Tailback U-TURN

The cross-town rivalry used to be a showcase for the school known as Tailback U.

For USC, the annual game against UCLA meant O.J. Simpson weaving 64 yards for the winning touchdown in 1967. Charles White scoring four touchdowns in 1979. Marcus Allen rushing for 219 yards in 1981.

But in the two decades since Allen became the last of the Trojan tailbacks to win a Heisman Trophy, the marquee names have more often worn Bruin blue and gold. Names such as Gaston Green, Karim Abdul-Jabbar and Skip Hicks.

It might have been the same on Saturday with UCLA featuring DeShaun Foster, one of the nation’s top rushers. Foster is expected to miss the game, ineligible for accepting extra benefits, but that doesn’t change the fact that USC has gone 20 years without a dominant runner.

On Saturday, the Trojans will employ a tailback-by-committee approach featuring workhorse Sunny Byrd and freshman Chris Howard, who has yet to gain 100 yards this season.

“We’ll try to make it through with the rotation of those guys,” Coach Pete Carroll said. “They have much different styles and we’ll just find a way.”

It would be a mistake to say that USC has gone 20 years without talented runners. Chad Morton, Delon Washington and Ricky Ervins all had 1,000-yard seasons. But no one has come along to meet the lofty expectations of a program seeking another bronze statuette to put under glass in Heritage Hall.

Part of the problem is recruiting. Though coaches can quantify a young back’s speed, size and quickness, they must otherwise gauge his knack for running hard and breaking tackles. The truly great backs are few and far between. To further complicate matters, runners are tied to another position that recruiters find trickier to evaluate: the offensive line.

Allen, for instance, ran behind a veritable NFL front of Roy Foster, Bruce Matthews, Don Mosebar and Tony Slaton. Since then, the struggles of the USC line have been well-documented, especially in recent years.

Coaching might also have contributed to the dry spell. USC has hired men such as Paul Hackett and Ted Tollner, who were more closely associated with the passing game.

“You haven’t had the head coach like a John McKay or a John Robinson who believes the foundation of the program is the running game,” said former USC assistant coach Artie Gigantino, now a college football commentator for Fox Sports Net. “There’s more of an emphasis on throwing the football, period. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just a different philosophy.”

Thus, the big names coming out of USC have been quarterbacks--Rodney Peete, Todd Marinovich, Rob Johnson--and such receivers as Curtis Conway, Johnnie Morton and Keyshawn Johnson.

The current coaching staff fits the passing mold, USC having paid approximately $300,000 a year to employ coordinator Norm Chow, the man behind the Brigham Young offense for decades. Carroll nonetheless said he would love to have an old-time running game.

“It’s the easiest formula for winning,” he said. He added, however, “this is not a philosophy you can run with just anyone.”

The current situation dates to 1997, when Foster and Justin Fargas, a star at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High, were regarded as the top running backs in Southern California, if not the nation. Fargas was set on the Trojans but wavered when Robinson was fired.

Eventually, he switched to Michigan. With Foster going to UCLA, the Trojans scooped up Sultan McCullough, regarded as the third-ranked prospect.

The effect of all this quickly became apparent as the freshman Foster scored all four of his team’s touchdowns in a 34-17 victory over USC in 1998.

Meanwhile, McCullough has shown explosive speed, gaining 1,163 yards last season, but has needed to work on his discipline in running upfield. The redshirt junior has yet to show he can consistently break tackles and make plays on his own while operating behind a young line.

So when Carroll was hired at USC last winter and evaluated the talent on the team, he decided his best bet was a spread attack that includes multiple receivers and quick passing.

This decision was certainly influenced by other offenses he saw around the Pacific 10. Even Gigantino, who believes deeply in the running game, recognizes the top teams in the conference are scoring almost 40 points a game. “There is so much offense being churned out right now,” he said.

Yet one of the teams tied for first place, Oregon, also has the best rushing offense.

So while USC does everything it can to patch together a ground game against UCLA on Saturday, the coaching staff has already made a priority of recruiting running backs and linemen.

A number of top prospects reside in Southern California. Highly regarded backs Hershel Dennis of Long Beach Poly and Lorenzo Booker of Ventura St. Bonaventure are considering USC. So is one of Dennis’ teammates, lineman Winston Justice.

USC has other reasons for hope. McCullough is expected back from a season-ending abdominal injury, and the roster holds yet another possibility.

Four years after turning away, Fargas has transferred to USC after years of injury and disappointment at Michigan. While he sits out this season--and works to remain academically eligible under a heavy load of classes--the junior has ripped off impressive runs on the practice field.

The kind of runs that cause teammates to cheer spontaneously. The kind of runs that cause coaches to say he has the attitude.

It starts as he walks out to practice each day, passing through a hallway where pictures of former players hang on the wall. Fargas habitually reaches out and touches a photo of O.J. Simpson. He knows how long this program has been waiting for the next great back.

“If you have a chance to put on this uniform and run the ball, it’s something special,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, this has always been Tailback U.”

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Not Making Their Marc(us)

USC’s running game hasn’t really been Student Body Right since Marcus Allen rushed for 2,427 yards and won the Heisman Trophy in 1981. The Trojans’ leading rushers since Allen:

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Year Player Yards 1982 Todd Spencer 596 1983 Michael Harper 685 1984 Fred Crutcher 1,155 1985 Ryan Knight 732 1986 Ryan Knight 536 1987 Steven Webster 1,109 1988 Aaron Emanuel 545 1989 Ricky Ervins 1,395 1990 Mazio Royster 1,168 1991 Deon Strother 614 1992 Estrus Crayton 700 1993 Shawn Walters 711 1994 Shawn Walters 976 1995 Delon Washington 1,109 1996 LaVale Woods 601 1997 Delon Washington 444 1998 Chad Morton 985 1999 Chad Morton 1,141 2000 Sultan McCullough 1,163 2001 Sultan McCullough 410

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What Ever Happened to Tailback U?

Between 1963 and 1981, USC had outstanding tailbacks such as Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Clarence Davis, Anthony Davis, Ricky Bell, Charles White and Marcus Allen--with all but one going on to a distinguished NFL career. In those 19 years, the Trojans had the nation’s leading rusher six times and the Heisman Trophy winner four times. Since 1981, USC has not had a national rushing leader, with Ricky Ervins coming the closest in 1989 at 1,395 yards--398 behind Indiana’s Anthony Thompson. And since Allen in 1981, USC tailbacks have been ignored in the Heisman Trophy balloting, and mostly have been relegated to backup roles in the NFL. Below is a comparison of USC’s leading rushers from 1963-81 and 1982-2000, both with the Trojans and in the NFL:

Research by Roy Jurgens