There's A Usc In Muscle

Anthony Davis is alive and making I another run at immortality. The USC tailback has been comparatively subdued this season, just trucking gently through the Pacific Eight while waiting for his talented young teammates to grow up and join him on Mount Olympus . "People act as though I've been sitting out the year," said the 1972 sophomore sensation after helping the Trojans sack favored UCLA 23-13 last Saturday to earn their sixth trip to the Rose Bowl in eight years. "People keep asking, 'Where's Anthony Davis ? Is he still injured?" Well, I've been here and I'm healthy, and bigger and faster than last year. But we're a young team and I'm not walking around with an S on my chest. In order for me to do my thing, 10 other guys have got to do their thing."

Last year, while the low-slung All-America was doing his thing (1,253 yards, 17 touchdowns), he was following blockers who could punch holes through the Hoover Dam—and back the water up for half a mile. " Charles Young , Pete Adams, Allan Graf, Mike Ryan , Dave Brown and Sam Cunningham ," said Davis , ticking off the names. "By the time I got here they had all been playing three years. And now most of them are in the pros. Man, how do you replace people like those? It takes time."

Apparently, it took USC precisely 10 games. Either that, or Davis had better check his chest again. After sputtering but surviving against the likes of Oregon State and Oregon and Washington , the Trojans tore great holes in UCLA 's defenses, and Davis twisted through the wreckage for 145 yards and USC's first touchdown. "The defense has been carrying us all year," he said. "It was time we got off their backs."

Their load lightened, the USC defenders gleefully challenged their hated cross-town rivals, and by the time they were done with what had been the nation's No. 1 scoring machine the Bruins' Wishbone was snipped. UCLA had lost its opener to Nebraska , but then had scored at a seemingly impressive rate of just under a point a minute against nine humpty-dumpties, and the easy living proved expensive. While wallowing in all that luxury, the Bruins had averaged 415.4 yards rushing, also No. 1 in the nation, and they needed only 111 yards against USC to break the Pac-8 season total offense record. Understandably, they were impressed by their own credentials. Only they said so in public.

"I just don't see how USC is going to defense us," said Kermit Johnson, the senior wingback who had already run for 1,022 yards and 15 touchdowns. "They'll be thinking so much about our running game that our passes will sneak right by them—and that will be it. I can't see any way they can stop us."

What few passes UCLA did throw all season would have to be classified as sneaky, all right. Mostly they came when games were already well won and even then there were only 83 of them. Nor was the passing that effective, just 35 completions. By contrast, the Bruins had run the ball 635 times.

"I was afraid against USC last year, and so were a lot of other guys," offered Fullback James McAlister, who had been stung from his usual quiet and gentle role when Davis had stopped by the UCLA campus to show off his Rose Bowl ring. "But we're not afraid any longer. They are going to get theirs."

Although a blithe free-wheeling optimist, UCLA Coach Pepper Rodgers became a model of conservatism. "USC is always tough," he said, "but this year they are doubly tough. They have three great tailbacks and a running game that can stick it to you. And if you grab them unawares and grab a lead, they can come back with the pass. If they put it together they can do anything they want. But so can we. So it comes down to the errors. Who makes them? Where? How often? How critical?"

If Rodgers had known the answers in advance, when UCLA won the toss he might have elected to surrender. The Bruins made all the errors. And often. And when are four fumbles and two intercepted passes not critical?

Instead, UCLA elected to receive and the Trojans went into their 50 defense (3 linemen, 4 linebackers) with orders to protect their flanks at any cost. "We'll play it just like we have all year," said USC Coach John McKay . "We won't be able to stop them; we'll slow them down. But we can't let them go wide. We have to turn them inside." Against the Wishbone the defense is dead without speedy linebackers, and USC has a corps that could masquerade as a sprint relay team—while using an enemy fullback as the baton. Nor were those big, speedy linebackers all that happy with UCLA 's loose-talking backs.