The year that brought the Trojans the likes of Joe McKnight, Marc Tyler, and Broderick Green also brought hopes to USC fans that we will once again have an exciting running game that was much missed after the departure of Reggie Bush and Lendale White.

I thought USC was incredibly lucky to be able to land a #1 and #2 ranked players playing the same position in the same year. Since USC already had a great player in Stafon Johnson and a great showing from Gable and Moody, it was just shocking that McKnight and Tyler would still commit to the same school. What's even more incredible is that a highly touted running back named Broderick Green would follow as well.

Green came in saying that he "will definitely not be redshiritng" during his freshman year. He impressed the coaches so much that he probably wouldn't have. Unfortunately, an injury before season's start set Broderick back. Broderick worked hard to be ready this year, and sadly, found himself in a long line behind other great backs trying to fight for playing time.

Joe McKnight is talked about so much because he comes with the expectations of becoming the next Reggie Bush who we can all agree is USC's most electrifying running back ever. So when a player like Emmanuel Moody left the program, nobody really cared or missed him. But now, with Broderick Green going out the door, everyone from the coaching staff to the fans should have a much different reaction.

Broderick Green didn't get enough chance to make an impression. He had 32 rushes for 168 yards. That's an average of 5.3 yards per carry to go along with his 3 touchdowns. If given more carries, at that rate he would have more touchdowns than Stafon Johnson and with a slightly higher average yards per carry. So losing Green would be like USC losing a much needed Stafon Johnson in the lineup. Think that's bad? Well as far as the future goes losing Broderick Green is like USC never having Lendale White.

Lendale holds the record for the Trojans all time rushing touchdowns with 52. White finished his career with 3,159 yards and a 5.9 average per rush. Given the chance, I think a stronger and faster Broderick Green would have easily shattered those records. More so than the Joe-Mac/Tyler combo, I think a Joe-Mac/Green combination would have been a more powerful Thunder and Lightning one-two punch.

It's really a shame that Green is on the way out. It's unfortunate that he couldn't break in to the rotation. It's a shame that he couldn't wait one more year. Going back to his comments after signing his Letter of Intent to go to USC about the coaches telling him he will come in to fill the role of Lendale White. Green said, "I don't really want to hear taht, I want to be better than Lendale White."

Well Broderick, you definitely would have been better. Most SC fans won't miss you because not too many are aware of who's standing on the sidelines, but you are definitely a HUGE Lendale size loss.