes of USCRipsIt...

- An incredible deluge of big plays and a constant flow of sharp execution turned Sunday into an offensive masterpiece, as the offense became nearly unstoppable throughout the full-pads practice. The offense won every period, including scoring four touchdowns in four tries during sudden change period (a situational drill featuring a short field after a turnover) and three touchdowns in three goal-line situational drives. "That's the execution we need," Coach Carroll said in the post-practice huddle. "Today was the offense's day -- no doubt about it."

- Matt Barkley produced another on-the-money performance Sunday afternoon, mixing long crowd-rousing touchdowns with short, smart passes that pleased the coaches. Though Barkley completed several nice balls, his most impressive play might have been an incompletion during a passing-focused team period. Hurried by the defensive line's rush, the freshman quarterback threw the ball away instead of forcing a risky screen pass. "Good, good, good!" quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates exclaimed. "That's a great play!"

- In the practice-concluding team period, the offense scored touchdowns on seven consecutive drives -- six of which came on the ground by the tailbacks. Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford scored twice, while Marc Tyler and Stafon Johnson each ran for one. Mitch Mustain threw a perfect bullet to wideout Brandon Carswell in the front right corner of the end zone for the seventh touchdown of that period.

- Not only was the offense producing a downpour of touchdowns, it was also handing out punishing hits. During team run, ball-carrier Allen Bradford powerfully ran through linebacker Chris Galippo, setting off a wild celebration by his fellow running backs, who playfully teased one of the Trojans' most vocal and hardest-hitting defensive players. "That play is over now!" linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. said, coming to the defense of his player. Replied fullback Stanley Havili: "There's still an echo!"

- Mitch Mustain had yet another sharp day with the second-unit offense, even completing four straight high-difficulty passes during team period.

- The highlight-reel play of the day came when Matt Barkley tossed a 50-yard touchdown-scoring bomb to freshman wideout De'Von Flournoy during 11-on-11 drills.