THE CITRUS BOWL : AUBURN 16, USC 7 : Notes : McGee Denies Job Offered to Smith

USC Athletic Director Mike McGee said Thursday that he hasn’t offered the Trojan football coaching job to anyone, despite published reports that Arizona Coach Larry Smith will succeed Ted Tollner.

“Two candidates are primarily in contention,” McGee said, “and an announcement will be made soon.”

It’s believed, though, that Smith will be announced as USC’s coach at a press conference today at the school.

McGee launched his coaching hunt after Tollner was fired Dec. 8. Iowa Coach Hayden Fry was reportedly contending for the job along with Smith.

But it was learned that USC made a commitment to Smith, 47, who has been Arizona’s coach for seven years.

When told that Smith will most likely replace him, Tollner said: “He would be an excellent choice. He is a fine football coach and understands the college scene. And he has good values.”

Tollner said he and Smith are friends, and he couldn’t resist needling the Arizona coach, pointing out that Smith is 0-2 in games against Tollner-coached USC teams.

Much was written on how USC’s players, knowing that their coach had already been fired, would respond in the Florida Citrus Bowl game against Auburn Thursday.

After the 16-7 defeat, quarterback Rodney Peete said: “I’m sad that he’s gone. But it’s not on my mind right now. I’m still trying to get over the game.”

Said inside linebacker Rex Moore: “I wanted to win the game for myself and then Coach Tollner. I’ll play hard for the next coach. He’s the general, and I’m just a soldier.”

USC has lost consecutive bowl games to Southeastern Conference teams.

The Trojans were beaten by Alabama, 24-3, last season in the Aloha Bowl.

Auburn linebacker Aundray Bruce was asked to compare the Pacific 10 with SEC teams.

“Naturally, I think the SEC is better,” he said. “USC and Georgia were similar teams because of their offense (Georgia beat Auburn, 20-16). But USC is the only Pac-10 team I’ve seen.”

USC’s bowl record is 21-9, while Auburn improved to 10-8-1. Auburn has played in five straight bowl games, winning four.

Auburn Coach Pat Dye said he gave his players a tongue-lashing to inspire them when USC scored less than five minutes into the game on linebacker Marcus Cotton’s 24-yard run with an intercepted pass.

“I was concerned with the intensity with which we were playing,” said Dye, who acknowledged he was “talking ugly to them on the sideline.

“Don’t you go telling what I said,” he jokingly admonished some players within earshot. “We finally got the tempo picked up.”

The Tigers may have entered the game a little too confident, the coach said.

“We came here expecting to win,” Dye said. “We weren’t as sharp as we have been this season at the first of the game, but I got on (the players) a little on the sidelines and we picked up the tempo. I can’t say exactly what I said, because some of their mamas might get a little upset with me.”

Auburn tailback Brent Fullwood, who rushed for 152 yards, has been projected as a first-round draft choice, but he said he is not concerned about his professional future.

“I’m going to go to the Japan Bowl and then to the Senior Bowl in Mobile (Ala.), but beyond that I’ll cross the bridges as I come to them,” Fullwood said. “We were good, and that’s all that matters right now.”

Fullwood said it wasn’t his best game, but it “was one of my most satisfying ‘cause they were rude.

“They were one of the rudest teams we’ve ever played. Instead of playing ball, they wanted to fight.”