COLLEGE FOOTBALL ’93 : USC’s Robinson Sets Lofty Goals : Trojans: With 17 returning starters, coach predicts that first season of his second tenure at school will end in the Rose Bowl.

The dry, cold statistics tell a story little different from 100 other college football teams about to start the 1993 season.

Here’s a team that went 6-5-1 last year and has eight offensive starters returning, including its quarterback and an All-American offensive tackle. And nine defensive starters, including a potential All-American at defensive end, are also back.

Pretty ordinary, right?

But USC also has something else this year: An attitude.

John Robinson, who left the school a decade ago for a nine-season NFL run, returned to the Trojans last Jan. 3. Since then, he has almost daily violated the old coaching precept, the one that holds that you never actually say you’re going to be pretty good, even when you think you’re going to be pretty good.

These predictions from Robinson in Trojan club and preseason banquet speeches, press interviews and off-the-cuff remarks:

--”We have high expectations. We aspire to win national championships--we want to be where the elite are.”

--”I want that old SC feeling back, that we expect to go out there and dominate people.”

--”We’re going to win and we’re going to win my way.”

--”We’re going to finish the 1993 season in the Rose Bowl.”

--”I told every recruit that we’re going to win a national championship within four years.”

Robinson says his 1993 Trojan offense will be a unit that looks for high-percentage passes, with tight ends and fullbacks involved in the passing game. And he wants the USC tailback, either Dwight McFadden or Scott Fields, to lead the Pac-10 in rushing.

Sound familiar?

At nearly every stop, one common theme recurs when Robinson talks about his second rookie year as USC’s head coach: Physical dominance.

He puts it this way: “I want our offensive lineman to have the attitude that they’re going to look across the line at their opponents and be able to say to the guy: ‘You and I are going to go at it for three hours and eventually, you’re going to quit.’ ”

OFFENSE

* TACKLES: Tony Boselli, a 6-foot-8 junior, is starting the season at about 295 pounds and can dunk a basketball with both hands. He has been moved from right tackle to the left side, so that 6-7, 295-pound sophomore Norberto Garrido can start on the right side.

Already an All-American, Boselli is the latest link in a chain of dominant USC offensive linemen. He figures to eventually be the 18th USC offensive lineman to be taken in the first round of the NFL draft. Garrido is the strongest player on the team, but has no experience.

* GUARDS: The starters are sophomore Kris Pollack, 6-5 and 285, and senior Joel Crisman, 6-5 and 290.

* CENTER: Craig Gibson, 6-3 and 260, is starting for his fourth consecutive season.

* RECEIVERS: Senior Johnnie Morton looks like the best of the lot at wide receiver. Juniors Ken Grace and Ed Hervey are in tight competition for the other wide receiver spot.

* TIGHT ENDS: Senior Brad Banta, at 6-6 and 250 an exceptional blocker and a solid receiver, is a lock but is slowed because of a knee strain. Banta is also the long snapper on punts. Behind him at tight end are redshirt freshman John Allred and sophomore Johnny McWilliams, who, Robinson says, is a huge talent at 6-5 and 265.

* TAILBACKS: Senior Dwight McFadden is the starter, but sophomore Scott Fields, who has moved over from defense, is pushing him hard. Both, however, have been slowed because of minor injuries. Fields had an outstanding training camp.

* FULLBACKS: Senior Deon Strother has a clear edge over senior Rory Brown. Freshman Taso Papadakis is a strong blocker, but isn’t yet much of a receiver.

* QUARTERBACKS: Junior Rob Johnson is the clear leader. Robinson has been impressed by his accuracy, but says he wants to turn Johnson into “a surgeon,” as opposed to a long bomber. The backup is sophomore Kyle Wachholtz.

DEFENSE

* ENDS: Senior Willie McGinest, 6-6 and 245, seems poised for his best season yet, and last year he had a Pac-10 co-leading 16 sacks at linebacker. Robinson has moved him to end, but defensive coordinator Don Lindsey says McGinest will line up at several points along the line. Senior Darren Gallaway, 6-3 and 245, starts on the other side.

* TACKLES: Senior Mike Hinz, 6-3 and 270, and redshirt freshman Matt Keneley, 6-5 and 290, are the starters, backed up by senior Jason Uhl, 6-3 and 270, and sophomore John Michaels, 6-7 and 250.

* LINEBACKERS: Senior Shannon Jones, 6-4 and 255, starts inside and is flanked by juniors Brian Williams, 6-2 and 230, and Jeff Kopp, 6-4 and 235. Kopp has had an outstanding training camp.

* DEFENSIVE BACKS: Senior Jason Oliver is being pushed hard at free safety by senior Reggie Perry, who has switched from quarterback. Perry has been spectacular at times, but Lindsey worries that without game experience, Perry won’t be fully ready until the middle of the season.

Senior Mike Salmon, the strong safety who is a brother of the Angels’ Tim Salmon, is a starter for a third consecutive season.

The starting cornerbacks are senior Jason Sehorn and junior John Herpin. Junior-college transfer Jesse Davis is expected to get considerable playing time.

KICKERS

The punter is sophomore John Stonehouse, and junior Cole Ford is back to kick field goals. Ford made 11 of 20 last year, his longest 41 yards. Robinson said Ford has an NFL leg, but must improve his concentration.

KICK RETURNERS

Sehorn will return punts, and McFadden and Grace will handle kickoffs. Freshman Anthony Volsan, at 5-10 and 160, the fastest player on the team, is listed as No. 3 on punt and kickoff returns and has a chance to provide some fireworks.