THE RUN FOR THE ROSES : Pacific 10 At a Glance

In predicted order of finish :

USC Trojans

Coach: John Robinson (11th season, fourth in his second term).

Last Season: 9-2-1 (6-1-1 in Pac-10).

Haves: An experienced quarterback and bona fide Rose Bowl hero in Brad Otton; enough running backs to stock the whole league (Delon Washington, LaVale Woods, Rodney Sermons, Shawn Walters) and a defense that includes end Darrell Russell, who has All-American credentials, and backs Daylon McCutcheon, who could slip into the offense as a Deion Sanders-type receiver; Brian Kelly and Quincy Harrison. The Trojans are also two-deep at kicker, with Adam Abrams, whose 46-yard field goal provided the winning points in the Rose Bowl, and Adam Rendon, who filled in for Abrams last season and kicked the game-tying extra point against Washington with 33 seconds to play.

Haves ... Not: Experience up front, with only Phalen Pounds back from the starting unit last season, and he has shoulder problems that could keep him out all season, even if he has escaped Robinson’s doghouse, where he resided during the Rose Bowl. Chris Brymer is also back after missing last season because of injury. The USC line is so yong that freshman Travis Claridge will start at tackle. The last time the Trojans started a freshman lineman, Claridge was a toddler.

Sure wish they had ... : Wins over UCLA and Notre Dame. It’s been five seasons since the Trojans beat UCLA and 13 since they beat the Fighting Irish, and until both of those happen, Robinson’s second term in office can be considered a failure, no matter how many Rose Bowl trophies go up in Heritage Hall.

Arizona State Sun Devils

Coach: Bruce Snyder (fifth season).

Last Season: 6-5 (4-4).

Haves: The best quarterback in the conference in Jake Plummer, back to start for a fourth season, and probably the best lineman in tackle Juan Roque, who has already graduated but wanted to put the NFL off for a season so he could see if Arizona State was finally going to fulfill its promise. The Sun Devils also have 43 of their top 47 players back from last season and a schedule that includes their first five games at home, in September and early October, when the heat is a true ally.

Haves ... not: The good news is that eight starters return on defense. The bad news is that eight starters return from a defense that was last in the Pac-10 in rushing, passing efficiency, total defense and scoring defense, giving up 30 points a game. Arizona State won six games by outscoring the opponents, and lost five because it couldn’t stop anybody. Three of those losses (to Washington, Stanford and Arizona) came by a total of eight points and were in games the Sun Devils led in the fourth quarter. Oh, and those five home games to start the season? The first is against Washington, the third is against Nebraska.

Sure wish they had ...: Lightning strike twice for Snyder. He put California in the Citrus Bowl and won 10 games in his fifth season in Berkeley, and Arizona State faithful have become students of Golden Bear football history. Yes, it’s his fifth season in Tempe.

Oregon Ducks

Coach: Mike Bellotti (second season).

Last Season: 9-3 (6-2).

Haves: Quarterback Tony Graziani, the Pac-10 total offense leader last season, and four returning offensive linemen, which bodes well for the passing game. The Ducks passed a school-record 487 times last season, with only 14 sacks. Tight ends Josh Wilcox and Blake Spence and 250-pound fullback A.J. Jelks, with a mended knee, also figure both in the protection and outlet passing areas for Graziani, who was leading an offense that averaged 400 yards a game through midseason last year, then ran into a drought and limped home with only four field goals against Oregon State before being hammered, 38-6, by Colorado in the Cotton Bowl.

Haves ... not: The Gang Green defense is a Green Gang, with only four starters back from the best group that didn’t call Tucson, Ariz., home. Only one player, Kenny Wheaton, returns in the secondary and the Ducks will move him all over the place while they try develop some help. And offensively, Oregon will miss running back Ricky Whittle, who handled the ball 334 times on runs, passes and kick returns and accounted for 1,804 all-purpose yards, but may have found a replacement for him in the well-traveled Saladin McCullough, whose career at USC was aborted because of score irregularities in his entrance tests, and who made his way through both Pasadena City College and El Camino College before winding up in Eugene and running for 42 yards in eight carries in his first scrimmage. The Ducks also must replace Cristin McLemore, who caught 61 passes for 1,010 yards and four touchdowns.

Sure wish they had ...: A bigger place to play. Autzen Stadium has 41,698 seats, and the Ducks played to 106% (44,421) of capacity last season. You can do that because the NCAA counts everybody, including hot dog vendors, journalists, players and officials when attendance is announced.

Washington Huskies

Coach: Jim Lambright (fourth season).

Last Season: 7-4-1 (6-1-1).

