Stanford Coach Rates UCLA Best : But Cardinal Players Call Trojan-Bruin Game a Tossup

USC’s new football coach, Larry Smith, is still undefeated at home. His Coliseum record this year is 4-0. And he isn’t taking it lightly.

“Winning on your home field is the key to winning this conference,” Smith, the former Arizona coach, said after the Trojans turned back Stanford Saturday, 39-24.

“It’s hard to win on the road in the Pac-10,” he said. “So you’ve got to take advantage when you can.”

Against Stanford, the Trojans did that effectively. Because the Stanford offense was on the field much of the afternoon--with an edge in possession time of 34:50 to 25:10--USC quarterback Rodney Peete had to deliver touchdown passes almost every time up.

The five he threw seemed to prove that the Trojans have enough offense to play competitively in their last two starts against Arizona and UCLA. But do they have enough defense?

For Arizona? Perhaps. For UCLA? The almost certain answer is no.

Defensively, the Trojans appear to be much too young and too slow for the Bruins, whose personnel is plainly the more gifted.

That’s the view of, among others, Stanford Coach Jack Elway.

“Overall, I think UCLA is a better team,” he said. “They have more team speed, and are extraordinarily quick on defense.”

His players, because they are Stanford men, were more diplomatic.

“I’d call the (USC-UCLA) game a tossup,” said Elway’s tough, active center, Andy Sinclair. “There are great athletes on both defenses.”

Stanford linebacker Barry McKeever, the son and nephew of two famous Trojans, didn’t play against the Bruins five weeks ago. But he saw them.

“These teams are about even,” McKeever said. “Whoever makes the least mistakes will win.”

Stanford lost to UCLA, 49-0.

“The difference is that we played better (against USC),” Elway said, noting that quarterback Brian Johnson missed most of the UCLA game and tailback Brad Muster all of it. “Brad was eager to play (this time) and had a good day.”

That’s more than the Stanford coach could say for his defense.

The three highest-ranking draft choices in sight, according to the National Football League scouts in attendance, were USC offensive tackle Dave Cadigan and two Stanford players, Muster and wide receiver Jeff James.

The scouts are only worried about Muster’s and James’ health. The talent, they said, is there.

They call Cadigan a modern blocker because of his size, 6-foot-5, 280 pounds, and pass protection skills.

“Muster will go in the top six if he isn’t injury prone,” said the New England Patriots’ director of personnel, Dick Steinberg.

At 6-3 and 226, Muster has run 40 yards in 4.5, the Stanford people said, although he doesn’t look that fast.

“When Brad hits the hole, he’s a load,” Stanford center Sinclair said.

So was Washington Redskin fullback John Riggins, with whom Muster is most often compared.

“But Muster is a much better receiver,” said Steinberg, noting the Stanford tailback’s game-leading 6 catches Saturday for a game-leading 103 yards.

USC’s 6-3 cornerback Greg Coauette will be an NFL safety, the scouts said. They question whether 220-pound Trojan linebacker Marcus Cotton has NFL size.

They wouldn’t comment on the quarterbacks, Peete and Johnson, or other underclassmen.

Two of Peete’s five touchdown passes were thrown on option plays. This suggests that Smith is developing the most versatile offense the Trojans have ever had.

Most of the good USC teams over all the decades have been power-running teams. Smith has added sophisticated passing and a full-blown option series.

In the Stanford game, about one in every three Trojan plays was an option play of some kind, one was a pass, and one was an I formation power run.

Accordingly, the Trojans looked like Bo Schembechler’s teams at Michigan--where Smith once coached--except that, with Rodney Peete, they passed with more success.

Historically, the trouble with mixing option, power, and pass plays into the same offense has been the practice-time factor. The work week is too short to get it all done.

And each has to be practiced extensively because option runs and blocking are different from I formation runs and blocking--and pass plays are different still.

“It’s especially hard to find the (practice) time this time of year,” Smith said. “The (players) are all beaten up.”

Nonetheless, USC’s execution was impressive Saturday on all three ways of advancing the football.

With Smith’s offense, in fact, the Trojans have been in every game they’ve played this year--including the Notre Dame game. But they haven’t played UCLA yet.