COLLEGE FOOTBALL ’94 / SEASON PREVIEWS : Trojans Have Talent--and a Challenge : USC: Record-setting quarterback Rob Johnson will lead the way through a tough schedule.

USC’s 1994 football team, by unanimous vote of every coach on the staff, every player and even the most skeptical of Trojan partisans, is significantly better than the 1993 team that went 8-5.

But here’s the downside: The schedule is rated the nation’s toughest in one poll.

USC plays five 1993 bowl teams: Notre Dame, Penn State, UCLA, Arizona and California.

The Trojans begin Sept. 3 against Washington at the Coliseum, then travel to Penn State the next weekend. Then come Pacific 10 games at Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State.

The big crunch comes near the finish, when on consecutive November weekends, USC plays Arizona, UCLA and Notre Dame. The Irish, who have beaten the Trojans 11 years in a row, conclude USC’s schedule Nov. 26 at the Coliseum.

So, how opportune for John Robinson, in the second season of his second USC term, to have in place an outstanding recruiting class, to have a record-breaking quarterback returning and talent and experience nearly anywhere he looks.

Recruiting analysts give the Trojans high marks for its freshman and junior college haul of last spring, and as many as a dozen of those recruits will play this year.

USC has 10 starters back, six on offense, four on defense.

The Trojans, who lost in the final minute to UCLA last season, 27-21, nonetheless shared the Pac-10 title with the Bruins and Arizona with a 6-2 mark, then beat Utah in the Freedom Bowl, 28-21.

For 1994, here’s the best of it:

QUARTERBACK

USC has been playing football since 1888, yet no Trojan quarterback ever came close to Rob Johnson’s productivity in 1993. His 3,630 yards passing last year shattered the old record of 2,812 by Rodney Peete in 1988.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior is poised for a run at the Heisman Trophy, if his team puts together a big season, which would almost have to include victories over UCLA and Notre Dame. Johnson, in throwing for a school-record 29 touchdowns, completed 68.6% of his passes--another record, by a wide margin.

He believes, however, that he can take this team to the Rose Bowl with lower numbers than he registered last season.

“I think our running game is going to be more effective this year, and that will mean I won’t need to throw as often,” he said.

Robinson, Johnson and offensive coordinator Mike Riley believe that talent at wide receiver and tight end will more than make up for the loss of graduated Johnnie Morton, who caught 88 passes last season.

RECEIVERS

Ken Grace, who caught 36 passes in ‘93, and Ed Hervey, who caught 22, are proven performers. And the addition of junior college transfer Keyshawn Johnson, who caught 55 passes in nine games last year at West L.A. College, gives USC a premier group.

Johnson has enormous potential, Robinson says.

Also new are untested sprinters Anthony Volsan, a redshirt last season, and freshmen Ken Haslip and Larry Parker.

Returning veterans are Ryan Lenderman and DelVaughn Alexander.

The Trojans are probably deeper at tight end than at any other position. The tight end in motion, or H back, will be Johnny McWilliams, a 245-pound junior who caught 17 passes last year, backed up by Tyler Cashman. John Allred figures to start at tight end, backed up by Jeff Diltz.

Trojan tight ends caught 79 passes last season, or roughly three times as many as in Coach Larry Smith’s final season. The expectation is that the number will grow again this year.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Mastodon football has returned to USC. Tackles Tony Boselli (6-7 1/2, 320 pounds) and Norberto Garrido (6-7, 305) and guard Phalen Pounds (6-7, 310) have all had productive training camps. The runts up front will be guard Kris Pollack (6-5, 290) and center Jeremy Hogue (6-4, 270).

When Robinson speaks of “physically dominating defenses” these are the guys he’s talking about.

There is depth everywhere here, including three players who have started: Robert Loya, who is nursing an injured foot, Clay Hattabaugh and Kyle Ramsay.

The best is Boselli, a two-time All-American who hopes to complete his first uninjured season. He sat out five games because of a dislocated kneecap last year.

TAILBACK

Robinson went through half a season last year before he found his tailback. Scott Fields and David Dotson faltered early, setting the stage for freshman Shawn Walters.