Haves: Another Huard at quarterback. Damon Huard started for three seasons and set school records for passing and total offense for a career. Brother Brock Huard is ready to step in after being national high school player of the year in 1984. Tailback Rashaan Sheehee ran for 957 yards--171 of them in a 29-21 loss to Notre Dame--and 15 touchdowns last season, winning the Pac-10 scoring race. And receivers Dave Janoski and Fred Coleman are back, as are seven defensive starters, including linebacker Ink Aleaga, who is being touted for All-American honors.

Haves ... not: Experience in the defensive secondary, with three of the four starters from last season gone. Included in that group was free safety Lawyer Milloy, an All-Conference player and one of the best defensive backs in the country. In their places, the Huskies will have freshmen cornerbacks Mel Miller and Jermaine Smith and Nigel Burton, who transferred to Seattle after Pacific shut down its program.

Sure with they had ...: Not invented the Wave. Supposedly it was started on Oct. 31, 1981, by a cheerleader, Rob Weller--who, it figures, ended up co-hosting Entertainment Tonight. He wented it to go vertically, from the lower seats to the higher, but it got out of hand, went horizontally around Husky Stadium and, more’s the pity, all the way to Dodger Stadium.

Arizona Wildcats

Coach: Dick Tomey (10th season).

Last Season: 6-5 (4-4).

Haves: A new offensive coordinator in Homer Smith (yes, the Homer Smith that helped put UCLA in the Rose Bowl four seasons ago and then went back to Alabama), and orders to leave him alone and let him run the offense because the Wildcats were woeful there last season, scoring only seven rushing touchdowns. He has a big line that returns from tackle to tackle and the conference’s best receiver in Richard Dice.

Haves ... not: The Desert Swarm defense, fabled in story and song, but replaced now by the Samoan Swarm, with Joe Salave’a, Steve Tafua and Van Tuinei. There also is no dominant running back and a potential quarterback problem, with Grady Batten the more experienced at the position and Keith Smith the better player.

Sure wish they had ...: Something better to rally troops than the “Bear Down” painted on the playing field. It’s not exactly “Win one for the Gipper,” is it?

UCLA Bruins

Coach: Bob Toledo (first season).

Last Season: 7-5 (4-4).

Haves: Quarterback Cade McNown, who started as a freshman last season and threw for 1,698 yards and seven touchdowns. He has receivers Derek Ayers, Jim McElroy and Eric Scott to throw to in a new short-passing offense, and running back Skip Hicks back free of injury for the first time in four seasons. The Bruins also have Abdul McCullough back at strong safety after a season at linebacker, and he will pair up with Shaun Williams.

Haves ... not: Experience up front. Karim Abdul-Jabbar ran for 1,571 yards, good enough as a junior to send him on the NFL, and a large part of that was because he ran behind four senior linemen. Now the Bruins will have the youngest offensive line in the Pac-10, with a freshman, two sophomores and two juniors, only one of which--guard Chad Overhauser--was a starter for most of last season. And there is practically no size on the defense, with only end Travis Kirschke weighing more than 250 pounds.

Sure with they had ...: A schedule that didn’t include Game 1 at Tennessee and Game 3 at Michigan. It’s a young team that will find the smallest stadium it plays in in September will be the Rose Bowl.

Stanford Cardinal

Coach: Tyrone Willingham (second season).

Last Season: 7-4-1 (5-3).

Haves: A quarterback with a 94-mph fastball in Chad Hutchinson, who turned down a $1.5-million offer to sign with the Atlanta Braves so he could go to Stanford and be the next John Elway, also a pitcher/quarterback in his day at Stanford. That, Hutchinson has the physique (6-feet-5, 230 pounds) to do. Also quarterback Tim Carey, whose physique is more like that of Pet Detective Jim Carey, but who could be the starter. Also, running backs Mike Mitchell and Anthony Bookman and wide receiver Brian Manning, who needs only 585 yards to be the all-time Cardinal receiver, but who is probably better known for dropping a two-point conversion pass in a game Stanford lost, 31-30, to USC.

Haves ... not: A defense much better than the one that finished ninth in the Pac-10 last season and gave up 184.1 rushing yards a game. Stanford has linebacker Chris Draft, the tackle leader last season, back and has moved Jon Ritchie, who played fullback at Michigan before transfering to Stanford, to linebacker, where he will stand out, if for nothing else than a golden mane that reaches his shoulders, Kevin Greene style. Look closely under the facemask. The ZZ Top beard has been trimmed to something on the Kenny Rogers scale.

