COLLEGE FOOTBALL ’91 : USC’s Offense Back to Future : Trojans: They have only six senior starters and a new quarterback, but their youth is tempered by experience.

According to a rumor that circulated among Washington football players this summer, USC spent 30 minutes a day during spring practice preparing specifically for the Huskies.

Because the teams won’t play until Nov. 9, the rumor seemed a little far-fetched.

“That’s probably something their coaches told them,” USC Coach Larry Smith said. “We had enough to worry about with our own team without worrying about a team we’ll be playing in the second week in November.”

Still, this much is clear: For the first time since 1987, Smith’s first season at USC, the Trojans are not the team to beat for the Pacific 10 Conference championship.

As is every other team in the Pac-10, they are trying to measure up to Washington, which has most of its top players back from a Rose Bowl team that demolished the Trojans last season, 31-0.

Not one publication has picked USC to win the Pac-10 title.

So, what are its prospects?

Smith, as ever, is optimistic.

“We will be a factor in the (conference) race,” he said.

Last season, the Trojans were knocked out early, losing to Washington in the third week of the season.

Young and inexperienced--USC had not fielded a less-seasoned team in 25 years--the Trojans were up and down the rest of the way, finishing with an 8-4-1 record that included a 17-16 loss to Michigan State in the John Hancock Bowl.

This year’s team is also young--USC has only 13 seniors--but the Trojans are more tested.

“The bulk of our (regulars) will come from our sophomore and junior classes, but a number of those sophomore and juniors played a lot last year,” said Smith, who will start only six seniors.

And with the early departure of Todd Marinovich to the NFL, sophomore Reggie Perry’s three snaps from center last season in a 56-7 rout of Oregon State represent the Trojans’ only experience at quarterback.

Almost equally adept as a passer and runner at Denison (Tex.) High three years ago, Perry was expected to share the position with another sophomore, Curtis Conway, before Smith announced Friday that he had abandoned his plan to use two quarterbacks.

Perry will be the No. 1 quarterback, with Conway starting at flanker.

He is not expected to throw as well or as often as Marinovich, who climbed to No. 2 on USC’s all-time passing list in only two seasons, but Perry is a more gifted runner and is said to have a stronger arm than his predecessor.

He will direct a run-oriented attack that will be built around tailback Mazio Royster, who ran for 1,168 yards last season, joining Charles White and Anthony Davis as the only Trojans to get more than 1,000 rushing yards as sophomores.

Royster’s backups, sophomore Deon Strother and junior Estrus Crayton, also are expected to play quite a bit. USC’s rushing leaders the last two years, Ricky Ervins in 1989 and Royster last year, opened the season as No. 3 tailbacks.

Scott Lockwood, back at fullback after rushing for 534 yards last season, has been challenged this summer by Raoul Spears, a bigger and more physical blocker who started three games last season.

Three starters return in the offensive line--tackle Michael Moody, guard Derrick Deese and center Craig Gibson--but Deese and Gibson have been slowed by injuries the last two weeks. Tackle Tony Boselli, a 6-foot-7, 265-pound second-year freshman, comes highly regarded. A national magazine predicted that he would be the No. 1 “impact newcomer” in college football this season.

Titus Tuiasosopo, a converted center, is listed as a starter at guard, but a redshirt freshman, Kris Pollack, and two true freshmen from Fontana High, Robert Loya and Clay Hattabaugh, are also expected to be used there.

Yonnie Jackson, a starter in three games last season before a stress fracture in his left foot cut short his season, is expected to start at tight end.

“The emphasis is going to be on (developing) a running, physical team that will try to use its speed at all positions--wide receiver, tailback, fullback and quarterback,” Smith said.

“I feel very good about our offense. I like to run the ball. I like to knock people down. And that’s the kind of offense we’re running right now. We’re back to good old Trojan football, which I like.”

But despite a greater emphasis on the running game, Smith said the Trojans won’t abandon passing. “We want to throw the ball and we will throw the ball,” he said. “We have a very fine receiving corps, with excellent speed.”

Five of USC’s top six receivers from last season are back, among them running backs Royster and Lockwood, who combined for 47 receptions, and wide receivers Larry Wallace, Travis Hannah and Johnnie Morton. Conway, a state sprint champion at Hawthorne High, is faster than any of them.

Defensively, the Trojans are confident that they will be better against the pass than they were last season, when their opponents threw for 218 yards per game.

They say that better coverage in a more seasoned secondary and improved speed will allow them to blitz more often and more efficiently.

“We’ve got a chance by mid-season, if we develop a little bit of depth, to approach the type of defense we were playing in the ’88 and ’89 seasons,” Smith said.

Five starters return from a unit that ranked 16th nationally against the run, including two of the Trojans’ top three tacklers: outside linebacker Kurt Barber and strong safety Stephon Pace.

Defensive guard Terry McDaniels, the only returning starter among the defensive linemen, will be joined up front by nose guard Mike Hinz and defensive tackle David Webb, a converted linebacker. Webb was moved to give the Trojans more speed up front, and because he wasn’t expected to play much behind two highly regarded outside linebackers, Barber and Willie McGinest.

Matt Willig is expected to play as often as the starters in the 3-4 defensive alignment, alternating between the line positions.

Senior Matt Gee and sophomore Gidion Murrell, both starters in three games last season, will be the starting inside linebackers. USC will have a difficult time replacing Scott Ross, a four-year starter.

In the secondary, the talented Pace--”We wouldn’t trade him for any safety in the Pac-10,” said Bob Cope, who coaches the Trojan defensive backs--will be joined by cornerbacks Calvin Holmes and Jason Oliver and free safety Mike Salmon. Pace and Holmes were starters all last season. Oliver and Salmon, both sophomores, started 12 games between them.

Also expected to play in the secondary are junior free safety Lamont Hollinquest and senior cornerback Marvin Pollard.

Hollinquest sat out last season because of academic problems, but one magazine said that he was “flashing superstar potential” and another listed him among college football’s top 10 fourth-year safeties.

“We’re on our way to building a top-flight secondary,” Smith said.

Smith’s biggest concern, besides a lack of experience at quarterback, is a lack of depth on defense.

“We will not be able to sustain a lot of injuries,” he said.

Nor will the Trojans easily replace kicker Quin Rodriguez, who ended his four-year career with school records for field goals and conversions. Cole Ford, a highly regarded freshman from Tucson, is expected to take his place.

Ron Dale, who averaged 40.9 yards a punt last season, is back for his senior season, but he has struggled in practice and could lose his job, Smith said, to sophomore Martin Boskovich, a walk-on transfer from Glendale College.