Lineman Justice Recovers Nicely

By David Wharton

Oct. 30, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

As his running back headed left, toward the opposite side of the field, Winston Justice had no one to block.

From his position at right tackle, the USC offensive lineman was responsible for the backside linebacker, who was nowhere to be seen, so he simply chased after the action.

Then came a surprise.

“I saw the ball on the ground,” he said. “I was kind of shocked.”

Reggie Bush had fumbled while stretching for the goal line and Justice recovered in the end zone, scoring an early touchdown in the Trojans’ 55-13 romp over Washington State at the Coliseum on Saturday.

It was the first touchdown of Justice’s college career and a bright spot in what has been a somewhat wearisome fall.

The former freshman All-American has struggled at times, giving up sacks and committing too many holding penalties. The last few weeks, he has stayed after practice in search of answers.

“Everybody has such high expectations for Winston,” center Ryan Kalil said. “So when he has a slip-up, people start questioning him.”

Saturday’s game figured to be another challenge. Washington State arrived with a conference-best 26 sacks in its first seven games, the defensive line anchored by ends Mkristo Bruce and Adam Braidwood.

The Cougars had watched film of USC and thought they spotted flaws in Justice’s game.

“We went out there and tried to expose him,” Braidwood said.

They saw a player who had struggled with his footwork against Arizona State and Notre Dame, and who had been flagged for holding multiple times against Arizona.

“He’s better than that,” USC offensive line coach Pat Ruel said. “At least he should be.”

Ruel is quick to point out that the junior missed last season, suspended after a 2004 conviction for flashing a replica gun during an argument.

“He’s just trying to get back in the flow,” Ruel said. “There are still a lot of things that he’s kind of learning and understanding.”

Time away had done nothing to erode the physical skills that made him a blue-chip recruit and a starter as a freshman. Instead, he needed to work on the mental side of the game.

“We needed to challenge him so he understood that he had to play at a high level down after down after down,” Steve Sarkisian, assistant head coach, said.

After the Notre Dame victory, Justice acknowledged that he was not playing well. He had a long talk with Ruel that week and, a few days ago, remained after practice to work on protecting against the outside rush.

But he also thinks too much was made of his difficulties.

“I only had one really bad game, against Arizona,” he said, adding: “It was so bad that a lot of teams looked at it.”

When told that Washington State had targeted him, Justice raised his eyebrows.

“They said that?”

Not everything went well for him against the Cougars. He was called for holding -- the penalty was declined -- and missed picking up a blitz. Late in the game, he sprained his left shoulder, an injury that was described as minor but was nonetheless painful enough to make him vomit on the sideline.

“I can’t give him an A-plus,” Ruel said. “When you miss a blitz, I have to give you an A-minus. But he did a really good job.”

The Trojans ran the ball effectively and neutralized Washington State’s rush, quarterback Matt Leinart getting sacked only once. Justice had that touchdown to celebrate.

“Hopefully, I can score another one,” he said.

And what about those weaknesses on the game film? Let Washington State answer that question.

“He has good hands and great feet,” Braidwood said. “I think he definitely corrected them.”