Garrett a Bit Prickly on Hackett Job

USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett refuses to answer questions about whether Coach Paul Hackett’s job security is threatened by the Trojans’ losing streak.

“Don’t talk to me,” Garrett said as he left the field at the end of the game.

Garrett said politely several weeks ago he wouldn’t answer any questions about Hackett--in only the second year of a five-year contract--during the season.

But he has become more brusque with each loss.

“Don’t ask me anything,” Garrett said after the loss to California last week.

An athletic department source said Garrett has been angry about the losses and has been “very tough” with Hackett.

However, Hackett was Garrett’s hand-picked choice and the Trojans have had significant injuries this season--none more damaging than quarterback Carson Palmer’s broken collarbone.

Still, some fans at the Coliseum Saturday even booed when Hackett was shown on the scoreboard video screen promoting a charity.

“Everybody’s been on his back in the papers,” receiver R. Jay Soward said. “I really feel for Coach Hackett. He’s doing his best. He depends on us, we depend on him, and right now we’re not building him up at all.”

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Count Soward as one receiver who doesn’t want a quarterback platoon, saying it can be difficult to adjust to different styles, particularly with the cadence at the line of scrimmage.

“I think we need to focus on one guy and just go with him. If he throws 10 interceptions, so what?”

Just one man’s opinion: “I’m not knocking anybody or saying anybody’s making a bad call,” he said.

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Anyone who thinks Soward wishes now he’d left for the NFL after last season is wrong, Soward said.

“If I could do it all over again, I’d do the same thing, because I believed in this team and I still believe in this team,” Soward said.

“We’re still going to finish out these three games and beat UCLA--something USC has not done in a long time.”

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The second-longest play of the game for USC--after the 56-yard catch and run by Windrell Hayes--was a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown by a 6-foot-4, 300-pound defensive tackle, which says a lot about the Trojans’ day. That Ennis Davis had such a run and capped it with a short leap over a player on the ground just before the end zone says a lot about how far he has come since off-season knee surgery.

Davis also had six tackles, tops among USC linemen. But picking off the pass by Ryan Kealy, his second interception of the season, and rumbling for the score was the highlight.

What was he thinking on the way in?

“Don’t get caught . . . from behind.”