Trojans Are Wary of Shark Attack in Seattle

Because of its configuration--cantilevered roofs that extend far out over the upper-deck bleachers on either side of the field--Husky Stadium is known to some as “Jaws.”

Five times in seven games since 1973, Washington has chewed up USC in Jaws.

Today, in the Pacific 10 Conference opener for both teams, the Huskies will try to take another bite.

A 10-10 tie with UCLA last November ended USC’s 19-game conference winning streak, but the Trojans still haven’t lost a conference game since Oct. 10, 1987, when they were upset by Oregon, 34-27, at Eugene, Ore.

Under Coach Larry Smith, USC is 21-1-1 against the Pac-10.

Still, Washington is given a good chance to end the Trojans’ 20-game conference unbeaten streak.

USC was so concerned about this game that it took on an extra game--last month’s 34-16 victory over Syracuse at East Rutherford, N.J.--to give itself more time to prepare for the Huskies.

Have the extra weeks of practice prepared the Trojans?

“We’ll find out,” Smith said. “It’s a big, big challenge for us.”

Washington, like USC, is 2-0 after beating San Jose State, 20-17, at Seattle and Purdue, 20-14, at West Lafayette, Ind.

“We’ve struggled,” said Washington Coach Don James, whose next victory will be the 150th of his collegiate career and his 125th at Washington. “Both games could easily have been won by the opponent, but we did some good things in both games.”

One of the things the Huskies did well was defend.

They lead the Pac-10 in total defense and the nation in rushing defense, having allowed 21 rushing yards a game, an average of 0.7 an attempt. Last week, when its quarterback was sacked six times for minus-49 yards, Purdue netted zero yards in 25 attempts.

Washington was expected to be bolstered by the return of inside linebacker James Clifford, who missed most of preseason camp and the Huskies’ first two games because of a knee injury. But Clifford, who led the Pac-10 last season with 164 tackles, including 27 in a 24-16 loss to USC at the Coliseum, aggravated the injury this week in practice and is not expected to play.

Still, Smith said: “They’ve always been rugged and physical, and now they’ve got the quickness back to where it was when they had those great defenses in the mid-’80s.”

Washington, though, has given up 269 passing yards a game and ranks only seventh in the Pac-10 in passing defense. And, said James, “We’ve played against quarterbacks who are not even close to (USC’s) Todd Marinovich.”

Smith’s concern is not with Marinovich, who has completed 68.1% of his passes for 577 yards and four touchdowns, but with the Trojan running game, which has averaged 2.7 yards an attempt.

Said Smith: “Let’s face it. We’re riding the arm of Todd Marinovich and the hands of (flanker) Gary Wellman (who has 16 receptions for 230 yards). In the first two games, 70% to 80% of our big plays came from those two guys.”

Maybe so, but USC has been more potent offensively than the Huskies.

Operating behind an offensive line that averages 300 pounds from tackle to tackle, Washington tailback Greg Lewis leads the Pac-10 in rushing. He ran for 101 yards against Purdue after running for 157 against San Jose State.

But quarterback Mark Brunell, a sophomore from St. Joseph High in Santa Maria and the first left-hander to start at quarterback for the Huskies in 16 seasons under James, has been erratic, completing 35.3% of his passes.

In his debut, he completed seven of 27 passes for 66 yards against San Jose State.

“San Jose State is a blitzing team and they came after us,” James said. “And we did a poor job of protecting him. When you take the protection breakdowns and the poor passes, it equals a pretty long day, and that’s what we had.”

Brunell was better against Purdue, completing 11 of 24 passes for 150 yards and running for 76 yards and a touchdown in 16 carries. His 35-yard pass to Orlando McKay with 10:02 left gave the Huskies their game-winning touchdown.

Trojan Notes

A sunny day is forecast, with temperatures in the high 70s. . . . A sellout crowd of more than 72,000 is expected.

USC has won its last four games against Washington and five of its last six, but the Trojans are 14-12-3 in Seattle.