Huskies’ Beefed-Up Offense Comes to Town to Face USC

Can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

Don’t bet on it.

Not if the old dog is a Husky.

Not if the new tricks can turn a lumbering, old-style offense of the ‘80s into a state-of-the-art, high-tech preview of the ‘90s.

In 15 years as coach of the Washington Huskies, Don James, whose team will play USC this afternoon at the Coliseum, has amassed a 116-50-2 record, giving him more victories than any other coach in Washington history and tying him with UCLA’s Terry Donahue for most Pac-10 wins, 71. From 1979 to ‘87, James led the Huskies to nine straight bowl appearances, a conference record.

You might figure that James, at 56, would just kick back and enjoy life. Pressure? That’s for younger coaches with a reputation to make.

But James figures it is also for older coaches with a reputation to maintain. So, after a 6-5 season last year, he has created his own pressure by:

--Refusing his normal contract extension and raise. After many years of coaching with the security of a five-year contract, extended another year at the end of each season, along with an addition to his paycheck, James decided to operate without a net. There is no evidence of pressure on him from above at the university, even though one national magazine, in its preseason prognostications, labeled James’ situation, “Win Or Else,” predicting that a poor season for Washington could lead to “dismissal or resignation” for the coach.

--Firing Dan Dorazio, his offensive line coach. The Huskies dropped to seventh offensively among Pac-10 teams in ’88. Washington averaged 327.5 yards a game last season, a drop of 61 yards from the year before.

--Hiring Keith Gilbertson, a former graduate assistant at Washington, to put in a new passing offense featuring multiple wide receivers and using just one running back.

James also still uses the I-formation on occasion, as a well as a no-back offense and the wishbone, and he will still be criticized if he doesn’t win, but at least nobody can call him antiquated.

The result of this big, thick new playbook is a passing offense that leads the Pac-10 with an average of 267.8 yards a game and ranks 10th nationally.

At the controls is senior quarterback Cary Conklin, who has completed 57.2% of his passes for 1,052 yards and seven touchdowns, along with five interceptions.

His favorite targets are split end Andre Riley, who has 21 catches; tight end Bill Ames with 16, and flanker Orlando McKay with 12.

“Of all the offenses I’ve seen on film, I think they have, by far, the best,” said USC Coach Larry Smith, who never met an opponent he didn’t like the week of the game. “They have great balance between the run and the pass. They really spread you out. And they still have the ability to go back and play two-back football, I-formation and that type of thing. So they really have it all.

“Conklin, it sounds trite, but I think he is the best quarterback we’ve seen. He has the arm, equivalent to or better than the guy from Illinois (Jeff George). Cary really zips it in there. He is big, 6-4, 215, and he is experienced. Burned us last year, really tore us up.”

That he did. A year ago in a 28-27 loss to USC, Conklin completed 19 of 30 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns, and scored the other Washington touchdown himself.

The normal ballcarrier in the Huskies’ one-back offense is junior tailback Greg Lewis, who has already gained 450 yards rushing and averaged 5.2 yards a carry for second place in the Pac-10. He has also caught 16 passes, averaged 9.1 yards a catch and leads the conference in all-purpose running with 149 yards a game.

The results of all this offense, though, have been mixed. After opening the season with wins over Texas A & M and Purdue, the Huskies lost their conference opener to Arizona, 20-17, on a field goal with 61 seconds left, then collapsed last week against Colorado in a 45-28 rout.

It was the defense that failed against the Buffaloes, surrendering 485 yards. But then, no defense has been able to stop undefeated Colorado.

“Colorado, I think, is one of the best teams in the country,” Smith said. “In fact, I think they have an excellent shot at the national championship.”

Facing Colorado is not one of Smith’s problems, but facing a potential letdown from last week is.

When the season began, Smith’s big problem was replacing quarterback Rodney Peete and rebuilding the confidence of an offense operating under a redshirt freshman, Todd Marinovich.

But after blowing out Utah State, 66-10; Ohio State, 42-3, and pulling off one of the great last-minute, game-winning drives in school history last week for an 18-17 victory over Washington State, the problem for the Trojans may still be confidence. Too much of it.

“That’s a concern of mine,” Smith said. “If you come out of a game like that with so much emotion, it can have its effect on you.”

So, like any good coach trying to refocus sky-high athletes, Smith has done his best to bring them back down.

“Although emotionally it was a great victory, when we look at it on film, it was kind of an ugly win, too, because we didn’t play very good football, offensively, defensively or kicking,” Smith said. “So there’s a down side of everything.”

Just ask Don James.

Trojan Notes

Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. . . . ABC will televise the game to more than 60% of the country. . . . USC guard Mark Tucker, slowed by an ankle sprain, will not start but is expected to play. His place in the starting lineup will be taken by Dan Barnes. . . . Trojan tailback Scott Lockwood, out since opening night with a dislocated thumb, has made progress, but most likely won’t play.

Also questionable is Washington free safety Eugene Burkhalter, who is nursing a sprained ankle. The decision on whether the former Long Beach Poly High School star will play was not expected to be made much before game time. . . . Last year’s meeting between these two teams was a lot like last week’s Trojan victory. Only the roles were reversed and the comeback fell just short. Trailing by 14 points in the fourth quarter against USC, Washington came within a two-point conversion of winning, only to have the potential game-winning pass fall incomplete.

A Trojan win today would be the 600th in their 101-year history, a milestone reached by only eight other Division I schools. USC begins play today at 599-231-40, with a winning percentage of .711. . . . Today is Special Kids Day at the Coliseum with about 750 children from the March of Dimes, Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, the Foundation for the Junior Blind, Tri-Valley Special Olympics and Spina Bifida Assn. of Los Angeles in attendance.