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Tollner Concerned About USC Running Game : Coach Believes His Tailbacks Should Be More Productive; Arizona State Next

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Times Staff Writer

It was generally theorized at the start of the football season that USC would be a consistent winner if quarterback Sean Salisbury was efficient in his passing.

The rest of the offense was considered solid: tailbacks Fred Crutcher and Ryan Knight, both veterans, running behind an experienced, pro-sized offensive line.

That premise held up in USC’s opening 20-10 win over Illinois Sept. 7. Salisbury was, indeed, efficient. He completed 10 of 15 passes for 164 yards and 2 touchdowns. Crutcher and Knight rushed for 83 and 89 yards, respectively, in that game. Not overwhelming statistics but respectable.

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Salisbury came back Saturday night against Baylor with, perhaps, his best performance in an injury-marred career. He completed 20 passes, a personal high, in 29 attempts for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“I felt that if we could get that much out of our passing game, we would win,” Coach Ted Tollner said.

But something was missing. The runners were left way down the track.

USC gained only 153 yards on the ground as Baylor won, 20-13, in a major upset at the Coliseum.

Salisbury, of all people, accounted for 21 net yards rushing and had the longest run for his team, 15 yards. Crutcher and Knight, as a tandem, averaged three yards a carry against a team that had yielded 504 yards rushing in its first two games.

It may have been just an off night for the tailbacks and the blocking line, but now Tollner is concerned about what should be the strongest phase of his team going into Saturday night’s Pacific 10 opener against Arizona State at Tempe, Ariz.

“The run blocking was sporadic,” Tollner said. “That’s very disappointing because that is the strength of our team. We can’t afford to be sporadic with our run. We have to be consistent and, if we can do that, with the production we got from the passing game, we can be a pretty decent offense.”

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Tollner said that there have been some opportunities for 15- to 20-yard runs from his tailbacks, but they’re falling short of that projection. “We’re not breaking enough tackles and making that extra yardage out of the run,” he said. “And I don’t have the answer to that right now.”

A 16-yard run by Knight against Illinois is the longest run by a tailback in two games.

USC doesn’t encounter many skilled option teams such as Baylor, and the Bears seemingly confused USC with their attack, rushing for 203 yards. That was the most yards allowed by USC since Notre Dame gained 213 in 1983.

Baylor also converted 9 of 14 third-down plays.

Some of the Trojan linemen were frustrated by Baylor’s blocking techniques.

“Their blocking scheme was a whole new style,” defensive tackle Brent Moore told the Daily Trojan. “They were so low, you almost had to get on the ground to get under a guy.”

Matt Koart, Moore’s teammate on the line, agreed. “They didn’t outphysical us, they dove at us,” he said.

Even though the linemen studied Baylor’s blocking style in films during the week, they couldn’t do much about it in the game.

“I still don’t know how to play their offense,” Koart said.

But Tollner said that the most disappointing aspect of the game was USC’s failure to score in the second half with first downs at the Baylor seven- and six-yard lines.

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Salisbury threw his only interception from the Baylor seven in the third quarter. He said he misread the defense.

“Sean played as well as I’ve seen him play but he didn’t play a perfect game,” Tollner said. “That’s hard to do.”

USC then had a first down at the Baylor six with 3 minutes 16 seconds left while trailing, 20-13.

Salisbury rolled out and fumbled out of bounds while losing a yard. Tollner said that Salisbury was supposed to hand off to Knight on a power play but that Salisbury had misread the signal from the sideline.

Knight gained four yards on a pitchout on second down, was held to no gain on third down trying to go inside, then lost a yard on another pitchout when the blocking failed on fourth down.

Should USC have passed on at least one down that close to the goal line?

Tollner noted that USC had thrown in a similar situation at the Baylor seven-yard line earlier and that Salisbury’s pass had been intercepted.

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Tollner said he had every reason to believe that the Trojans could run it in from six yards out. That’s USC’s traditional style. But, for whatever reason, the running game was on hold against Baylor.

Trojan Notes Baylor Coach Grant Teaff on USC’S decision to run on all four downs from the six-yard line: “I was not surprised but pleased.” . . . USC is 1-3 in games played in Tempe, Ariz., including a Fiesta Bowl loss to Penn State on Jan. 1, 1982. USC beat ASU there last year, 6-3, averting a tie when the Sun Devils’ Luis Zendejas missed a short field goal late in the game. . . . Inside linebacker Sam Anno tore ligaments in his thumb last week in practice and didn’t play against Baylor. He will probably miss the ASU game. Mike Serpa replaced Anno, and Ted Tollner said that Serpa had done as well as could be expected for a redshirt freshman. . . . Brent Moore sprained his left ankle and knee against Baylor and is questionable for Saturday night’s game. . . . Was USC overconfident against Baylor, an 11-point underdog? “We respected them, but in our minds we didn’t think that we’d have to play our best to beat them,” USC offensive tackle James FitzPatrick said. “And you can’t do that.” . . . Tollner said that Aaron Emanuel, the highly regarded freshman tailback from Quartz Hill High who was hurt in a summer practice, is ready to play. But Tollner said that the Baylor game was not a good time to use the inexperienced tailback.

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