Beavers Eager to End the Skid Against Trojans

Thirty-three years ago can seem like ancient history to a group of young men who have not been alive that long.

So the USC players have not talked much this week about their team’s winning streak over Oregon State, a string of 26 games dating to 1967.

But the Trojans know it could end at Reser Stadium today. They know the Beavers are no longer the doormat of the Pacific 10 Conference. They know because they nearly lost to this team a year ago.

“This isn’t the old Oregon State,” defensive tackle Ennis Davis said. “This is a contender.”

This is also the conference opener for both teams. So instead of dwelling on the past, USC Coach Paul Hackett has focused on the present, saying that even one loss could damage his team’s hopes for a Rose Bowl berth.

Hackett believes this game represents a test for the Trojans, playing on the road--with thunderstorms in the forecast--against an opponent that went to a bowl game in 1999 and is undefeated.

“The last four or five years at Oregon State have been quite different,” he said. “You can sense an attitude that has changed.”

The transformation began to show in 1998, when former Coach Mike Riley led the team to a 5-6 record--big news for a program that had only six victories in the previous three seasons combined.

When Riley left for the San Diego Chargers, Dennis Erickson came over from the Seattle Seahawks and, before that, from Miami, where he won two national championships in six seasons.

Erickson promptly led the Beavers to a 7-5 record and a berth in the Oahu Bowl. He did so with an offense similar to the one he employed while coaching Seattle in the mid-1990s.

“Exact same schemes,” said Hackett, who was offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs then. “He knows how to coach a single-back offense probably as well or better than anybody.”

It helps that the Beavers have Ken Simonton, a small and quick tailback in the mold of former Trojan Chad Morton. Simonton leads the nation in scoring and ranks fifth in rushing with 158 yards a game.

Oregon State tries to create seams for him by operating from a spread formation with quarterback Jonathan Smith and three or four receivers at a time. This quick-strike offense nearly came back to defeat USC in last season’s 37-29 game at the Coliseum.

The best way for the Trojans to short-circuit the attack might be to get at Smith. In last season’s game, they forced him into a fumble and two interceptions.

“We have got to put pressure on the quarterback,” said middle linebacker Zeke Moreno, who scored two touchdowns off those turnovers.

The USC secondary must also play better than it did against San Jose State last week when, as veteran cornerback Kris Richard says, he and his teammates were in a lull.

The same was true for the Trojan offense, which fumbled three times and did not awaken until the fourth quarter.

This week, USC will face a defense that surrenders only 198.6 yards a game, third best in the nation. The Beavers have been tough against the run, limiting opponents to 57 yards. They have seven interceptions.

But Erickson warns that those numbers came against lesser opponents, the likes of Eastern Washington and New Mexico.

“I think stats are highly overrated, period,” he said. “We’re ranked fairly high, but we haven’t had a challenge yet.”

The Oregon State secondary is filled with veterans and has some idea of the outside speed it will face against USC receivers such as Kareem Kelly, Marcell Allmond and Keary Colbert.

Of greater concern might be two freshmen who start as interior linebackers. Their inexperience could play into one of USC’s recurring offensive themes.

Even with all that speed at receiver, even with quarterback Carson Palmer completing about 65% of his passes, the Trojans want to run the ball up the middle.

“In college football, I don’t believe you win by passing,” Hackett said. “I think you have to be able to control the game by running.”

And by playing solid on special teams, where Oregon State has excelled and USC has struggled. The Trojans must also play hard from the opening kickoff, something they have not done in the last two games.

Hackett might have used the streak to get his players’ attention, except that even he is a little hazy on the details of the last time Oregon State defeated USC.

“They played in the mud, right?” he asked.

Oregon State won, 3-0, on a stormy day in Corvallis. It was the only loss for a USC team that went 10-1 and won the national championship.

“The past,” said Antoine Harris, a senior tight end who was born more than a decade after that game. “That was the past.”

Thirty-three years ago. Practically ancient history.

TOP GAMES

WASHINGTON at

OREGON

The Huskies will try to end the Ducks’ Autzen Stadium winning streak at 17 games.

FLORIDA at

MISSISSIPPI ST.

In 1992--the Gators’ last visit to Scott Field--they suffered a 30-6 defeat.

WISCONSIN at

MICHIGAN

Badgers are 1-13 at Michigan Stadium since 1965, last winning at the Big House in ’94.