USC’s Palmer hasn’t lived up to hype
By Daily Bruin Staff
Nov. 15, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 USC Sports Info USC’s Carson Palmer
hasn’t been consistent during his career.
By Joshua Mason
Daily Bruin Staff
It’s been a tough ride for the Trojans in the Carson
Palmer era. Four years of unrealized potential, three head coaches
and just one bowl appearance since he stepped onto the scene at
Troy in 1998, and a once-proud program has fallen to its knees.
It might even be safe to say that the Palmer era is one of
USC’s most embarrassing periods yet.
“In high school, you’re not prepared for
quarterbacks like him,” former prep rival DeShaun Foster once
said about the talent Palmer brought to the table in his younger
days. “Carson’s arm was unbelievable and it was so
accurate.”
So what exactly happened to Carson Palmer, the answer to a
struggling USC program’s prayers only a few years ago?
Palmer, who was unavailable for comment for this story, came onto
the scene as the toast of the town, the 6-foot-5 prep phenom who
was poised to lead the Trojans to the promised land.
“He’s an all right quarterback,” UCLA senior
Brian Poli-Dixon said, trying to recall what Palmer has done in
recent memory. “I don’t really think anything of
him.”
If there’s an adequate word to describe Palmer’s
career with the Trojans, it’s mediocrity. In four seasons at
the helm, the lanky signal caller has thrown nearly as many
interceptions (49) as he has touchdowns (50). The Trojans are only
a .500 team at best with Palmer leading the way. They’ve been
15-15 in games that he’s started since his freshman campaign,
one of those a 28-19 loss to Conference USA power TCU in the Sun
Bowl.
“He’s a prototype quarterback that doesn’t
make prototype quarterback decisions,” UCLA strong safety
Marques Anderson said. “If you start hitting him, he makes
bad choices.”
Each the last three years was supposed to be Palmer’s
“breakout year.”
“Finally, he will break through,” ESPN’s Bruce
Feldman predicted at the beginning of the season. “I
think.”
Though the team has just a .500 mark this season, Palmer may
have put together his best season yet. This year, the Trojans have
a shot at bowl eligibility if they win against UCLA, their last
game of the regular season.
Still, it’s quite a letdown from a quarterback who went
27-1 in two years as the signal caller for Santa Margarita High,
and certainly not what USC boosters had in mind when he came in so
highly touted five years ago.
“He’s kind of living off the hype to me,”
Anderson said. “He really hasn’t shown me
anything.”
