Need Some Protection? Call This Line : USC: Big men up front on offense impress coaches of both teams during victory over Houston.

After USC’s 49-7 rout of Houston on Saturday, when quarterback Rob Johnson had time to eat a ham sandwich on nearly every pass play, the Trojans’ coaching staff sandbagged it a bit afterward.

“We’ve got 1,000 miles to travel to get to where we want to go, and we’ve (still) got about 999 or 998 to go,” Coach John Robinson said.

“They’re pretty good,” was all offensive line coach Mike Barry would say of his athletes.

So, independent appraisal was needed. A call was placed to Tony Fitzpatrick, who coaches Houston’s defensive tackles.

“Watching the film made me want to check into a hospital,” he said.

“USC has three NFL players in that front--(Tony) Boselli, (Norberto) Garrido, and (Joel) Crisman,” he said.

“Boselli was a man playing with boys against us. Our defensive end never got off the line. Garrido is a bulldozer. He manhandled one of the strongest guys on our team, all day.

“And that center (Craig Gibson) is a big-time technician. Walking onto the field, he looks like a guy you can handle. But he did anything he wanted Saturday. He was reaching our nose guard--getting to his outside leg--and that’s something that should never happen to a nose guard.

“All of those guys stay on their blocks, too. That offensive line will take that football team a long way this year.”

Confronted with that analysis, Barry said:

“Sure, this is a very good unit, but I don’t want to compare them to anyone else until after the season,” he said.

“When they decided to come to USC to play offensive line, they knew of the great tradition, the legacy that was here.”

There have been 25 USC first-team All-American offensive linemen since 1964. Since 1968, 17 have been picked in the first round of the NFL draft.

Barry said Robinson challenged the offensive linemen on day one.

“At the first team meeting last January, John put them on the spot,” he said.

“He spoke directly to them, challenging them in front of everyone. He told them he expected them to be the toughest, most dominant physical players on this football team, and that’s what they’re trying to do.

“They all want to leave here and be remembered with guys like Ron Mix, Ron Yary, Keith Van Horne, Don Mosebar and Bruce Matthews.”

This is the offensive line that has, in two games, allowed Johnson to complete 46 of 61 passes and for Trojan running backs to average 5.10 yards per carry:

--Left tackle, Boselli, 6 feet 8, 295 pounds, a junior.

--Left guard, Crisman, 6-5 and 290, a senior.

--Center, Gibson, 6-3, 260, a senior.

--Right guard, Kris Pollack, 6-5 and 285, a junior.

--Right tackle, Garrido, 6-7 and 295, a sophomore.

In their opening game, a 31-9 defeat by North Carolina in Anaheim, the Trojans showed a lot of negatives, but offensive line play wasn’t one of them. The line has blocked well in both games.

In training camp, Garrido was thought to be an exceptional prospect, and Boselli was moved from the right side to left tackle so Garrido could move in at the slightly-less-demanding right tackle position.

So far, the coaching staff is elated with Garrido, who last season played in only one game.

“We didn’t know if he’d be ready for the opener,” Robinson added. “I almost wanted to cover my eyes when he went in.

“But he’s done really well. We need him to play better going sideways, but overall we’re delighted.”

Said Barry: “In the North Carolina game, Norberto was a little tentative, not sure of things. But he played effectively. Against Houston, he played with much more confidence. Several times, he’d knock a guy down, then run down the field and help our ballcarrier.”

Crisman is a third-year starter at USC. And Pollack will start his 17th USC game Saturday at Penn State. He has been a starter since his freshman season.

USC lists Gibson as a 260-pounder, but 240 would be more like it. From El Modena High in Orange, he is the brother of Don Gibson, a defensive guard at USC from 1987 to 1990.