USC Asks Woods to Deliver the Goods

What USC needs to do today is take the words “for the first time since” off everyone’s lips.

Already 0-2 for the first time since 1960, the Trojans will be 0-3 for only the fourth time in 105 seasons if they can’t beat California, which is off to a 2-0 start.

A loss to Cal at Memorial Stadium would send the Trojans’ already teetering season reeling, and it would mark the first time since 1957 and 1958 that USC has lost to the Bears two years in a row.

“We need a win bad,” USC quarterback John Fox said. “They’re 2-0. We’re 0-2. There’s a big difference in attitude coming in. We’re hungry. . . . Cal’s very good, but we’ve had two weeks to sit around with an 0-2 record. We can’t wait to go out and do what we came here to do.”

The Bears have a certain amount of confidence coming off victories over Houston and Oklahoma--neither of them very tough opponents--but they’re braced for a desperate team.

“I grew up in Los Angeles, so I’m well aware of USC and their tradition,” Cal Coach Tom Holmoe said. “I know the players and coaches are going to do everything humanly possible to rebound and get back on track.

“We understand that they have played two very strong teams. If those two teams had been evenly distributed into the schedule, they probably wouldn’t be 0-2.”

The Trojans might not be 0-2 if they had run the football with any success against Florida State and Washington State, either.

LaVale Woods gets his chance as the starting tailback today as USC continues to search for someone who can push the team rushing average over 28 yards a game--an average that ranks Tailback U. dead last among 112 Division I-A teams.

Woods, a 5-foot-7, 220-pound senior who always seems to get pegged as a fullback, might be the only leading returning rusher in the nation who had to wait for the third game to get his first carry. (The only time he touched the ball was when he threw a touchdown pass on a gadget play against Washington State.)

USC had pinned its hopes on Delon Washington, who rushed for 1,000 yards two seasons ago but has been ineffective the first two games. Promising freshman Malaefou MacKenzie is still learning, so Coach John Robinson turned back to Woods, who rushed for 601 yards last season but started this season as the No. 2 fullback.

The running game should get a boost from the return of offensive guard Chris Brymer as well as from an increased role for fullback Ted Iacenda, a solid blocker and pass-catcher who is expected to split time with Rodney Sermons.

“As an offense, we have got to come together and make things work,” Woods said. “It’s been our fault. It’s not like it’s been play-calling. It’s not just the offensive line. It’s been us shooting ourselves in the foot.”

The offense has struggled to move the ball consistently, but the defense has been almost as good as it needed to be.

“Our defense has done well,” Robinson said. “We’re giving up less than two yards per run and doing a good job in that area. We have been hurt by the pass down the middle.”

The Bears’ big passing threat is receiver Bobby Shaw, who is leading the nation with an average of 11 catches for 181 yards a game and has formed a dangerous combination with quarterback Justin Vedder, who replaced Pat Barnes.

“Last year it was hard for me to make out what kind of receiver Bobby was,” Holmoe said. “He didn’t seem to be extremely fast or extremely athletic. But when it came to the games, he made all the right plays. . . . Game after game, he was making the big plays.”

It falls to USC cornerbacks Daylon McCutcheon and Brian Kelly to contain Shaw--and to the rest of a secondary that has been vulnerable to big plays over the middle against zone coverage.

It was in the Cal game last year that USC’s season started to unravel.

The Trojans were 3-1 and ranked 17th in the nation when the Bears, 16-point underdogs, upset USC at the Coliseum, 22-15. (USC was without starters Darrell Russell, Sammy Knight, Brian Kelly and Larry Parker as they served one-game suspensions for returning school-issued gear for other athletic wear at a Nike store.)

The loss marked the first time since 1970 that Cal had beaten USC in Los Angeles, and it marked the beginning of USC’s tumble. The Trojans lost five of their final seven games and finished 6-6.

They hope the Cal game marks a turnaround this season too--for the better, this time.

“There’s a new attitude [after the 0-2 start],” receiver R. Jay Soward said. “We have to stop playing on eggshells. Everybody’s been nervous. We have some new players, some new coaches. Everybody wanted to impress everyone.

“We want our first win now. We’re going to win this game. We’ve got to have a lot of confidence in what we can do.”