College Football Insiders “Pac-10 offensive players to watch for 2010” series continues with USC center Kristofer O’Dowd.
Heading into last season, the perception was that it didn’t matter that USC would have a true freshman starting at quarterback. After all, the Trojans had five future NFL players starting on the offensive line; they’d simply steamroll and play-action their opponents into submission. It didn’t quite work out that way as the 2009 Men of Troy turned in the program’s worst record since 2001. With Charles Brown (Saints), Jeff Byers (Seahawks), and Alex Parsons (Raiders) gone, many have significantly lowered their expectations of the Trojan O-line and the program in general. There is, however, one thing this year’s team will have that last year’s did not—a healthy Kristofer O’Dowd. The underachievement of last year’s front line can most easily be explained by the absence of their anchor at center,