USC QB sits out practice, hopes to play
By: Associated Press | ∞
USC quarterback John David Booty sat out practice Monday, watching as Mark Sanchez played with the first unit.
Afterward, Booty said he hoped the broken bone in the middle finger of his throwing hand wouldn't keep him from playing Saturday against Arizona.
"I sure hope so. That's my mind-set right now," said Booty, injured in the second quarter of USC's shocking 24-23 loss to Stanford last weekend. "There's not really much you can do for it -- ice it down. That's what I'm going to do.
"The big thing is to get the swelling down."
Booty, wearing a wrap on his finger, saw a specialist earlier Monday and was cleared to practice. He said he intended on trying to throw today.
"That's my goal, is to go tomorrow, give it a shot," he said. "I can take the pain, for the most part. If I feel like I can compete, throw the ball accurately with some velocity, then I can play."
Booty passed for 364 yards against Stanford, but was intercepted four times in the second half of the stunning upset. Favored by 41 points, the Trojans had won 35 straight home games since losing to the Cardinal 21-16 on Sept. 29, 2001.
The Trojans (4-1, 2-1 Pac-10) entered as the No. 2 team in the AP Top 25, and Stanford came in having been outscored 141-55 in its previous three games -- all at home. USC is ranked 10th this week.
Trojans coach Pete Carroll said Booty's finger looked a lot worse Monday than it did after the game.
"It's black and blue and all that kind of stuff," Carroll said. "Mark has to go with the first group and play like he's starting until he doesn't. We're going to prepare him as the starter."
Olson to have surgery
UCLA quarterback Ben Olson will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee today to check for a possible cartilage tear.
The school announced late Monday that Olson, injured in the first quarter of UCLA's 20-6 loss to Notre Dame last weekend, has a partial tear of the lateral collateral ligament in his knee.
An estimate on how long Olson will be sidelined won't be known until after today's procedure, the school said.
ASU finds way to stay unbeaten
Arizona State looked very beatable last week.
Unlike Pac-10 power USC, the 14th-ranked Sun Devils found a way to remain unbeaten.
ASU's 23-20 victory at Washington State might have been its ugliest game so far. But it left the Sun Devils (6-0, 3-0 Pac-10) tied for first in the Pac-10 with UCLA.
"We didn't play our best game by any means, but then again, that was partly because of them," coach Dennis Erickson said Monday at his weekly campus news conference. "We came out of Pullman with a win, so we're 6-0 and 3-0 in the league, and that's where we wanted to be."
The Sun Devils have risen in the national rankings without playing a single noteworthy opponent, and that won't change this week, when the Washington Huskies (2-3, 0-2 Pac-10) visit Sun Devil Stadium.
ASU's first four conference opponents -- Oregon State, Stanford, Washington State and Washington -- are a combined 2-10 in Pac-10 play.
That's why it's hard to tell whether the Sun Devils deserve their lofty ranking, their highest since 1997.
ASU is off to its best start since 1996, when it won its first 11 games. And Erickson is the first ASU coach to win his first six games.
Quarterback Rudy Carpenter credited Erickson and his staff with instilling confidence and poise in the Sun Devils, which helped them overcome a 14-point deficit against Colorado and a 19-point deficit against Oregon State. It also helped them erase a three-point deficit midway through the third quarter at Pullman, one of the Pac-10's tougher venues.
"I think it's a confidence level and a calmness level during the game," Carpenter said. "I don't think there's really any panic at any given time. They just keep trying to execute the game plan and it's going to work eventually."
Wisconsin receiver out
Wisconsin wide receiver Luke Swan will miss the rest of the season because of a torn hamstring and is scheduled for surgery Wednesday.
The fifth-year senior had two touchdowns this season for the No. 19 Badgers and was averaging 18 yards a catch. He was hurt near the end of Saturday's game against Illinois, landing awkwardly following a 17-yard reception.
Falcon honored
Air Force Academy wide receiver Chad Hall was named the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
The senior cadet rushed for a career-high 169 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns in the Falcons' 31-14 victory over UNLV on Saturday.
Longhorns lose Sweed
Texas senior wide receiver Limas Sweed, whose 20 career touchdown catches rank No. 2 in school history, will undergo wrist surgery that is expected to end his college career, the team announced.
Sweed will have surgery to repair ligament damage, trainer Kenny Boyd said. He first injured the wrist in the preseason but came back to play in the No. 23 Longhorns' first six games. He had just two catches in Saturday's 28-21 loss to Oklahoma and was taken out late in the game.
"I knew it was an injury I would be dealing with going into the season and I did everything I could to play through the pain and help the team," Sweed said.
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