Pacific 10 Conference

Sporting News, The, August 21, 1995 by Bob Clark

Great expectations

Success at any other school might be another eight-victory season and a second consecutive bowl victory.

But this is Southern California, where a season is largely measured by the results of two games, and a loss to UCLA and a tie with Notre Dame in 1994 left the Trojans wanting more. They should get it this fall, the third season of John Robinson's return.

Offensively, the Trojans have the league's most dangerous performer in wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson. For balance, there's explosive running back Delon Washington, who sat out most of the '94 season while academic questions were cleared up, but averaged 6.8 yards per carry when he did play.

It won't be easy to find someone to step in at quarterback for Rob Johnson, so Southern Cal will go with the twosome of Brad Otton and Kyle Wachholtz. They came out of the spring even, and Robinson will let the battle continue into the fall by alternating them in the first two games, a luxury the Trojans can afford as they open against San Jose State and Houston.

Defensively, the Trojans need vast improvement in a unit that couldn't stop the run last fall, having finished eighth in the league in rush defense and seventh overall by allowing nearly 400 yards per game.

"We'll be more physical," Robinson says.

There isn't much this team lacks after a pair of recruiting classes ranked among the nation's best. Players like Washington and Johnson followed Robinson to USC, and this year's prized recruit is Daylon McCutcheon, who will be returning kicks if he doesn't break into the defensive backfield.

There's enough here that the Trojans might beat Notre Dame for the first time in 13 years and UCLA for the first time in five seasons. Do that, and USC may even measure up to the prognosticators who list the Trojans as national championship contenders. "That's where we want to be," Robinson says. "That's where we expect to be."

Spanning the globe

Arizona always seems to mine a prospect where no other school even pans for recruits, but Chima Ugwu might be a stretch even for the Wildcats.

Though he's 6 feet 4 and 290 pounds, the native of Enugu, Nigeria, has never played a game of football. He did, however, win the shot put and finish second in the discus at the national junior-college track and field championships last spring and also was fast enough to run on Central Arizona's sprint-relay team.

It's that combination of athletic ability and physical power that interested the Wildcats, who had an in because an assistant track coach went to college at Azusa Pacific with Christian Okoye, another Nigerian import who went from track and field to the NFL. Ugwu will be a sophomore in eligibility, and the Wildcats will start him off as a defensive lineman.

The old sod

Playing surfaces in the Pac-10 had been split evenly between artificial surfaces and grass, but grass will be in the majority this fall with Cal's conversion of the Memorial Stadium surface back to sod.

It's costing $1.5 million, but the Bears felt the price was worth it, and the opportunity was there after a new practice facility was built nearby. The stadium field will only be needed on game day.

"Every time I would talk to alumni and supporters, the natural grass was the first thing they'd ask me about," Athletic Director John Kasser says. "It brings back the tradition of the stadium."

More than that, the players say. "It's more natural to be all dirty playing football," defensive end Duane Clemons says. "It's just part of the game."

Oregon and Oregon State have also considered a return to grass, but there are substantial obstacles. At Oregon, Autzen Stadium has severe drainage problems, and at Oregon State, there is the never-ending battle with financial resources.

Battle lines

Mark September 16 on the calendar as a day for the Pac-10 to restore some of its lost prestige, or suffer further indignities.

That's the Saturday when Arizona is at Illinois, Arizona State travels to Nebraska, Stanford plays host to Wisconsin and Washington visits Ohio State.

Once considered the nation's premier football conference, the Pac-10 has lost three consecutive Rose Bowls and five of the last eight. Last year, it went 19-14-1 in non-conference play and made it over .500 only by going 5-0 against the Big West.

RELATED ARTICLE: ORDER OF FINISH

1 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Two of USC's three losses last season were to Oregon and Penn State, the teams that met in the Rose Bowl. This season, the Trojans don't play either, so they should make it to Pasadena themselves for the first time since the 1989 season.

2 ARIZONA: Yes, the offensive line has to be replaced, but that was the unit that was most disappointing last season. Tedy Bruschi and Chuck Osborne return in the defensive line, meaning it won't take much offense for the Wildcats to win.

3 UCLA: The Bruins return 17 starters, including outside linebacker Donnie Edwards, and that experience will be needed because the first three games are against Miami, Brigham Young and Oregon. UCLA was 5-6 in '94 and significant improvement will be expected.