When Small Is Big

USC is not the only college football team in Southern California expecting to contend for a national title in 2005.

Azusa Pacific and Occidental will open the season ranked in the top 10 in their divisions after advancing deep into the playoffs last year.

Azusa Pacific, ranked fourth in the preseason National Assn. Of Intercollegiate Athletics poll, has 13 starters back from the team that went 11-3 and advanced to the semifinals before losing to eventual national champion Carroll College of Montana on a late touchdown.

Occidental, ranked eighth in NCAA Division III by D3football.com, has nine starters returning on each side of the ball from the team that became the first in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history to win two games in the playoffs. The Tigers lost to eventual national champion Linfield of Oregon, 56-27, in a quarterfinal.

Occidental officials distributed Elite Eight rings to commemorate the playoff run, but Tiger Coach Dale Widolff says he doesn’t worry that his players will get hung up on past accomplishments.

“We’ve been locking them up and saying, ‘That’s last year. Let’s worry about this year,’ ” Widolff said.

Junior quarterback Andy Collins, the reigning SCIAC offensive player of the year, returns to guide an offense that averaged 35.5 points last season, when the Tigers went 10-2. Senior linebacker Mike Bryant, the two-time conference defensive player of the year, will anchor a defense that also features sophomore linebacker Anthony Ostland, a sack machine last season with 13 1/2 .

Redlands, coming off a disappointing 4-5 season in which it suffered three losses in the final minutes, is expected to challenge for the SCIAC title, along with Cal Lutheran and La Verne. Redlands will rely on a strong receiving corps that includes All-American Alex Ballard and all-conference standout Charles Coleman.

Occidental won’t have to wait long for a challenge. The Tigers open with a nonconference game Sept. 10 against independent Chapman, the only team besides Linfield that beat Occidental in 2004. The Panthers, who lost four of their last five games after opening the season 3-1, will be led by junior running back Chase Twedell (585 yards rushing) and senior linebacker John Vander Pyl (92 tackles).

Junior Dylan Hendy and sophomore Blake Sartini are vying to replace quarterback Patrick Josten, who finished as Chapman’s all-time leader with 5,283 yards passing and 40 touchdowns. Equally daunting for the Panthers is the prospect of playing all of their home games at Orange El Modena High this season while their stadium is renovated.

Azusa Pacific, which last season played seven games out of state, is scheduled to venture outside California only twice during the regular season. But that doesn’t mean the schedule is any easier. The Cougars will play Division I-AA foes San Diego and Sacramento State, Division II opponent Humboldt State, and Carroll, the three-time defending NAIA champion.

“It’s a nightmare, to be honest with you. It is a big-time schedule,” Azusa Pacific Coach Peter Shinnick said. “None of the local schools want to play us. We’re fighting and scratching just to put a schedule together.”

Widolff said Occidental didn’t want to schedule Azusa Pacific because Azusa Pacific, unlike Occidental and other Division III schools, can provide some scholarship money to about 50 players, allowing it to attract Division II-caliber athletes.

“It’s kind of a different animal,” Widolff said. “They would be very, very tough.”

Azusa Pacific, led by senior quarterback Sean Davis, faces a big challenge Sept. 10 when it travels to Helena, Mont., to play Carroll for the third time in 11 months. Carroll also defeated the Cougars, 12-0, when the teams played last October in Azusa.

Shinnick said, “For us to have a chance to play the No. 1 team in the country the second week in the season is going to be a huge test and a great barometer to see where we’re at.”