Notes on a Scorecard - Sept. 6, 1993

The renovated Coliseum was overshadowed by the renovated Raider offense, renovated Raider defense and renovated Raider special teams Sunday. . . .

“For the first time, the Coliseum looks like a football stadium,” Raider executive assistant Al LoCasale said. . . . He might have added that for the first time in awhile, the Raiders looked like a well-rounded football team. . . .

Jeff Hostetler was an efficient, accurate, poised and confident quarterback during the 24-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings--exactly what Al Davis had in mind when he signed the unrestricted free agent in March. . . .

The best thing about the new Raider strategy was that it didn’t force Hostetler, who is more of a singles and doubles type, to go for home runs. . . .

A defense that shut out two opponents and held two others to three points apiece last season might be even more formidable now that tackle Chester McGlockton has moved into the starting lineup after an injury-plagued rookie year and Joe Kelly is providing a much-needed physical presence at middle linebacker. . . .

Perhaps because they were sitting closer to the action, the fans seemed more animated. . . . “Whoomp! (There It Is),” a rap song by Tag Team, was their favorite cry. . . .

Of course, there was a lot to cheer about from the opening kickoff when Raider rookie safety Patrick Bates broke into the NFL by recovering a fumble on the Vikings’ 18-yard line. . . .

*

I sat in the 12th row of the newly installed seats Saturday during the fourth quarter of the USC-Houston game and the view was terrific. . . .

The disappointment was that so many of the 8,100 seats, the centerpiece of the $15 million in improvements, were unoccupied during the Labor Day weekend. . . .

However, a lot of people took advantage of the new restrooms. Fixtures in the women’s rooms have been increased by 365% and those in the men’s rooms by 84%. . . .

Ram Coach Chuck Knox will have to look long and hard at the game films to find anything to his liking about the 36-6 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Milwaukee. Clearly, this was a team defeat. . . .

The beginning of John Robinson’s second tenure at USC has begun in remarkably similar fashion to his first. . . .

In 1976, the Trojans lost to Missouri, 46-25, on opening night and defeated Oregon, 53-0, the next week. . . .

USC beat Purdue, 31-13, in its third game in ‘76, but must face perennial Big Ten power Penn State Saturday at State College, Pa.. . . .

Both USC and UCLA got long fourth-quarter touchdown runs from freshman tailbacks from Texas--Shawn Walters’ 54-yarder for the first of his two scores against Houston and Skip Hicks’ 40-yarder against California. . . .

The Bruin rushing attack was ineffective against the Bears’ eight-man front until Coach Terry Donahue summoned Hicks, who ran for 1,104 yards last year at Burkburnett High in Wichita Falls and finished fourth in the long jump and sixth in the triple jump in the state meet. . . .

Should UCLA quarterback Wayne Cook, who showed great promise, have been throwing the ball from the Cal 28-yard line with 23 seconds to play and the Bruins trailing by two points?. . . .

His pass was intercepted. The problem was that the Bruins had no timeouts remaining. The option would have been to attempt the field goal right then. It would have been a 45-yard try. Redshirt freshman Bjorn Merten had kicked field goals of 36 and 30 yards against Cal and made a 46-yarder in high school. . . .

The two best wide receivers in the Pacific 10 Conference play in Los Angeles--Johnnie Morton of USC and J.J. Stokes of UCLA. . . .

Surprise, surprise: Northwestern led Notre Dame early in the second half and Cal State Northridge led San Diego State late in the first half. . . .

Both Oregon schools won on the road. . . .

I could play quarterback for Miami and the Hurricanes would still win. . . .

*

Washington’s easy victory over Stanford should have come as no surprise. Jim Lambright-coached teams are murder in Seattle. . . .

Athletic Director Mike McGee enjoyed another USC victory--the University of South Carolina’s upset of Georgia between the hedges. . . .

Final score: Rutgers 68, Colgate 6. Time of possession: Colgate 40:14, Rutgers 19:46. . . .

Even New York Yankee haters had to applaud the no-hitter by Jim Abbott. . . .

Safe prediction: Darryl Strawberry will never play again in a Dodger uniform.