Dillon Baxter, APR 01 USC Spring Practice

Lane Kiffin's first year as USC head coach seems to be getting tougher by the day.

In the aftermath of Stanley Havili's suspension last week, freshman running back Dillon Baxter has been suspended for the Trojans' season opener against Hawaii for violating team rules, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"This is a very, very severe punishment," Kiffin said Wednesday. "But it was imperative to make a strong message, especially to our first group of freshmen our first year here, and potentially the most talented player on the team, that we have high standards for our players on and off the field."

Baxter, arguably the team's most dynamic offensive player, spent both two-a-day practices Tuesday running and doing calisthenics on the sideline as punishment for being late to a team function. But his first game suspension seems to go beyond basic tardiness.

A USC Department of Public Safety incident report was filed Tuesday night at 2:47 a.m. in response to a situation involving a student in the Fluor Tower dorms who was cited for "being under the influence of a controlled substance." Fluor Tower is where the USC football players are staying for the first weeks of training camp.

Kiffin said Tuesday that he was unaware of the report, but when asked by Times reporter Gary Klein if he knew about an incident involving Baxter in the dorms he said, "Depending on what you call an incident." It was also reported that he met with Baxter later that day in his office.

An unnamed source also told Klein that Baxter was the person named in the report and that the controlled substance was marijuana.

Freshman Markeith Ambles was punished on Tuesday as well, but, unlike Baxter, he was allowed to participate in the evening session.

When asked about the difference in punishment, Kiffin said, "There's just things that you have your opinion on of whether people make mistakes, whether people make choices on purpose. And so I felt Markeith it was more of a mistake and I felt Dillon's was more severe."

Kiffin has praised Baxter often; both throughout spring practice and in the first week of the team's training camp. Baxter is typically one of the first names out of Kiffin's mouth when he is asked about standout players on offense.

In suspending a player whose talents he values so much, it seems Kiffin is sending a message to the team that further misbehavior won't be tolerated, no matter who the culprit is.

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