Sure wish they had ... : Guard Jeff Buckey back for another season. He and three other offensive line starters are gone, and in their places is inexperience, save for junior college transfer Blaine Maxwell, a center with a wife, child, Mormon mission and 24 years of age.

Washington State Cougars

Coach: Mike Price (eight season).

Last Season: 3-8 (2-6).

Haves: Quarterback Ryan Leaf, who started the last two games last season, benching Chad Davis and sending him packing. Leaf completed 48 of 77 passes for 564 yards in those two games, and he has some pretty good receivers to throw to in Chad Carpenter, Bryant Thoomas and Shawn Tims. The Cougars also have their usual crop of speedy linebackers, the leader of which--James Darling--is the slowest with a 4.7-second 40-yard dash. And running back Michael Black, who played at Dorsey High, has resurfaced after junior college time.

Haves ... not: Four players, offensive linemen Paul Mickelbart and Ricky Austin, defensive lineman Darryl Jones and linebacker Phillip Glover, all of whom transferred, though all seemed destined for plenty of playing time. It’s addition by subtraction, said Price, citing increased emphasis on things like going to class and showing up in the weight room. Among their replacements is Dorian Boose, who started at Washington State, then went to Walla Walla Community College to play basketball, and now is a 6-6, 270-pound defensive end.

Sure wish they didn’t have ...: A season opener at Colorado on Aug. 31. This is a team that needs to grow up in a hurry, but that’s a bit fast.

Oregon State Beavers

Coach: Jerry Pettibone (sixth season).

Last Season: 1-10 (0-8).

Haves: Denny Schuler as offensive coordinator, with a mandate of putting the Beavers into the 1990s. Gone is the wishbone, which Pettibone tried to sell in Corvallis, but which customers refused to buy. The Beavers will still use the option, because with quarterback Tim Alexander they have to, but they will also ask Alexander to throw the ball in times other than those of desperation. And he has fullback Akili King, who rushed for 1,468 yards in three seasons at Army before being dismissed. Alexander’s top receiver could be Don Shanklin, a quarterback in the old wishbone days, but a player who sized up the new offense and figured he had a better chance of getting on the field catching the ball than hedid throwing it.

Haves ... not: Defensive coordinator Rocky Long, who moved on to UCLA after having the third-best defense in the Pac-10 and 15th-best in the country for a team that won only one game. And the Beavers also don’t have all-conference defensive back Reggie Tongue, the leader of that defense.

Sure wish they had ...: A coach comfortable with throwing the ball. Pettibone admits in 11 seasons as a head coach, he has never had a team that has averaged 20 passes a game. And a winning season, after 25 losing seasons in a row.

California Golden Bears

Coach: Steve Mariucci (first season).

Last Season: 3-8 (2-6).

Haves: Quarterback Pat Barnes, with experience and a history of being erratic. He threw 10 interceptions in the first eight games last season, then threw seven touchdown passes with one interception in the final three games. He has some decent running backs in Tarik Smith and Brandon Willis, who redshirted last season to spend some time in the classroom, and good receivers in Na’il (cq) Benjamin and Bobby Shaw. And best of all, he has an experienced offensive line and 6-6 tight end Tony Gonzalez, who caught 10 passes against Stanford, then turned his attention to basketball, where he started for Cal. Mariucci beings in a short-passing offense that he taught at Green Bay, and brings along Tom Holmoe to install the 49er defense that Mariucci helped beat with the Packers.

Haves ... not: Defensive end Regan Upshaw and linebacker Duane Clemons, who left school early to try their hands at the NFL. That leaves the Bears with only four seniors on the defensive depth chart. Cal also had a proclivity of moving the ball downfield, then stalling near the goal line because it didn’t have a big, physical back to punch it over. The Bears still don’t.

Sure wish they had ...: Not wasted some of Barnes’ eligibility when they had injury problems with their quarterbacks in 1994. He ended up starting three games and blew his redshirt season.

BIG TEN AT A GLANCE

In predicted order of finish:

Penn State Nittany Lions

Coach: Joe Paterno (31st season).

Last Season: 9-3 (5-3).

Linebacker U. has all of its linebackers returning, including Gerald Filardi, the team tackle leader. Wally Richardson is also back at quarterback--here’s an image-buster: the Lions average 30 passes a game--but he has to find some targets, because the receiving corps is depleted. And the schedule is a killer, with games at Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Coach: John Cooper (ninth season).

Last Season: 11-2 (7-1).

Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George is gone, but Pepe Pearson steps in to run behind Lombardi Award-winning tackle Orlando Pace, who is a junior but probably in his last season in Columbus. And 10 starters return to a formidable defense that must deal with Notre Dame and Penn State in back-to-back games that should determine whether or not the season is successful.

