But Only One Can Win It : College football: USC and Cal will head onto the field with similar strengths andweaknesses.

The 80th renewal of one of college football’s oldest rivalries today--USC vs. California--is a matchup of teams with similar strong points and shortcomings.

USC, 4-4 overall and 3-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference, and Cal (5-2, 2-2) are both led by accurate, high-percentage junior quarterbacks who nonetheless lose whenever their running games are stopped.

And for both, it has happened a lot lately.

USC is coming off a 31-13 loss at Notre Dame, when Trojan quarterback Rob Johnson completed 29 of 46 passes for 269 yards but his running backs could gain only 69.

Cal’s Dave Barr has sat out the last six quarters because of a shoulder sprain, but is back for today’s game.

The Bears, with a suddenly inept running attack, have lost to Washington, 24-23, and Washington State, 34-7, their last two games.

Barr and Johnson are running 1-2 in Pac-10 passing efficiency, 173.71 for Barr, 154.68 for Johnson. Johnson has thrown 18 touchdown passes, Barr 14.

Cal Coach Keith Gilbertson’s Bears started out 5-0 this season, but the collapse of the running game and Barr’s absence have put Cal on the rocks.

Over the last three seasons, Cal is 21-3-1 when it rushes for 150 yards, 5-12 when gaining fewer.

Gilbertson expects Barr, an outspoken, spirited athlete from nearby Concord, to re-energize his team. In a preseason scrimmage, Barr started to call a play in the huddle, but 305-pound offensive tackle Todd Steussie was talking.

Barr, in the words of running back Lindsey Chapman, “knocked him upside the head.”

Barr, 6 feet 4 and 200 pounds, might have reached his peak in leadership three weeks ago against Oregon. After trailing, 30-0, he threw for three touchdowns in the second half to propel Cal to a 42-41 victory. In the rally, Barr marched about with fists pumping, barking encouragement, and filled the air with footballs.

Another USC-Cal similarity is an injury-stricken offensive line.

USC got left guard Joel Crisman back last week after he had sat out five games because of a foot injury. But the Trojans still lack All-American tackle Tony Boselli, sidelined for at least another week because of a dislocated kneecap.

Cal has yet to start two consecutive games with the same offensive line, partly explaining why the Bears have averaged only 69 yards rushing the last three games.

One of Cal’s defensive standouts is junior linebacker Jerrott Willard, from Corona del Mar High. Willard is making more tackles than Gilbertson would like to see.

He led the Pac-10 in tackles last season, and Gilbertson said then that if Willard did it again in ‘93, it would mean Cal’s defensive line had not improved.

Willard is leading in tackles again, averaging 11.9, and has made 43--30 unassisted--in the last three games. In the Washington State game, he had 20 tackles.

USC hopes again to utilize the potent Johnson-to-Johnnie Morton combination, which has produced almost 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns this year. Twice Morton has had three-touchdown games. This season, Morton has become the all-time USC reception leader with 173 catches, and his 2,669 yards are a Pac-10 record.

Last week Morton was kept out of the end zone at Notre Dame--primarily due to coverage by Bobby Taylor--but Morton did have a game-high 109 yards in six catches. The USC-Cal rivalry dates to 1912, and although USC has a 50-25-5 series lead, it is 1-1-1 in the 1990s. These two have played every season since 1926, and the series will continue uninterrupted until 2003, when the Pac-10 master schedule has the schools not meeting for two consecutive years.