This Doesn’t Rate as a War of the Roses : Football: For a change, the UCLA-USC rivalry will not affect New Year’s Day game in Pasadena.

It hasn’t happened often in the past 30 years, but once in a while the UCLA-USC game has no bearing on the Rose Bowl race. This is one of the those years.

Washington clinched a Rose Bowl berth two weeks ago, so the Bruins and the Trojans will be playing for Los Angeles bragging rights when they meet today at the Rose Bowl. That’s incentive enough considering the rivalry between the schools in a city of divided loyalties.

A capacity crowd of 100,800 is expected today for the game that has produced its share of upsets and disputed plays over the years.

Until UCLA upset Rose Bowl-bound Washington, 25-22, last Saturday, it had seemed that USC would be substantially favored. The Bruins were struggling with a 4-5 record.

However, that victory over a team that defeated USC, 31-0, earlier in the season has alerted the Trojans that playing the Bruins won’t be a walk in the park.

USC Coach Larry Smith said as much. “UCLA is a steadily improving team. They hit their peak against Washington. They played excellent offense and excellent defense and found a way to beat the league champion. No one else has done it.”

It’s not a vintage year for either team.

The Trojans are 7-2-1 and headed for the John Hancock (formerly Sun) Bowl at El Paso to play Michigan State on Dec. 31--after they face No. 1-ranked Notre Dame next Saturday at the Coliseum.

The Bruins are 5-5 and trying to avert a second consecutive losing season. There is also an outside possibility that UCLA would play in a bowl game if it wins today.

If the Bruins beat the Trojans, and Air Force loses to Texas El Paso, UCLA would play the Michigan-Ohio State loser in the Dec. 27 Liberty Bowl at Memphis, Tenn.

The Air Force-UTEP game in El Paso doesn’t begin until 6 p.m. PST today. It remains to be seen whether the Bruins will be interested in that score.

Although USC has a better record than UCLA, the Bruins have been competitive in every conference game. They barely lost to Arizona, 28-21; California, 38-31, and Oregon, 28-24.

Moreover, if UCLA defeats USC and Stanford beats California, the Bruins would finish in second place behind Washington in the Pac-10 with a 5-3 record. USC is 4-2-1 in conference play going into today’s game.

In any event, UCLA will be improved over last season, when it was 3-7-1 overall and 2-5-1 in conference.

First things first, however.

UCLA hasn’t beaten a Smith-coached USC team, losing in 1987 and ‘88, before tying last year, 10-10.

Moreover, Smith teams are usually at their best against traditional conference rivals. His Arizona team beat Arizona State five consecutive years before he became USC’s coach.

The added intrigue of this year’s game involves the USC quarterback situation.

Todd Marinovich, who was named the nation’s best freshman quarterback in 1989, has had a turbulent sophomore season. On the field, he has been inconsistent. He also missed classes, prompting Smith to suspend him from the team for a week last month.

He was pulled in the second quarter of last Saturday’s 56-7 rout of Oregon State after completing three of eight passes for 23 yards.

Marinovich was reportedly benched in favor of Shane Foley for ignoring an open receiver in the flat, throwing downfield instead.

Marinovich has had to compete with Foley for the starting job, a weekly procedure. Smith said he would not name the starting quarterback until today.

USC’s indecision at quarterback apparently hasn’t had a major impact on UCLA’s practice this week.

“It doesn’t really affect (us) that much if you anticipate you’ll see both of them,” UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said. “Either quarterback is successful.”

Donahue, of course, will counter with quarterback Tommy Maddox, who is a candidate for freshman-of-the-year honors this season.

The UCLA coach has marveled at Maddox’s poise under pressure and has said the freshman will only get better with experience.

Donahue is concerned that USC will try to dominate his team with ball-control tactics. “What concerns you as much as anything is that they have a big offensive line and are a very good rushing team,” Donahue said. “They’ve also got some real weapons offensively, and (wide receiver) Gary Wellman is a major player.”

USC is averaging 193.4 yards rushing and 209.4 yards passing a game, an example of its balance.

The Bruins are more one-dimensional, relying on Maddox’s passes to Scott Miller, Reggie Moore and Sean LaChapelle. Moreover, Maddox will be throwing against an inexperienced Trojan secondary that has allowed 14 touchdown passes and an average of 207.8 yards a game.

UCLA is averaging 235.7 yards passing and 149.6 rushing.

Bruin-Trojan Notes

USC is a slight favorite today. . . . UCLA has a 3-1 record against USC in games played at the Rose Bowl. However, the Trojans have a 33-19-7 advantage in the series dating to 1929. . . . UCLA officials have advised fans to arrive early. Spectators are asked to park their cars in the Parsons lot located on the corner of Fair Oaks and Holly in Pasadena and take a free shuttle bus to the Rose Bowl.

Bruin Coach Terry Donahue said defensive tackle Brian Kelly, defensive end Mike Chalenski and offensive tackle Derek Stevens, who didn’t play last Saturday against Washington because of injuries, will be available today. USC reported that reserve tailback Ricky Ervins is out of the game because of an ankle injury. Ervins was injured on Sept. 29 against Ohio State and has been inactive except for two carries last Saturday against Oregon State. He was the leading rusher in last year’s Trojan-Bruin game with 173 yards in 28 carries.

Trojan quarterback Todd Marinovich completed 13 of 28 passes for 154 yards and threw three interceptions in last year’s 10-10 tie at the Coliseum. USC Coach Larry Smith said Marinovich tipped off his passes by looking directly at his receivers. . . . In 16 games when the Rose Bowl wasn’t on the line for either team, USC has a 7-6-3 edge. That includes the 1929 and ’30 games in which the teams met in the first game of the season. However, since 1950, UCLA is 6-1-1 over USC under those circumstances.

USC has a statistical advantage over UCLA in almost every category. The Trojans are also the most penalized team in the Pac-10. . . . USC has outscored its opponents, 73-26, in the first quarter. UCLA has been outscored, 87-64, in the same period.