Top-ranked Trojans focus on football, not adversity

LOS ANGELES — Southern California coach Pete Carroll and the defending national champion Trojans have had an eventful offseason, with All-American wide receiver Mike Williams' failed attempt to join the NFL leading a series of off-the-field problems.

Williams awaits word from the NCAA on whether he will be reinstated for his junior season and isn't expected to play Saturday night when the Trojans open against Virginia Tech.

Hershel Dennis, the Trojans' starter who shared the tailback duty with LenDale White and Reggie Bush last year, has been suspended indefinitely for violating team rules.

Over the winter, the Trojans lost All-American defensive end Kenechi Udeze, who passed up his senior season to enter the NFL draft and went to Minnesota in the first round.

Wide receiver Whitney Lewis and tailback Chauncey Washington, who were counted on to add depth, aren't eligible because of academics, and tight end Gregg Guenther left the team to concentrate on basketball.

Winston Justice, a two-year starter at offensive tackle, won't play because he was suspended from school for two quarters for allegedly pulling a pellet gun last February on a fellow student.

And last week the Los Angeles Police said at least one member of the team is under investigation for sexual assault.

"We've heard next-to-nothing (from the police)," Carroll said Tuesday.

Despite it all, USC begins the season as the No. 1 team in the country.

"We're a really focused team," quarterback Matt Leinart said. "We don't let those types of things break us apart. We have to come together and keep battling. Put all the distractions aside and just play football."

For the most part, Carroll avoided having to deal with these types of problems in his first three seasons at USC.

"With that many people, stuff is going to happen. You're going to have to deal with some issues," the coach said, referring to the 100 or so players on the squad. "I know that we've dealt with everything that's come up, and I think we've handled it well," he said.

Williams' situation is unique. A sophomore who finished eighth in the Heisman voting last season, he hired an agent and left school in the spring after a court ruling appeared to clear the way for Ohio State sophomore Maurice Clarett and other players less than three years removed from high school to enter the NFL draft.

That ruling, however, was stayed and an appeals court decided for the NFL, thus upholding the ban on players like Clarett and Williams.