Danny Moloshok / AP file

The Trojans, who return 10 starters on defense, hope to feast on running backs and offensive players this season.

In the secondary, the Trojans are brimming with game-tested corners, led by Josh Pinkard, Terrell Thomas and Cary Harris, and they’re also golden at safety with Taylor Mays and Kevin Ellison.

Talent isn’t everything. Many a school has trotted Parade All-Americas on the field over the years, only to watch them get run through and picked apart. Coaching and preparation help turn outstanding individuals into a smooth-running group.

Head coach Pete Carroll and defensive coordinator Nick Holt are experts at teaching not only technique and scheme, but also poise and confidence. They’ve done a masterful job of pulling random stars into one impressive constellation.

When you add the fact that USC’s offense — although with some uncertainty at wide receiver and tailback — still should be one of the college football’s most explosive behind Heisman candidate John David Booty, it suggests the defense will be rested much of the time while the offense puts together drives and creates a scoreboard cushion. That should only contribute to the D’s dominance.

Ah, but a sizeable word of caution. Teams on paper aren’t always the most durable. On paper, USC’s defense in 2006 seemed primed to pummel, too. But it didn’t come together as a unit with any real cohesiveness and purpose until it found itself down, 33-10, at Oregon State on October 28 in a game the Trojans would eventually rally in but fall short, 33-31. After that, the defense seemed to have found its identity and played fiercely thereafter, even in the loss to UCLA, in which it gave up only one TD in a 13-9 setback.

If the 2007 USC defense wants to be considered the greatest ever — or even the greatest in 2007 — it had better find itself sooner than the seventh game of the season. Because the season won’t be over at that point, but the debate will be.

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Chris Graythen / Getty Images

Johnson still directing Utes offense

Brian Johnson, who led Utah to an upset of Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl, is ready for his first season as the Utes' offensive coordinator. At 25, the ex-QB will be the youngest with that job at the FBS level.

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