Talented Baylor Will Give Tollner an Idea of How Good USC Is

Ted Tollner has an inkling that he’s coaching a good USC football team, but he isn’t sure. He said he’ll find out Saturday.

A more accurate assessment of the Trojans can be made after they have played ninth-ranked Baylor at Waco, Tex., in a nationally televised game.

Baylor has 16 starters from a team that had a 9-3 record last year, finishing with a 21-7 victory over LSU in the Liberty Bowl.

The Bears from the Southwest Conference achieved national recognition by upsetting the Trojans last September at the Coliseum, 20-13.

USC was coming off a 20-10 victory over Illinois and was ranked No. 3 in the country at the time. Baylor was unranked.

Now the roles have been reversed. Baylor is ranked ninth in both wire-service polls, while USC is ranked 20th by United Press International poll.

USC survived four first-half turnovers to beat Illinois last Saturday at the Coliseum, 31-16, but Baylor is regarded as a considerably better team than the Illini.

Conversely, Baylor has yet to meet a team of USC’s caliber. The Bears tuned up for the Trojans by beating Wyoming, 31-28, and Louisiana Tech, 38-7.

“Baylor is a deservedly ranked team,” Tollner said Tuesday. “They don’t have a legitimate weakness.”

And so it seems, since Coach Grant Teaff has seven returning All-Southwest Conference players: All-American safety Thomas Everett, cornerback Ron Francis, defensive tackle Sam Grumbine, center John Adickes, offensive guard Mark Bates, split end Matt Clark, and linebacker Ray Berry, who had 15 tackles against the Trojans last year.

Moreover, Teaff has an experienced quarterback, Cody Carlson, one of 16 starting seniors.

“On defense, they have physical guys on their front seven to stop the run, and skilled guys in the secondary to defend against the pass,” Tollner said. “But the thing that gets my attention more than that is their offense. They have tremendous variety in how they can beat you.

“The quarterback can beat you by running, or by throwing play action or straight-back passes. They force you to work like mad in defending the option because they’re very good at it and they have a variety of formations. They’ll run the option from all kinds of looks that will confuse you in defensive alignments.

“Their confidence has to be sky high because they’re looking at a potential Cotton Bowl bid, or better. So everything is going for them.”

USC doesn’t play many skilled option teams, especially one that can rely on other offensive variations.

Some of the Trojan defensive linemen were frustrated by Baylor’s blocking techniques after last year’s game. The boys from Waco literally cut the Trojans off at the pass, with ankle-high blocks.

It’s a problem USC will have to reckon with again.

“All that our defensive linemen see early in the year is our offensive linemen,” Tollner said. “When you’re going against an I (formation) team, it’s all high blocks to tie people up while the backs run off to daylight.

“Option teams teach low blocks, and scramble to tie up ankles and knees. Even though we worked on that last year before the Baylor game, we can’t teach our scout team linemen to do it as well as they do it. And we only get two days to work on it. They have a technique that is different than we normally see with outstanding people doing it.

Tollner also said that Baylor’s offensive line, averaging 270 pounds, will outweigh his defensive front. But it’s not to the point that Tollner’s defenders can be labled the gutty little Trojans.

There’s a general perception that USC’s players didn’t accord Baylor proper respect last year, believing that they could take the game in stride. Tollner said that was a possibility.

“Players are no different than a fan,” he said. “They only know what they read. If you’re gong to read about Southwest Conference football, you read about Texas and Arkansas.

“But, when you get whipped, you don’t care that Baylor is in Waco, Tex. You have instant respect then. Baylor has our players’ attention now.”

Trojan Notes Ted Tollner said that USC came out of the Illinois game without any serious injuries. . . . Strong safety Tim McDonald didn’t practice last week because of a sprained ankle, but he still played against Illinois. . . . Baylor quarterback Cody Carlson alternated with Tom Muecke the last three years. Now he’s in charge except on short yardage plays, when split end Matt Clark moves under center because of his speed. Carlson has completed 59% of his passes for 470 yards and 1 touchdown while throwing 2 interceptions. Clark ran for two one-yard touchdowns against Louisiana Tech and threw a three-yard scoring pass. . . . Baylor Coach Grant Teaff uses 10 to 12 running backs during a game.