Carroll: USC is behind Cassel

Matt Cassel will have more than Patriots fans rooting for him when he takes the field Sunday at The Meadowlands — roughly 3,000 miles away in Southern California, an entire army of Trojans will be backing the New England quarterback.

The former USC second-fiddle has become a bit of a hot topic back at his alma mater. Even on the eve of one of the biggest games of the season for No. 1 Southern Cal, a clash with fifth-ranked Ohio State Saturday night at the Los Angeles Coliseum, Cassel’s ascension to starter in New England has drawn headlines in a city starved for pro football talk.

“He’s kind of a rock star right now,” USC coach Pete Carroll said with a laugh yesterday when asked about his former backup.

Cassel had a star-crossed career while playing under Carroll at USC, serving as a backup to a pair of Heisman Trophy winners in Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart. He was stuck behind pair of superstars, and as a result, his playing time was limited. (His only career start at USC came as an H-back against Cal in 2001.) His career totals as a collegiate quarterback were 20-for-33 for 192 yards, the sort of stat line the Patriots would gladly take Sunday when he lines up under center against the Jets.

But at his daily press conference yesterday, Carroll had nothing but fond memories of Cassel, saying everybody connected to the USC program is “really pumped up for Matt.”

“What an incredible story about a guy persevering, hanging through all of the times, all of the really bad matchups he’s had for his career with all the Heisman guys, then maybe the best football player ever in the history of the NFL, Tom Brady, with all of his wins and championships, and that’s what he played behind,” Carroll said.

Carroll, who said yesterday he hadn’t yet spoken with Cassel directly but has had “a bunch of messages going back and forth indirectly,” said that Cassel’s three seasons in New England’s system would serve him well on Sunday against the Jets.

“Matt has been brought up well. He’s been in that program for a long time. This is not a guy that’s going to go thrown to the wolves, that hasn’t really had the opportunity to learn the system,” Carroll said. “He’s really athletic. He’s tough. He has a great arm. He knows what’s going on. He’s got a beautiful team around him. It will be interesting to see how the chemistry works now.”

And it’s worth mentioning that the two guys he backed up at USC are likely envious of Cassel and his standing, especially when you consider he was the only one of the three to throw a touchdown pass in Week 1. (Palmer was a paltry 10-for-25 for 99 yards for a miserable Cincinnati team in their season-opening loss to Baltimore, while Leinart continues to sit behind starter Kurt Warner in Arizona.)

“He’s had the preparation, and so we’ll wish him the best,” Carroll said. “Going against the Jets, too, which is awesome. It's Cassel versus [Brett] Favre. Great matchup. Beautiful!”