In late-season games last year, Walters gained 60, 116 and 70 yards against Stanford, Washington and Utah. Walters was one of Robinson’s most intensive coaching projects last season.

A fast 225-pounder, Walters had a natural inclination to go for the sideline on runs up the middle, and Robinson finally persuaded him to be more physical.

Freshmen Delon Washington and Rodney Sermons and junior college transfer Leonard Green have all had outstanding camps.

LINEBACKERS

If there has been a training camp star, it has been junior linebacker Errick Herrin, a 225-pounder from Mt. San Jacinto College, and four years in the Marines before that.

Senior Donn Cunnigan will start at Herrin’s inside linebacker position against Washington, because he’s a fifth-year senior. But after that, as defensive coordinator Don Lindsey put it, “all bets are off.”

Lindsey calls Herrin explosive, and Robinson says, “He has a suddenness to his game that really catches your eye.”

Already, Herrin is compared, in whispers at this stage, to Richard Wood, All-American linebacker from the early 1970s.

USC has a solid, proven corps of linebackers. Two returnees, Brian Williams and Jeff Kopp, were 1-2 in tackles a year ago. Errol Small and junior college transfer Israel Ifeanyi, a Nigerian, will get considerable playing time.

Returnee Gerald Caruthers broke a bone in his foot just before training camp and will sit out some early games.

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Here are the soft or questionable areas:

DEFENSIVE LINE

A weak spot last season.

Newcomers have shown promise, but there is little experience. Sophomore Matt Keneley, who started nine games as a freshman, is thought to have a bright future. He began training camp listed at defensive end and nose guard.

Defensive end Elic Mahone sat out last season after undergoing shoulder surgery, but the 250-pounder has shown great pass-rush speed. He is competing with JC transfer Marcus Bonds.

Stu Gage, a 300-pounder, was converted from offense to nose tackle late last season. Sophomore Willie Lowery will push Keneley early.

Two freshmen have had outstanding camps. Darrell Russell is a 300-pound 18-year-old with a 28-inch vertical leap who has held his own with the best of Robinson’s offensive line. So has George Perry, a 260-pounder.

A high Robinson priority is stopping the run. Can this group do it? There is some doubt here.

KICKERS

Cole Ford has one of the strongest legs in football. In practice the other day, the 6-2 senior’s kickoff not only went through the uprights, but cleared a 40-foot-high net behind the goal posts.

But Ford, who is 20 for 38 on field-goal attempts, had a troubled 1993. Back problems kept him out of seven games, but he is injury-free now.

If he struggles, however, USC can turn to one the nation’s most highly sought high school kickers, Adam Abrams of La Jolla Bishop’s.

Robinson was disappointed overall in punter John Stonehouse’s ’93 season, but Stonehouse had his moments. He averaged 38.3 yards a punt, but six went more than 50 yards and his 67-yarder at Washington in the waning moments helped preserve a 22-17 victory. It was the longest USC punt in 33 years.

FULLBACK

Robinson has been noncommittal about fullback, possibly because he has so many talented tailbacks.

Historically, young tailbacks hate being moved to fullback. Still, someone has to play the position, and it most likely won’t be Mark Farlin, who is No. 1 on the depth chart.

Taso Papadakis was switched from fullback to linebacker last spring but will still play fullback on short-yardage plays.

One theory: If someone besides Walters sparkles early as a running back, Walters might be moved to fullback.

Another theory: Sophomore Dotson, an excellent pass blocker, is headed to fullback.

Still another: Robinson will start the season with a two-tailback backfield, Walters and Green.

Robinson has a ready-made sales pitch, if he decides he wants a full-time fullback.

Last year, senior Deon Strother was almost disconsolate when he got the word he was being moved to fullback.

Strother played superbly at the position, however, and as a result was drafted by the Denver Broncos. He was cut Tuesday, but it’s not likely he would have been drafted as a tailback.

The most talked-about challenge for this team is the running game. Let Johnson and the receivers put a lead on the board, so the theory goes, then grind the opposition down on the ground.

Said Boselli: “If we can run the ball much better than we did last year, then no one will be able to stop us. We already have the best quarterback in the country.”