USC Is Still in Contention, for Time Being

USC is at the midway point of its season and there is evidence to support the notion that the team is overrated, or not performing to its capability.

The Trojans were ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, in preseason UPI and AP polls. They climbed as high as third after beating Illinois, 20-10, in the opening game.

But USC is 3-3 now, 2-1 in the Pacific 10, and, with the exception of Illinois, hasn’t beaten a decent team.

The Trojans padded their statistics but didn’t enhance their reputation by beating up on Oregon State and Stanford by a combined score of 93-6.

Yet, in games against teams with comparable talent, or a cut below, they’ve failed--losing to Baylor, 20-13, Arizona State, 24-0, and Notre Dame, 37-3.

The puzzling aspect is that Coach Ted Tollner has mainly a veteran team, one that was favored to defend its Pacific 10 championship and return to the Rose Bowl.

That, of course, is still possible, but the Trojans certainly haven’t gathered any momentum going into their five remaining conference games beginning with Washington State Saturday at the Coliseum.

USC was generally inexperienced when it had a 4-6-1 record in 1983, Ted Tollner’s first season as USC coach. It was mildly surprising that USC regrouped last year to win the conference championship and culminate its 9-3 season by beating Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

Tollner lost some key players from the 1984 team, such as All-American linebackers Jack Del Rio and Duane Bickett, but there was seemingly enough talent available, especially on offense, to indicate that USC would not be struggling as it is now.

Is it possible that Tollner and his staff have overrated their personnel?

“You can rationalize the loss to Baylor, a pretty good team, because we didn’t take advantage of scoring opportunities,” Tollner said. “Against Arizona State we turned the ball over six times. But in the Notre Dame game you can’t put your finger on any one thing. We were whipped in every phase of the game and they won the physical parts of most of the areas.

“But I can’t say that I’m disappointed in any particular area of our team, although all of us are disappointed with the overall results. But there isn’t an area that I feel that I’ve over-estimated.”

What bothers Tollner is the manner in which USC lost to Notre Dame. The Trojans were out of contention at halftime, trailing, 27-0.

In Tollner’s 2 1/2 season’s as USC coach, the Trojans have won only one game while trailing at halftime. That was the Rose Bowl-clinching win over Washington last year when a 7-6 deficit was turned into a 16-7 victory.

Moreover, USC hasn’t rebounded from a deficit of more than seven points in any quarter to win during Tollner’s tenure.

There is also another disturbing trend. If a blowout can be defined as a loss by 20 or more points, USC has suffered 11 blowouts since 1966--and seven have occurred since the start of the 1983 season.

So much for negative aspects. USC and four other teams--UCLA, Washington, Arizona and Arizona State--all have one conference loss and are still in contention for the Rose Bowl.

But it’s conceivable that USC could win its five remaining conference game and still not go to the Rose Bowl unless the Arizona schools lose another league game.

If the Trojans finish in a tie with either Arizona or Arizona State, they would be eliminated as a Rose Bowl representative through tie-breaking procedures.

USC would lose out to Arizona on a points basis, four for conference wins and three for nonconference wins. The teams don’t meet this year, eliminating the head-to-head tiebreaker.

USC would lose out to Arizona State because the Sun Devils have previously beaten the Trojans.

“We’re obviously disappointed to be 3-3, but we have to be committed to not let that get us down. We have to look ahead and keep our morale up,” Tollner said. “Of the five teams with one loss, every team plays at least two contenders.”

Tollner said the race could be narrowed to three teams in the next two weeks barring upsets by noncontending schools. UCLA meets Arizona and Washington plays Arizona State on Nov. 9. USC doesn’t meet a contending team until it encounters Washington in Seattle Nov. 16.