USC quarterback Mark Sanchez already has begun rehabilitation for the dislocated left kneecap he suffered Friday after landing awkwardly during practice, and he still hopes to play in the Aug. 30 opener against Virginia.
“The next few days they'll be able to make some better judgment calls about when I'll be back," said Sanchez. "The best thing is it didn't swell up after rehab."
The good news for fans of the Men of Troy is that it was a clean dislocation, with no complications (no ligament, cartilage or bone damage). Sanchez, a redshirt junior, started three games last season for an injured John David Booty. He was 69-of-114 (.605) for 695 yards, 7 TDs and 5 interceptions. He led USC to wins vs. Arizona and at Notre Dame before losing by 7 points at Oregon.
Still, his injury opens the door for redshirt sophomore Mitch Mustain and redshirt freshman Aaron Corp, who have no game experience at USC but were two of the most prized recruits in America in their high school classes. Mustain went 8-0 as the starting quarterback for Arkansas in 2006 before transferring to USC.“I'm just trying to stay in the thick of it and work on my stuff and [not] worry so much about competing with Corp. [It's more] just getting everything down. It's not going to be much of a competition if I don't know what I'm doing,” Mustain said.
In the spring scrimmage, Corp completed 13 of 16 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns. Having spread the reps around in the spring competition, the Trojans have two backup quarterbacks who are capable of stepping into Sanchez's starting role.
"An enormous opportunity," is the way USC coach Pete Carroll describes it, adding that the two are “neck and neck.”
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