It’s Getting Offensive on Depleted Trojan Line

Last spring, looking ahead to this football season, USC Coach John Robinson said what he felt most uncomfortable about was his young offensive line.

When asked if sophomore Ken Bowen was ready to start at right tackle, Robinson answered by putting his hands in the praying position and looking skyward.

Now, five games in, events have turned Robinson’s worst fear into harsh reality.

The 22-15 defeat last Saturday by Cal was probably the worst offensive game of Robinson’s second term at USC and the seeds that produced that inept showing began germinating last summer:

--Phalen Pounds, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound junior guard starter, tore up his shoulder weightlifting and had reconstructive surgery. If he returns at all this year, it may not be until bowl season.

--Chris Brymer, a 6-3, 300-pound starting guard, broke a foot Sept. 14 against Oregon State and won’t return before the Arizona State game Oct. 19.

--Freshman Faaesea Mailo, the 6-5, 350-pound sumo wrestler from Honolulu, played well at Brymer’s left guard spot but cracked his shoulder socket in the Houston game. He’s questionable for Saturday’s Arizona game.

--Robinson, deep into his depth chart, assigned redshirt freshman Brett Samperi to replace Mailo.

Samperi didn’t play well Saturday, but neither did sophomore Rome Douglas, who had started every game at right tackle.

The result of it all was the implosion of the Trojan offense. Quarterback Brad Otton was sacked six times by Cal and was running for his life on other occasions when offensive linemen completely missed blocks.

It’s the hand USC has been dealt and it’s a shortcoming that may take the entire season to fix.

But there is some hope.

Bowen, the sophomore, has made significant improvement since the season-opening Kickoff Classic, when he missed 22 blocks.

And freshman right guard Travis Claridge is a candidate for team rookie of the year.

“It’s not a question of a lack of effort, we’re just not efficient [on offense] yet,” Robinson said Tuesday. “We’ve got to stop self-destructing with [pass blocking] errors.”

It doesn’t help that Otton still hasn’t played a game this season close to his Rose Bowl performance. In USC’s 41-32 triumph over Northwestern on New Year’s Day, Otton completed 29 of 44 passes for 391 yards. This season, he has been short-hopping his throws to either side. It was blamed three weeks ago on a hip injury but Otton says that has healed.

Still, Robinson says, there are no plans to bring speedy freshman quarterback Quincy Woods into the offense, if only to add a running threat when USC isn’t running effectively, as was the case last Saturday.

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Robinson also said Tuesday that his three wide receivers nearly ran out of gas in the second half against Cal. The Trojans started the game without Larry Parker, one of four starters suspended for the game for swapping school-issued shoes for other apparel at a store.Then Billy Miller went out because of a shoulder injury, leaving Chris Miller, R. Jay Soward and Mike Bastianelli in for nearly every play.

The NCAA Tuesday cleared Parker and defensive starters Darrell Russell, Sammy Knight and Brian Kelly to play Saturday.

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Claiborne, making his second start while Taso Papadakis is out because of an ankle sprain, had 19 tackles against Cal, most by a Trojan since Mark Carrier had 20 against Notre Dame in 1987. Claiborne, with 36 tackles, is now second to Knight, who has 40.

Claiborne had this observation on USC’s play:

“Every game in the Pac-10 is going to be like [the Cal game],” he said.

“We’re the big-time school and everyone wants to knock us off. We’ll just have to work harder to get better. Every series, our goal [on defense] has to be three [downs] and out.”

Claiborne, whose father, Emmitt, is a Marine gunnery sergeant stationed on Okinawa, said his attitude is Marine Corps-inspired.

“My dad always taught me to think, ‘No excuses. Only results matter.’ ”