Northwestern Wildcats

Coach: Gary Barnett (fifth season).

Last Season: 10-2 (8-0).

Fluke or not? There are too many good players still around--notably quarterback Steve Schnur and Heisman Trophy candidate running back Darnell Autry--to figure the clock has struck 12 for the Cinderella Wildcats. And Barnett is back after a season as the flavor-of-the-month coach, with job offers all over the place. But they must deal with the loss of fullback Matt Hartl to Hotchkins disease and a conference schedule that sends them to Penn State and Iowa in November. A key: Northwestern figures to be 4-0 in September, then plays Michigan at home on Oct. 5 in a game that should be a barometer for the rest of the season.

Iowa Hawkeyes

Coach: Hayden Fry (18th season).

Last Season: 8-4 (4-4).

Seldrick Shaw already holds most of the school’s rushing records and he returns one more time to a team that thumped Washington, 38-18, in the Sun Bowl. Shaw, with 21 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown run of 58 yards, was MVP in that game and has two 1,000-yard seasons already. The Hawkeyes avoid Michigan, face only Penn State among the Big Ten “haves” on the road and get Ohio State and Northwestern at home.

Michigan Wolverines

Coach: Lloyd Carr (second season).

Last Season: 9-4 (5-3).

The Wolverines return eight defensive starters, including sophomore Charles Woodson, who intercepted five passes--two against Ohio State, including one that clinched a victory that knocked the Buckeyes out of the Rose Bowl--and recovered three fumbles. But the offense is shaky for a team whose athletic director, Joe Robinson, sets this standard: “Two losses may be acceptable, depending on whom we lose to. Three is rarely going to be a good season. Four is bad.”

Wisconsin Badgers

Coach: Barry Alvarez (seventh season).

Last Season: 4-5-2 (3-4-1).

Quarterback Darell Bevell is gone (wasn’t he about 32 or 33 years old?), and the running game has been cut in half from the Rose Bowl/Hall of Fame Bowl seasons of 1993-94 (237.6 yards per game to 128.9), but the entire offensive line returns. And the defense has linebacker Pete Monty, the Big Ten’s tackle leader, back.

Michigan State Spartans

Coach: Nick Saban (second season).

Last Season: 6-5-1 (4-3-1).

The Spartans, who beat Penn State and Michigan and had their first winning record in five season, have a burner in wide receiver Derrick Mason, who also returns kick and had a 100-yard run back for a touchdown in the Independence Bowl, but they have to find a quarterback to throw to him. They also need help on a defense that gave up 207 rushing yards a game.

Purdue Boilermakers

Coach: Jim Colletto (sixth season).

Last Season: 4-6-1 (2-5-1).

The Boilermakers are trying to improve their defense--there are eight linemen in their recruiting class--and they do have some toughness there, including linebacker Chike Okeafor, who broke a bone in his wrist in the second game last season, but never missed a start and had 103 tackles. A quarterback problem is afoot in Lafayette, Ind., with passer Rick Trefzger and runner John Reeves the candidates.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Coach: Jim Wacker (fifth season).

Last Season: 3-8 (1-7).

The Gophers have quarterback Cory Sauter back after a 2,600-passing-yard season, but they are going to have to learn to stop somebody. They return eight defensive starters, but the unit gave up 52 points to Michigan last season, 49 to Ohio State, 48 to Illinois and 45 to Iowa, and in the one Big Ten game they won, 38 to Purdue, which gave up 39 to Minnesota.

Illinois Fighting Illini

Coach: Lou Tepper (fifth season).

Last Season: 5-5-1 (3-4-1).

The Illini have Robert Holcombe back, and he rushed for 1,051 yards for a team that was ranked 102nd out of 106 Division I teams in total offense and last in the Big Ten in rushing. Go figure. What games Illinois won were because of a defense that yielded the Nos. 2 and 3 choices in the NFL draft in Simeon Rice and Kevin Hardy, whose replacements will hold some of Tepper’s future in Champaign in their hands (he’s on the fourth season of a five-year contract).

Indiana Hoosiers

Coach: Bill Mallory (13th season).

Last Season: 2-9 (0-8).

The Hoosiers will try to get through another season with 6-foot-6 quarterback Chris Dittoe, but there will be pressure to get a look at incoming freshman Earl Haniford, who threw for 11,100 yards and 111 touchdowns In high school in Martinsville, Ind. What kind of luck has Indiana had lately? Its kicker, Bill Manolopoulos, has had shoulder surgery to correct a problem arising from his high-fiving a teammate after a field goal.