College Career
Jarrett attended the University of Southern California, where he played for coach Pete Carroll's USC Trojans football team from 2004 to 2006. A two-time All-American, Jarrett was USC's all-time receptions leader with 216 and the Pacific-10 Conference's all-time leader in touchdown receptions with 41.
As a freshman, he helped Trojan fans get over the loss of former USC standout wide receiver, Mike Williams. He played in all 13 games and started 8 of them. He caught 55 passes for 849 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also made 5 catches for 115 yards in USC's FedEx Orange Bowl victory over Oklahoma in 2004.
As a sophomore, he made a big leap, becoming Matt Leinart's favorite target. He recorded 91 receptions for 1,274 yards including 4 touchdowns while starting 6 games in 2005. He will be remembered by many fans for his clutch grab against Notre Dame. On fourth-and-nine with less than a minute left, Matt Leinart threw a pass down the sideline to him and Jarrett caught it, running for 61 yards to set up the winning touchdown, the famed and controversial "Bush Push" QB sneak. He also came up big in USC's Rose Bowl loss to the Texas Longhorns with 10 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown.
He was a 2005 first-team All-American as a sophomore and one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award. He was on the 2006 Maxwell Award watch list as the best player in college football.
His height, hands, and quickness made him one of the premier receivers going into the 2006 college football season. With the departure of former Trojan running backs Reggie Bush and LenDale White, he was expected to be a big part of the Trojan's offense.
After a brief period of ineligibility due to his apparently inappropriate living situation with Matt Leinart, the NCAA reinstated him on August 9, 2006, making him eligible to play for the 2006 football season. Despite being hampered by injuries, including missing games, Jarrett was named to the rivals.com and Pac-10 Coaches 2006 All Pac-10 team First Team. He was also second team All-America at rivals.com and SI and Walter Camp foundation first team All-America. However, because of his lack of playing time, Jarrett was left off the 2006 list of Biletnikoff Award finalists, an omission noted by some sports writers.
On January 1, 2007, he was named offensive most valuable player of the Rose Bowl Game with a career high 203 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the 32-18 win over Michigan. Jarrett finished the 2006 season as USC's all time leading receiver with 216 catches The junior, a two-time All-American, had 70 catches for 1,015 yards and led the Trojans with 12 touchdowns in his final college season.
Projected as a 1st round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, on January 10, 2007 Jarrett declared his intent to leave USC early to enter the NFL. At a press conference, the tearful Jarrett noted the best part of his USC career was being with his "teammates" but that he was "definitely doing it for my family, because I wasn't the most fortunate kid growing up."
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