Sam Baker

Bio

The Trojans' front wall anchor at the demanding left offensive tackle position, Baker has battled injury problems the last two years. When healthy, he dominated in the trenches and was pretty good while playing through pain.

Even though he missed three full games and a good portion of two others in 2007, he became only the third three-time All-American first-team selection in school history. The first to accomplish that feat was linebacker Richard Wood (1972-74), followed by quarterback Matt Leinart (2003-05).

Baker comes from a family with strong sports tradition. His uncle, Ben Baker, was an offensive lineman at Duke, playing tackle for the Blue Devils from 1969-71. His father, David, is the commissioner of the Arena Football League and formerly played basketball at UC Irvine and then professionally in Europe.

Baker enrolled at Southern California in 2003, spending the season performing as an offensive guard on the scout team. The following season, he shifted to left offensive tackle, starting 13 games. He was named to the Football Writers, The Sporting News, Collegefootballnews.com and Rivals.com Freshman All-American first-teams, adding All-Pac-10 Conference second-team while collecting 74 knockdown blocks. He was also named the team's Offensive Lineman of the Year, the first freshman to be honored as such as a Trojan.

In 2005, Baker continued to elevate his play. The CBS SportsLine.com All-American first- team choice added third-team recognition from the Associated Press and Rivals.com. He collected first-team All-Pac-10 Conference first-team accolades and was named the team's Co-Lifter of the Year. In 13 games, he delivered 103 knockdowns, including a dozen touchdown-resulting blocks, despite playing the final month of the regular season with a bone chip in his left knee.

As a junior, Baker shared team Lifter of the Year and Offensive Lineman of the Year honors. He was a first-team All-American pick by the Football Writers Association, The Sporting News, CBS SportsLine.com, Associated Press and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. He was again selected to the All-Pac-10 Conference first-team, helping the offense average 385.46 yards per game. He graded 85.85% for blocking consistency, posting 109 knockdowns, including 14 touchdown-resulting blocks.

After having left knee surgery in January, Baker was slowed early in the season by a cracked rib that he suffered during a mid-August scrimmage prior to the 2007 season. He sat out games against Notre Dame, Oregon State and California and saw limited action vs. Oregon after he strained his hamstring vs. Arizona. He still garnered All-American first-team honors from the Walter Camp Foundation and was an All-Pac-10 first-team pick. He again shared USC Offensive Lineman of the Year Award honors, as he produced 88 knockdowns and 12 touchdown-resulting blocks.