BATTLE FOR THE ROSE BOWL : UCLA vs. USC : It’s a Sad Year for Cadigan Even If Trojans Win

USC’s Trojans were in a celebrating mood Saturday in their dressing room after beating Arizona, 12-10, to qualify for a Rose Bowl showdown game with UCLA.

The players were singing the fight song, there were tears in the eyes of Coach Larry Smith, the former Arizona coach, when he was presented the game ball and it was a jubilant scene.

Sitting quietly, however, in his dressing cubicle was USC offensive tackle Dave Cadigan, a prospective All-American and first-round draft choice of the National Football League.

“The guys were jumping around as if they had just won the lottery,” Cadigan said. “I was happy--I wasn’t down--but I’m not in the same state of mind as the other guys are.”

Cadigan is preoccupied. He has been ever since his mother, Barbara, died Aug. 11 after waging a long fight against cancer.

“It has taken a lot of the fun out of the season,” Cadigan said. “I feel like there is something missing, especially after a game. I can’t enjoy things to the fullness that other guys do.

“At times it has been very distracting and depressing. I would say it has gotten progressively worse as the season has gone along. It really hasn’t been alleviated.”

Cadigan says he’s playing as hard as he can and trying to stay focused on what he has to do.

He added, however, that he needs a break, time to sort out his feelings. He won’t get one for a while, though, with the UCLA game Saturday at the Coliseum, an impending bowl game, Rose, or Sun, and then some college all-star games.

“My mom’s death has taken a big chunk out of some of the glory I might have felt this season,” Cadigan said.

Cadigan and his father, Patrick, support one another in their grief. Patrick, who played for Boston College, has been at every USC game, home or away. And he regularly attends practices.

“I express as much love and support for him in any way I can,” Dave said. “I just try to be as helpful as I can.”

Patrick Cadigan said that Dave was devastated when his mother died. “They were very close,” He said, choking on his words. “She was my life. We were married for 28 years, and she was an absolute saint.”

If work is therapy, then Dave is getting plenty of it as an offensive lineman.

“We put in more time than anybody on the football team--more meeting time, more film time and we usually stay out on the field for an extra 15 or 20 minutes after everybody has gone,” Cadigan said. “Everyone on the team recognizes this and kind of feels sorry for us. We work like dogs.”

The man cracking the whip is offensive line coach John Matsko, who set the tone for the season last spring.

“He had us meeting at 8 in the morning three days a week,” Cadigan said. “He felt it was important for us to learn the system. It just blew us away.

“Here’s my schedule now: I have a class from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., then I meet individually with Coach Matsko from 10 to 11. I go to class from 11 to 12 and then 12 to 1.

“When my last class is over, we watch film from 1 to 1:45. Then, after we get taped and put on pads, we come back for another meeting from 2:10 to 3:30.

“Now it’s time for practice and, when it ends about 6:30, we take our shoes and shoulder pads off and carry them upstairs at Heritage Hall to watch film for another half hour.”

Cadigan, who stands 6 feet 5 inches and weighs 280 pounds, added that the offensive linemen are also required to take written tests two nights a week and that no one else on the team is so thoroughly tested.

“I know for a fact that there is no offensive line in America that meets as much as we do, or works as hard,” Cadigan said emphatically. “Why, we don’t even get as many water breaks in practice as the rest of the team. While others are on a break, we’re still going 100 m.p.h.

“When we were dying in the trenches during two-a-day drills, Matsko told us that it is all going to pay off and we’ll be stronger in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a lot to deal with and you have to learn to keep cool. But we have tremendous respect for the guy. He’s a hell of a coach and no one ever challenges him. He’s kind of a Vince Lombardi type. You love him, but you hate him type thing.”

Cadigan is in the mold of USC offensive linemen of the past. He’s strong, with a bench press of 450 pounds, and quick for his size. He has recorded 145 “decleaters” this season, USC parlance for knocking a defensive player completely off his feet.

He is projected to be the 16th USC offensive lineman to be drafted in the first round since 1968 and the 23rd to be accorded All-American honors since 1964.

Cadigan plays right tackle, but occasionally is teamed on the same side of the line with left tackle John Guererro, who weighs at least 310 pounds. That’s nearly 600 pounds of beef collapsing on the defense on short-yardage and goal-line plays.

As a senior lineman, Cadigan had to learn a more complex blocking scheme from Matsko this season.

“It was harder for an older guy like me, but I’m getting comfortable with it,” he said. “I think it’s good for the guys that he has incorporated a lot of pro-style blocking.

“USC has always taught good pass and run blocking skills. The key was really finishing a block, the decleater thing, playing to the whistle. That’s why USC players have done so well in the NFL.”

Cadigan also said that the linemen are making more verbal calls at the line of scrimmage while adjusting to varied defenses.

“The entire offensive line is listening to (center) John Katnik and the tight end, a guard and the backs are listening to me. You have to be sharp because there are so many calls.”

Cadigan said he’s excited about Saturday’s game with UCLA but added that the full impact won’t hit him until later in the week.

“I feel we’re deserving of the situation we’re in because we’ve worked so hard,” he said. Cadigan said that Coach Larry Smith is as demanding as Matsko, adding, “He’s a disciplinarian, a highly complex coach of the ‘80s. He’s a man’s man, but also a sensitive, classy guy.”

Football, for Cadigan, is often drudgery without recognition. Some defensive players are recognized for their sacks and interceptions. Quarterbacks, running backs and receivers are recognized for their particular statistics.

Do you ever hear anyone talking about decleaters?

Cadigan said his role on the team was put in perspective when he was visited by injured linebacker Rex Moore after the Arizona game.

“Another day on the job, right, Dave?” Moore asked his friend.

“And that’s just what it was,” Cadigan said. “That’s how offensive linemen take their jobs. Not much different than practice. Just another hard day’s work.”