Smith: USC Is Villain Against Bo, Michigan

“Some guys will do anything to win a ballgame.”

That was USC Coach Larry Smith’s good-natured response to the retirement announcement by Michigan’s Bo Schembechler.

Smith, an assistant under Schembechler at both Michigan and Miami of Ohio and close to him ever since, already has lost one Rose Bowl game to his former mentor, a 22-14 setback last January. Now, Schembechler has a built-in emotional advantage in his Pasadena rematch with USC.

You know, win one for the old coach in his last game.

Smith didn’t discount that aspect Thursday when he said: “I don’t think there’s any question that there will be a lot more media attention for Bo’s last game.

“You’re talking about one of the great college football coaches in the country. There’s no doubt in my mind that Michigan will be a little extra emotionally charged for the game and it provides an incentive and a challenge for us.”

Smith said Schembechler’s announcement came as somewhat of a surprise, but he liked the way his friend bowed out.

“He made his own decision,” Smith said. “Bo did it his way.”

Schembechler has not won a national championship in his 27 years as a head coach, and even though his team is ranked No. 3 nationally, it doesn’t figure that Michigan could climb to No. 1 even by beating USC.

That assessment was made before Schembechler said the Rose Bowl would be his final game as a coach.

Smith said that if Michigan beats USC and No. 1-ranked Colorado loses to Notre Dame, there is a possibility that coaches and writers would vote Michigan No. 1 as a sentimental gesture to Schembechler.

Schembechler is 2-7 in the Rose Bowl, and Smith is 0-2, having lost in successive years to Michigan State and Michigan.

Asked if the pressure builds with each defeat, Smith said: “I don’t think it’s the pressure. You keep searching until you find a way. I just try to find a better way of doing things, or correcting your mistakes that caused you to lose, or whatever it may be.

“Hey, it’s inevitable. It’s like the film of Rocky. You get knocked down enough times, you just find a way to win the championship.”

Smith, of course, will be primed to deprive Schembechler, who has 234 victories, of his last win.

“It’s kind of a bittersweet type of thing,” Smith said. “This is one time we’re going to be wearing the black hat no matter what. And he’s going to be wearing the white hat. We’re the villains in this one.”

Asked to recall a Schembechler story, Smith didn’t hesitate.

“It was the first day I was hired as an assistant coach at Michigan along with some other guys. We drove to Ann Arbor, Mich., in the middle of December and checked into a hotel. It was snowing, and we were told to be in the office at 7 o’clock in the morning.

“Bo never told us how to get there. He just said to be there. So, with the weather, we were slipping and sliding with our cars all over the place trying to get there.

“We got there five minutes early. And there was Bo, all stretched out and relaxed, and he asked, ‘Where have you been?’ He’d expected us to be there 20 minutes early.”

Trojan Notes

USC began practice Thursday on campus but will work out at UC Irvine Dec. 27-30. . . . Outside linebacker Junior Seau, who suffered a mild right shoulder separation against UCLA, is ready to practice, but his contact work may be limited. . . . The Trojans are well-represented on The Sporting News All-America first team, with Seau and defensive back Mark Carrier. UCLA punter Kirk Maggio also is on the team. . . . Wide receiver John Jackson has been named an NCAA Today’s Top 6 award winner for scholastic achievement. Jackson carries a 3.30 grade-point average while working on a graduate degree in business . . . Coach Larry Smith said offensive tackle Pat Harlow has a back problem and is questionable for the Rose Bowl game. If he can’t play, he’ll be replaced by 6-foot-7, 290-pound Michael Moody. Smith’s analysis of the Wolverines: “They don’t beat themselves.” . . . USC strong safety Mark Carrier is a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s best defensive back. . . . Omen? Smith is only the second coach in history to get to the Rose Bowl in his first three seasons at a school. Stanford’s Tiny Thornhill (1933-35) was the other. Like Smith, he lost his first two Rose Bowl games but won the third.