Trojans Ready to Open Eyes

or was that Hawaii game really more than an exhibition?

The Trojans’ Palmer-piloted offense and surprisingly strong defense are still looking for a measure of themselves after a 62-7 victory over Hawaii, a team injured tailback Petros Papadakis called “junior college-esque.”

That was followed by a week off that only proved to quarterback Carson Palmer his Saturdays are best spent playing football, not golf.

“I lost 14 balls. That gets expensive,” Palmer said.

Still, 17th-ranked USC probably won’t get the test it is eager for today at the Coliseum, either.

Not against a San Diego State team that hasn’t won a nonconference road game since 1981--and whose annual high hopes went flat last week in a 38-10 loss to Illinois, which had won only three games the last two seasons.

“We felt we would go back to Illinois and play a competitive game,” said San Diego State Coach Ted Tollner, whose Aztecs beat South Florida, a Division I-AA team, in their first game, 41-12. “We thought it would be a game decided in the fourth quarter, and it wasn’t.

“Even though USC is ranked and highly talented, we’re just looking forward to righting ourselves to where we play a more respectable football game.”

The Aztecs are a more respectable football team than Hawaii, anyway.

“I think they have a little more speed, and I think they’re a much better team than Hawaii, obviously,” said Palmer, who underestimated when he predicted 35 or 40 points against Hawaii but wasn’t as specific about San Diego State.

“It’s all up to execution,” he said. “If we execute right and do the things we can do, and not make mental errors and little mistakes and penalties, stuff like that, I think we have a chance to score a lot of points.”

The Trojan defense has yet to give up a point--Hawaii’s only touchdown was scored on an interception--and linebacker Zeke Moreno said a shutout is the goal again, as it is every week.

Tollner, who coached the Trojans from 1983-86, brought the Aztecs to the Coliseum last year too, for what turned out to be a 35-6 loss to USC in Paul Hackett’s second game as coach.

R. Jay Soward burned the Aztecs for three touchdowns in that game, and Palmer came off the bench.

A year later, Tollner thinks USC is considerably better.

“They’re a vastly improved team,” he said. “You take the one spot, the quarterback thing being cleared up. Carson Palmer looks to me like he has a great future. I was impressed when he got into our game last year, just as a pure freshman out of high school, the composure that he had. A year later, you can see tremendous improvement.”

This year, the Aztecs will be breaking in a new quarterback, junior Jack Hawley, a transfer from L.A. Harbor College who grew up a Trojan fan in El Segundo and will make his first start today.

“This is the opportunity of a lifetime for me and my family,” Hawley said Friday after a light practice at the Coliseum.

“It’s pretty awesome. I’ve been in here to watch a couple of games, but I’ve never been on the field.

“I grew up watching Todd Marinovich, all those guys, Keyshawn Johnson. I definitely rooted for them.”

Hawley figures to share time with junior Brian Russell of West Covina, who started the first two games and played against USC last season after starter Spencer Brinton was injured in the first quarter.

The quarterbacks’ favorite target is Damon Gourdine, a 5-foot-7 receiver from Palos Verdes who has practiced lightly because of an ankle injury this week but will play.

“He’s their No. 1 guy, he wears No. 1, and he’s a concern of ours,” Hackett said.

All those L.A. connections are typical for San Diego State, which has 38 players from the area.

“We know they’re going to come after us,” Palmer said. “They all want to beat us bad, because a lot of the guys are from this area and wanted to come to SC.”

San Diego State struggled with its running game against Illinois, despite a solid running back duo in Larry Ned and Jonas Lewis.

The Aztecs had their defensive troubles too.

“We played better defensively than 38 points would indicate, but we gave up some big plays, which makes us really nervous against USC, because their speed is quite a bit better than Illinois’,” Tollner said.

He’s nervous about the USC defense too.

“Their athletic ability and ability to run is eye-catching,” Tollner said. “We had difficulty moving the ball against Illinois, and it looks to us that the athleticism at USC is significantly better. We’ve got our hands full.”

ISSUES AT HOME

USC’s home schedule lacks big names, outside of UCLA. Page 8