USC's Sanchez Caught in a Lie

USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, battling John David Booty for the starting job, also has another battle on his hands. He can't tell the truth. Sanchez was grilled by Bill Dwyre of the L.A. Times over events leading to his April arrest on suspicion of sexual assault against a female USC student. No charges were filed because of a lack of evidence, but the aftermath remains, including questions about Sanchez's use of a fake ID to gain entrance into the 901 Club earlier that April evening. Sanchez is only 19 and the club does not allow anybody under 21 to enter, but the quarterback, who is from Orange County, used a fake ID that identified himself as Jordan Traver Uttal from Arizona. Dwyre came armed because he had reviewed bar tapes from that April night and knew the answers to his questions. He simply wanted to see if Sanchez would be forthcoming. He wasn't. When asked if Uttal was a real person, Sanchez answered, "I don't know what you are talking about." Wrote Dwyre: "Now we had a problem. Sanchez had taken the path most common and comfortable to athletes on the hot seat. He had avoided telling the truth." Later, he wrote: "Usually, reporters asking questions like this are basing them on reports, documents or secondhand information. Not this time. The interview ended shortly, and not exactly on a let's-have-dinner-soon basis."