College football

Orange Bowl: Leinart follows Palmer's path

By BOB HARIG
Published January 1, 2005

FORT LAUDERDALE - Matt Leinart was a virtual unknown two years ago when he accompanied USC to South Florida for an Orange Bowl matchup against Iowa. He was essentially Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer's caddie. And there was no assurance he would be the starting quarterback after Palmer left.

Much, of course, has changed since then. Leinart, 6 feet 5 and 225 pounds, has his own Heisman Trophy. He guided the No. 1-ranked Trojans to a share of the national championship a year ago with a Rose Bowl victory. Now he looks to add more hardware to the Southern California trophy case with a victory over Oklahoma on Tuesday night in the Orange Bowl game. Leinart is 24-1 as a starter.

Oh, and if he chooses, he can declare for the NFL draft and likely be a top pick.

But he hasn't forgotten what it was like just two years ago, in the same town, same bowl.

"It was a difficult situation, fighting for a backup spot. There's not a lot of motivation," Leinart said. "But one thing I did learn was that I tried to take advantage of Carson being there because he was just a great player, great person. He went through a lot in his career; adversity, success, and he remained the same person. He's still the same person today starting in the NFL, doing very well for himself.

"That's really what I took from him, just how he handled the attention, the media. Really, how he remained the same person. I think Carson set a high bar for expectations and I was just trying to follow in his footsteps."

Leinart said it is hard not to think about a pro career. The 21-year-old junior said he will decide whether to return after the Orange Bowl. He must declare by Jan. 15.

FAMILIARITY: Bo Pelini, the co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Oklahoma, knows plenty about USC coach Pete Carroll. He was Carroll's linebackers coach with the New England Patriots from 1997-99 when Carroll was coach.

So it might help Pelini in preparing for the Trojans. Of course, Carroll knows Pelini, too.

"I see a lot of things that he believed in, things that we knew and he talked about," Pelini said. "He's a defensive-minded coach, but he has an excellent knowledge of offense, and you see a lot of his influence in the offense. They present a lot of problems for us."

RAINY DAY: The last day of the year was not one the local chamber of commerce would hype. It was rainy and windy, which Carroll welcomed.

"There were some good positives that came out of it," he said of USC's afternoon practice. "If it does rain during game night, we would know that we worked through it. The field was soft, so we had to work on footing. We didn't have a mishandled snap or fumble the ball all day long so that worked out well."

COACHING CANDIDATE: USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow said he is not pursuing the coaching position at Syracuse, where Paul Pasqualoni was fired this week. Chow seemed a natural for the job; former assistant USC athletic director Daryl Gross was recently hired at Syracuse as athletic director and he fired Pasqualoni. But Chow said, "It's not a situation either one of us would pursue."

Chow, 58, has a history of developing offenses and quarterbacks. He was a long-time assistant under LaVell Edwards at BYU, where Ty Detmer won the Heisman Trophy. In his one year at N.C. State, he helped Philip Rivers become one of the ACC's top quarterbacks. And in three years at USC, he has had Palmer and Leinart win the Heisman Trophy.

But Chow never has been a head coach. He interviewed for the Stanford and Utah jobs. Last year, he interviewed at Arizona and turned down Kentucky.

"Everyone thinks I've been bombarded with job offers; I haven't," said Chow, whose family remained in Utah for his one season at N.C. State and first three at USC. "I've had one job offer. I turned one job down."

[Last modified January 1, 2005, 00:31:06]