Bo Says Hello Larry, Then It’s Goodby : Rose Bowl: Michigan’s Schembechler will bow out today against USC’s Smith, his former pupil and longtime friend.

Once again, it’s time for the war of the roses.

But this year, it’s a sentimental battle, pitting teacher against pupil, friend against friend.

In one corner is Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler, who, having already announced he’ll retire after today’s game, would desperately love to go out a Rose Bowl winner.

In the other corner is USC Coach Larry Smith, who, despite facing the man who gave him his first collegiate job, would desperately love to become a Rose Bowl winner.

Then you have the teams.

The No. 3-ranked Wolverines know they must win to have a chance, slim though it may be, at a national championship.

The seniors among the Trojans, people such as Tim Ryan, John Jackson and Leroy Holt, know this is their last shot at a bowl victory.

It should all add up to a dramatic confrontation in today’s 76th Rose Bowl. But Schembechler is trying to downplay the emotional angle.

“I haven’t seen any difference,” he said when asked if his retirement announcement had affected his players. “Besides, they know I’m not really going anywhere. I’ll be hanging around in some capacity.”

Schembechler smiled when he said that. He has smiled a lot this week as he moved from practice to luncheon to media session. He seems to truly be enjoying his last trip to Pasadena.

And why not? He will bow out fifth on the all-time coaching list with 234 victories, just four shy of his own mentor, Woody Hayes.

Schembechler can even kid about his bowl record, 5-11 including 2-7 in the Rose Bowl.

When Smith, at a Friday press conference, said the one area he didn’t want to emulate Schembechler was his bowl performance, Bo replied, “Don’t worry, you’ll never catch me.”

But be assured Schembechler didn’t come out here for a farewell tour. Just behind Bo, the comedian, still lurks Bo, the ferocious competitor.

A Rose Bowl victory would give him the last laugh.

Smith laughs a lot around Schembechler. The admiration is obvious.

It was Schembechler who catapulted Smith from Ohio’s Lima Shawnee High School to an assistant’s job under Schembechler at Miami of Ohio where Smith spent two seasons. He later served four seasons under Schembechler at Michigan.

But Smith is on his own now and his mentor stands between him and a game he needs to win.

Not to protect his job. That’s certainly safe. But to establish his reputation.

Oh sure, Smith has been a big winner at USC, taking the Trojans to Rose Bowls in each of his three seasons on the job. He won a school record 19 consecutive conference games before tying UCLA, 10-10, in the regular-season finale.

But to be a successful coach at USC, you have to either beat Notre Dame or win a Rose Bowl.

Smith has done neither.

Nor have any of the USC seniors.

“That creates a big incentive for us,” Ryan said. “We want to win a bowl game. We haven’t done that and we’ve got a lot of guys that have their last chance. This is the last time they are going to be in a Trojan uniform and we’ll be excited.”

The game seems to hinge on two factors:

--Can the Wolverines run against USC?

--Can the Trojans pass against Michigan?

The first factor will be affected by one big plus and one large minus.

For USC, add Don Gibson.

For Michigan, subtract Tony Boles.

Boles, the Wolverines’ leading rusher this season with 839 yards, a 6.4 average and nine touchdowns, will miss the game due to a knee injury.

Gibson, projected as the starting nose guard last summer, didn’t a play a down all season after tearing knee ligaments. He’s back now, though, has practiced and may even start.

It’s not as though the USC defense is in need of another big hitter.

Even without Gibson, the Trojans led the nation in rushing defense (61.5 yards per game), were second in total defense (238.8 yards) and third in points allowed (11.1).

The emergence of linebacker Junior Seau, Pacific 10 defensive player of the year, to complement linemen such as Ryan and Dan Owens, created a wall that only two clubs, Notre Dame and Arizona, were able to get past for more than 100 yards.

But Ryan insists Gibson will make his team even better.

“I think it’s going to make a difference,” he said. “Don can play the nose guard position like nobody I’ve seen before.”

The Wolverines may be missing Boles, a potential game-breaker who had six runs of 45 yards or more this season, but Leroy Hoard will be back in Pasadena. Michigan largely won last year’s Rose Bowl on the ground, rushing for 208 yards against USC, led by Hoard’s 142 and two touchdowns.

Hoard (724 yards, six touchdowns this season) has moved from fullback to tailback to replace Boles, with Jarrod Bunch at fullback.

“I still think they are going to try to run the football up the middle,” Ryan said. “They’re obviously not going to want to pass the ball. They’re going to want to run it between tackle to tackle. If we take the run away from them and make them pass, I think we are going to be playing a good football game.”

Not necessarily, insists Schembechler.

“Anytime you play an outstanding defense like that (the Trojans),” he said, “you can’t be successful unless you have a balanced attack.”

That puts the burden on quarterback Michael Taylor, whom Illinois Coach John Mackovic called “the most underrated quarterback” he saw all season.

Although he missed four games with a back injury, Taylor had his best year statistically for Michigan, throwing for 966 yards and 11 touchdowns with just three interceptions. His touchdown total was nearly double that of his previous two seasons.

The other quarterback in today’s game, the Trojans’ Todd Marinovich, knows a thing or two about pressure.

A redshirt freshman, he figured to be second-string as late as 10 days before the season opener. Then projected starter Pat O’Hara suffered a season-ending knee injury, giving the ball to Marinovich.

He responded, completing 61.4% of his passes for 2,400 yards and 16 touchdowns with a dozen interceptions. In one year, Marinovich moved all the way up to seventh on USC’s all-time passing list.

But the Trojans discovered that, despite the presence of tailback Ricky Ervins (1,269 yards rushing) and Holt (584 yards), the fullback, when Marinovich struggles, the team struggles.

When Marinovich was tied down to a conservative passing attack in the season opener against Illinois by Smith, who was worried about his quarterback’s inexperience, USC lost.

When Marinovich, despite a 333-yard passing day against Notre Dame, threw three interceptions against the Irish, USC lost.

When Marinovich threw three more interceptions and a bad pitch against UCLA, USC was tied.

Now comes Michigan, led defensively by All-American safety Tripp Welborne and linebackers Erick Anderson and Bobby Abrams.

And, of course, Bo.

Asked if he saw any change in Schembechler after 26 years of head coaching and two heart attacks, Smith said, “On the field, there’s still the same basic staunchness that he has always had, but I think now he’s smelling the roses.”

Especially the one in Pasadena he’d dearly love to have as a farewell memento.