LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Before USC's offense takes the practice field, the offensive line huddles together around left guard Jeff Byers.
Byers, a fifth-year junior and the most veteran member of the group, took it upon himself to educate a unit that had to replace four starters from a year ago and featured a true-sophomore center in Kristofer O'Dowd.
"[Offensive line] coach [Pat] Ruel and I did a lot just trying to get guys to understand defenses," Byers said. "The issue with the young line was not ability, it was the recognition of defenses and picking up pressures. It was just a matter of time before we started to play good football."
And while the Trojan front struggled early, including a season-low 86 rushing yards in the loss at Oregon State, the line has paved for an average of 224 yards per game during USC's current nine-game winning streak.
The early struggles were not for a lack of talent, however. Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said he always knew the Trojan line had the ability, it just had to develop cohesion as a unit and find an identity.
And after yet another 11-win season, a Pac-10 title and three all-Pac-10 linemen, Sarkisian said the line has met his expectations.
"They've grown to be a tight knit group," Sarkisian said. "I'm proud of those guys because it wasn't always easy on them and at the end of the day we still ran the football well, protected the quarterback well and developed an attitude, which is important."
While USC's offensive front is not the biggest (the Trojan line averages 6-foot-5, 294 pounds), the linemen are athletic enough to shed blocks and get to the second level quickly, a rarity in today's age of hulking behemouths patrolling the trenches.
That's the same recipe Penn State's undersized yet quick offensive line has used to fuel a rushing attack that averages 212 yards per game. In fact, the Lions and Trojans rushing games are so similar they both average 5.3 yards per carry.
While being able to go against a line similar in style to USC's everyday in practice could be perceived as an added bonus for Penn State's defense, defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said it's not that simple.
"When you've been off for 40 days, you have to be able to survive the speed factor because we can't generate that in practice," Bradley said. "When you take this long of a time off it can get hard because you can get lulled to sleep because you have a scout team and you can't go against your first team because you get guys hurt.
"That's always the fine line for these bowl games is how much you go against each other because you have to get adjusted to the speed but you don't want guys getting hurt."
Linebacker Tyrell Sales agreed with Bradley's assessment that the Lions might have some difficulty replicating USC's active line in practice.
But he said there was no doubt in his mind that after the first few plays Penn State should be able to get back to game speed and the fly-to-the-ball style of defense that held opponents to less than 100 yards rushing on the year.
"When you look at USC's offensive line, they fly around and they're going to be on you quick," Sales said. "It's a different brand of football that we're not used to, but I think it's something we can adjust to in the first couple of series. And after that it's just football."
