LOS ANGELES -- A year ago at this time, Tyler Vaughns was being wooed by some of the most dominant college football programs in the country.

He was widely-regarded as one of the nation's top high school receivers and many of his suitors -- Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia and Washington among them -- told him could come in and play a significant role from Day 1. It was intriguing, no doubt, but he opted to remain close to home and chose USC. The Trojans were deep at receiver and didn't present a clear path to early playing time -- at least not as a true freshman.

Vaughns understood what he was getting into.

"I knew in my freshman year I wouldn't be starting," he said. "But I still knew I would be able to develop my game better [at USC] and it has been great.

"Just knowing I'm going against future NFL players. I'm getting better work. Even though I'm not playing this year, I feel like I am playing with Adoree' [Jackson] and Biggie [Iman Marshall]. That helps my game every day. I can help them. They can help me."

For USC, the ability to redshirt a player of Vaughns' caliber has been a rarity in recent years. As a result of the NCAA-imposed sanctions levied in 2010, the program lost 30 scholarships over a three-year span and only now is recovering. At the Las Vegas Bowl in 2013, the Trojans had just 44 available players who were recruited to be on scholarship -- 41 fewer than what is allowed by the NCAA.

They began this season with 82 scholarship players, and while that number has decreased slightly due to various in-season departures, it allowed 12 true freshmen – spread out among several position groups -- to spend the season redshirting on the service team. Six true freshmen have earned playing time, but none of them have started and have mainly been used on special teams. That experience helped USC qualify for the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual.

In fact, quarterback Sam Darnold and tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe are the only redshirt freshmen on the team to start on either offense or defense this season. Nine others from the Class of 2015 have -- running back Ronald Jones II, linebacker Cameron Smith and Marshall to name three -- but all of them played last season.

The ramifications from the sanctions are something coach Clay Helton has been dealing with his entire tenure at USC. He was hired as the quarterbacks coach just months before the punishment was handed down and has helped navigate through the crippling effects ever since.

"I remember first getting here in that first or second year and you just couldn't do it," Helton said. "You had to play those [true freshmen], but now you can let them develop."

One of the reasons Alabama has been so dominant for so long is its superior depth. It has guys playing strictly on special teams and fighting for snaps who could be centerpieces elsewhere.

That’s what stood out to USC right tackle Zach Banner when the Trojans played the Crimson Tide in Week 1.

"Their 2s and 3s are just as good as their 1s," he said. "They're able to sub in certain packages. They've been there underneath that system for so long. They haven't had sanctions. They haven't had things like that."

Banner, a fifth-year senior, was one of the rare USC players who benefited from a redshirt season and can see how the Trojans' roster construction is set up well for the future.

"I think things like going to a Rose Bowl and getting a possible win will help in sending these guys off to a great offseason," he said. "And they're able to get great recruits. It's able to stack up like an army."

And that's a scary prospect for other teams in the Pac-12.