Week 14: UCLA at USC

People can extol the virtues of Missouri, West Virginia, Ohio State and Hawaii all they want, point to the rankings and compare strength of schedules.

Yet if they really want to find college football’s top team at this moment, single out the most powerful collection of players gathered anywhere and be overly impressed with them as the postseason fast approaches, they need to look no further than Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday.

The Trojans have regained their swagger and their feeling of invincibility so prevalent over the past half dozen seasons, not to mention the full use of the middle finger on John David Booty’s throwing hand.

“They know,” USC coach Pete Carroll said after last weekend’s impressive 44-24 dismantling of Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. “They know now. They know what they’re capable of doing.”

Following a rough month of October, losing to Stanford and Oregon and getting left with more injured players than at any other time during the Carroll era, the Trojans enter their rivalry game against UCLA having restored practically everything tangible except an opportunity to play for a national title.

Which is a shame, because the two teams ultimately advancing to the Bowl Championship Series showcase game at the Superdome in New Orleans on Jan. 7 probably can’t hang with USC right now.

Arizona State is fully aware of what’s in the Trojans’ tank, falling victim to USC’s most complete performance of the season and finding no chance to win after some early sparring last weekend at Sun Devils Stadium.

“We just let the nation know what we could do on both sides of the ball and dominated,” USC freshman defensive end Everson Griffen declared.

To reach the Rose Bowl and earn at least a share of their sixth consecutive Pac-10 championship, the Trojans now must beat UCLA, something that didn’t happen last year.

The Trojans’ overall good health largely coincides with the newfound flexibility found in Booty’s finger. He broke the digit against Stanford on a pass play, sat out three games while waiting for it to quit hurting, played two average outings and then had his breakout performance at Arizona State. There’s no pain whatsoever now, except what an opposing secondary might be feeling trying to stop him.

Booty’s 26-for-39, 375-yard, four-touchdown effort against the Sun Devils gave him season totals of 169 completions in 267 attempts for 1,900 yards and 19 scores. The four scoring passes tied a career best. Once a Heisman Trophy candidate but no longer in the running because of his lengthy absence, Booty will settle for a fast finish on the field for himself and the Trojans.

“I know where I am and I know how dedicated I am to helping this team win,” he said. “I’m getting it back. It might have taken longer than I would have liked, but I’m getting there.”

His favorite target is mobile senior tight end Fred Davis, who has 49 catches for 753 yards and six touchdowns.

When he’s not throwing the ball, Booty is handing it to senior tailback Chauncey Washington, who leads the team in rushing with 828 yards on 170 carries and in touchdowns with nine, eight by running.

Defensively, senior defensive ends Lawrence Jackson and Sedrick Ellis are bookend dominators. Like everyone else in a USC uniform, they’re at their best now. Jackson has accumulated 13 tackles for loss for 166 yards, 9.5 sacks for 95 yards, four of the latter coming against Arizona State. Ellis has 12.5 tackles for loss for 75 yards, 8.5 sacks for 67 yards. To keep either one of these guys off an All-American list would be insulting.

All of this adds up to far more than UCLA can handle. The Bruins won this game 13-9 a year ago, but are a shadow of their former selves, with a spate of injuries ruining this season and expected to put coach Karl Dorrell on the unemployment line.

UCLA, its offense dismantled for weeks by injury, recently received some needed reinforcements, regaining the services of junior quarterback Ben Olson and senior tailback Chris Markey. Olson, sidelined by a concussion and knee injury, has thrown just 142 passes this season, completing 71 for 1,040 yards and seven touchdowns, hardly what he envisioned. Markey, slowed by a knee injury, has picked up 549 yards, including 91 in his return last weekend against Oregon, after topping 1,000 a year ago. At least they’re rested.

The specter of Dorrell’s future, however, hangs heavy over the team, something the coach does not discount.

“They’re not naïve,” he said. “They hear all the stuff that’s out there. But to their credit, they’ve been pretty focused on doing what’s important, which is playing a game.”

USC, which leads the series 41-28-7, had won seven consecutive games over its cross-town rival until last year’s upset loss. A new streak will start on Saturday. The Trojans are the best team in Los Angeles, if not nationwide.

USC by 24