Maybe Lane Kiffin should wear a lab coat to practice.
The USC coach was in full mad-professor mode Tuesday, dabbling in some fascinating backfield experiments.
First he moved 250-pound redshirt freshman James Boyd from defensive end to quarterback, where he starred at Jordan High of Los Angeles. Then Kiffin deployed freshman tailback Dillon Baxter at quarterback in the Trojans’ version of the wildcat formation.
Baxter is much more likely to see the field this season than Boyd, who won’t threaten projected starter Matt Barkley anytime soon.
Kiffin and his staff decided to move Boyd after watching some of his film at Jordan, where, as a senior, he led the state with 4,266 passing yards and 44 touchdowns.
“There’s obviously a lot of work to do under center,”
Kiffin said. x“But for him to run around and make the plays that he made and throw the ball downfield … it’s a good option to have. So we’ll see. It’ll take a lot of work. But he’s still young.”
Boyd was thrilled to make the move, even though he has spent much of his time in college bulking up to defensive-end dimensions.
“I was surprised when he (Kiffin) told me, to tell you the truth,”
Boyd said. “I was in the office, he told me and I was just so happy. Ever since then, I’ve been working out and watching film, getting my footwork ready and getting back in quarterback shape.”
Boyd played at 206 pounds in high school, where he operated out of the shotgun about 85 percent of the time.
Baxter also was a shotgun quarterback at Mission Bay High of San Diego, where he accounted for a state-record 79 touchdowns as a senior.
So playing QB in the wildcat formation – or, as USC calls it, “Diego”
– is nothing new for Baxter. Nor is making defenders look helpless, as Baxter did again Tuesday on the heels of his scintillating scrimmage performance Saturday.
Baxter also attempted two passes Tuesday, completing one.
“I’m decent,”
he said of his passing prowess. “I’m not bad, but I’m no Matt Barkley.”
