FitzPatrick Says ‘Little Things’ Beating USC : Tackle Blames Fumbles and Interceptions, Still Believes in Running Game

James FitzPatrick, USC’s 6-8 offensive tackle, a three-year starter, wants to play pro football next season. He would like to be a handsomely paid first draft choice. He won’t say so, of course. He would be foolish to say so.

But top Trojan tackles are commonly welcome on pro clubs.

And FitzPatrick knows it.

He knows about Ron Mix, Ron Yary, Marvin Powell, Anthony Munoz, Keith Van Horne, Don Mosebar and all the others.

He knows that whenever USC is running the ball stylishly and efficiently, USC linemen are seen, remembered, and drafted high.

So this hasn’t been the best month of FitzPatrick’s life. The Trojans started the season with a surprisingly ineffective running attack that was less productive in two consecutive games than Marcus Allen used to be in one or two quarters.

And although they made some improvements as a running team here Saturday night--driving the ball repeatedly into scoring position--they came to Tempe without a scoring punch.

They didn’t bring much defense either, losing, 24-0, to the big-play Arizona State Sun Devils, who blew them away in a 17-0 first half.

Before the game, FitzPatrick had said: “We (the Trojans) have been playing physical football this year. We’re doing most things well. We’re getting on our man right. It’s the little things that have been hurting us--fumbles, missed assignments, penalties. As a team, we’ve got a lot of promise. It just hasn’t happened for us yet.”

It was the little things that beat them again against Arizona State--the same little things: fumbles, missed assignments, fumbles, penalties, fumbles, interceptions, fumbles.

But between their mistakes, the Trojans ran the ball well enough to give FitzPatrick some hope for the future--personally and as a team.

“After we got into the rhythm of the game, we ran the ball almost every time we had it,” he said afterward, commenting on USC’s 219 yards gained rushing. “But as usual, when you make a bunch of turnovers, turnovers killed us.”

The Trojans lost possession all five times they fumbled the ball, most disastrously when tailback Fred Crutcher fumbled on the ASU two-yard line in the second quarter--after which ASU whisked to a 95-yard touchdown.

“That was a 14-point swing,” FitzPatrick said. “That kind of situation, I call that a turning point. But the way I look at this game, we proved we could run against a good defensive team--and even beat them if we hold the ball.”

Coach Ted Tollner saw it about the same way,

“Our offensive line was blocking,” he said. “We were blocking for our backs to make yards. But I don’t have any explanation for the fumbles except this: Good teams, they (fumbles) don’t happen to.”

Asked about Arizona State’s fourth-down, fake-run touchdown pass, Tollner said: “That was a nice call. They were willing to gamble.”

Asked about the young Trojan tailbacks who ran for much of the game in Crutcher’s position--Steve Webster and Aaron Emanuel--the USC coach said: “We’ve been struggling on offense for three games. We were looking for a spark”

Asked about FitzPatrick, Tollner said: “He blocked well enough to win.”

FitzPatrick, who went to the Rose Bowl with the Trojans last winter, thinks part of the reason for their slow start this year is that their opponents are getting up against a champion.

Or as he said: “This year, the other guys have their eyes on us.”

Some would say that, in particular, they have their eyes on James FitzPatrick. He’s hard to miss. On his 6-8 frame today, he’s carrying 285 pounds--up from 255 in high school at Beaverton, Ore., where he was called the nation’s top prep lineman of 1981.

“The weights have put it on my arms and chest,” he said. “I had strong legs in high school but not a well-developed upper body.”

The result is a youngster who could pass for either a fresh-faced college freshman or a redwood tree, depending on whether he’s sitting or standing.

He is a communications major who lives in an off-campus apartment and still dates his high school sweetheart, Pauline Tamblyn, now of Los Angeles.

Polite, amiable, widely traveled, born in Germany, FitzPatrick is the son of a U.S. Army colonel.

“A big son of a colonel,” said USC offensive line coach Pat Morris, who was big enough himself to play in the USC line. “To me, he looks like a big Keith Van Horne. He has untouched potential.”

Thus FitzPatrick stands out in the largest front wall in Los Angeles. In their offensive lines, the Trojans average 6-5 1/2 and 272, the Raiders 6-4 1/2 and 267, the Rams 6-4 and 268.

Because he is both quick and strong, FitzPatrick plays the position known as weakside tackle.

“On that side, you face all kinds of defensive players from big down linemen to quick little guys,” Morris said. “And Fitz can block them all. That’s the kind of talent he has.”

Asked what FitzPatrick needs to become a more polished blocker, Morris said: “More work on his run-blocking techniques and more discipline as a pass blocker.”

FitzPatrick chose USC in the first place to get this kind of instruction.

“I only considered Washington and SC,” he said. “When you think about it, SC is the best place in the world for an offensive lineman because of the tradition of the position here, because of our coaching and technique training, and because of the tradition of the team.”

Still, as recently as the last eight days, none of this has helped against either Baylor or Arizona State.