Cal’s Kapp Will Soon See If USC Is as Tough as UCLA Appears to Be

It’s not a situation that California Coach Joe Kapp relishes, but his team is the only one in the Pacific 10 that plays every other opponent. “It’s something that has to be corrected,” said Kapp, talking about the nine-game conference schedule. “It isn’t good for anyone.”

It particularly isn’t good for California, which has won only one of seven conference games so far this season.

If Arizona wins the championship, there will be some critics who will say that the title is tainted, pointing out that the Wildcats didn’t play USC and Washington, two of the contending five teams. Bet on it.

In any event, Kapp is eminently qualified to assess the contenders--UCLA, Washington, USC, Arizona and Arizona State--in the final weeks of the regular season.

“There is no question that UCLA is the most talented team of the ones we’ve met,” Kapp said. “They have size and speed and I can’t imagine any team having any better players.”

He may alter his opinion after Saturday’s game with USC at Berkeley. Cal will conclude its season Nov. 23 against Stanford.

As for his own team, 3-6 overall, Kapp said:

“UCLA is the only team that dominated us. Otherwise we’ve been competitive with every team on our schedule. We’re doing things right, but we don’t have many wins in the bank. But we’re a hard-working, lunch-bucket football team. With some of our young players like (running back) Marc Hicks and (linebacker) Hardy Nickerson, we think at some point we will win our share. Our sleeves are rolled up and we come to work with a smile on our face.”

Kevin Brown and Brian Bedford have alternated at quarterback for California this season. But it wouldn’t be surprising if Bedford plays more against USC. Brown is more a dropback quarterback, Bedford is a better runner who executes the option phase of Cal’s offense.

USC has had problems defending against the option this season, notably in a 20-13 loss to Baylor earlier in the season. Last Saturday, Washington State closed to 21-13 against USC when reserve quarterback Ed Blount took his team 69 yards to a touchdown without throwing a pass.

Nevertheless, USC prevailed, 31-13, while shutting down WSU’s all-conference quarterback, Mark Rypien, who completed only 5 of 15 passes for 37 yards while throwing 3 interceptions.

Tollner discussed the problems of defending against an option team:

“It’s hard to gang tackle an option team, especially if it runs and passes. To stop the option you have to give guys responsibilities--the dive, quarterback and pitch--and you have to tackle the dive back, for example, whether he has the ball or not. You are taken out of pursuit to the ball, and are forced to isolate and single-tackle people.

“You couple that with a a good passing team, like Washington State, then you have to cover all the potential receivers in the secondary so they can’t hit the quick, three-step pass. So it takes your secondary out of fast pursuit. You’re forced to play matchup football so you can’t get a lot of people in on tackles.”

But Tollner added that it’s difficult to execute an offense that blends passing with the option. “You’re fighting a real efficiency problem,” he said.

Trojan Notes Ted Tollner said that it’s likely that sophomore Paul Green, USC’s tight end in motion, will petition for a redshirt year. He has been hampered by a sprained ankle. USC has had an inordinate number of ankle injuries this season. Nose guard Tony Colorito is inactive with a sprained ankle, and so are outside linebacker Greg Coauette and tailback Aaron Emanuel, the latest casualty. Tailback Steve Webster is practicing again after a long layoff with an ankle injury. Offensive guard Jeff Bregel didn’t practice earlier in the week, but is expected to play against Cal.