The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 434

GAMES EVENTS PEOPLE PORT SAN DIEGO COUNTY Cos Angeles Slimes SUNDAY OCTOBER 14, 1990 CCt HIGHLIGHTS Bruins Run Aztecs Into the Ground JIM MURRAY To Air Is Human in Football San Diego County AZTECS: The UCLA running attack outperformed the San Diego State passing game and the Bruins beat the Aztecs, 45-31. CI CHARGERS: The coaches the Chargers are doing what they're supposed to and so they aren't planning any big changes for today's game against the Jets. CI USD: UC Santa Barbara quarterback Mike Curtius passed for 174 yards and three touchdowns in leading his team to a 24-3 defeat of the Toreros. C17A GULLS: Fort Wayne scored at 1:57 into the three-minute overtime period and beat the Gulls, 5-4. C17A Elsewhere I.OHINIIKl'I.KH By SCOTT MILLER i si ai i wki i After awhile, the days begin to run together.

On Saturday, the San Diego State defense goes out and gives up enough yardage for two games. The next week, SDSU coaches work the defense hard in practice, talk about the need to focus rather than make mass personnel changes. And then it's Saturday again. And you know what that means. UCLA did it to the Aztecs this week, 45-31, before 41,025 in the Rose Bowl.

Once again, the Aztec offense was a sight to behold, and once again, the Aztec defense was graffiti on a wall. "UCLA was here." "Foragood run, call 111-SDSU." "Score some points on the Aztecs." For the first time, SDSU (2-4) came up with a defensive combination that included just two linemen on apparent passing downs and a combination of linebackers and defensive backs. It didn't matter. On the first play SDSU used the combination, UCLA quarterback Tommy Maddox scrambled 11 yards around left end for a first down. That was on second and nine.

Seven plays later, on second and eight, SDSU tried it again, and this time Maddox passed 25 yards to Shawn Wills. New look, same old defense. The Aztecs didn't intercept a pass, which isn't exactly a news flash. They have now played 24 quarters this season and watched 191 passes fly by without picking one off. And, your weekly SDSU non-defense tidbit Part UCLA's Brian Brown finished with 175 yards rushing, the most for a Bruin since Gaston Green ran for 220 against Cal in 1987.

He also had two touchdowns. Part II: Kevin Smith carried 26 times for 105 yards and a touchdown. This marked the first time UCLA had two running backs rush for 100 or more yards in a game since Green (266) and Marcus Greenwood 104) did it in the 1986 Freedom Bowl. UCLA (3-3) finished with 376 yards rushing, and all six of the Bruins' touchdowns came on the ground. So much for SDSU's game plan of taking away the pass and making UCLA run.

On the bright side, SDSU quarterback Dan Please see AZTECS, C9 At USC, the theory of football has always been simple. You get the biggest, fastest, roughest members of society, put them in pads, hand them the football and they run right at you and over you, trampling as they go. The nicknames tell it all: "The Thundering Herd" and "Student Body Right." They told you all you needed to know about USC football. Brute strength always conquers in the end. From Howard Jones to Larry Smith.

At UCLA, the problem has been a little different. The Bruins, historically, had to make do with guys and teams that couldn't go through you. They had. to go over you, around you, under you. They couldn't play turnstile football.

They had to surprise you, sneak past. They won games the way the cavalry won wars. They had to be light, fast, tricky. They weren't anybody's Thundering Herd. They were "gutty little Bruins," a nickname hung on them by, of all people, a USC track coach.

They had to win pots with two pair. USC had four of a kind. One of the things the Bruins always had to have was the all-purpose thrower of the football. The Arm. Even in the days when throwing the ball 10 times a game was considered an "aerial circus." With USC, the quarterback was frequently regarded as an afterthought.

Just someone to hand the ball off to O.J. Simpson or Mike Garrett. With the Bruins, the quarterback was crucial. The Bruins needed Bob Waterfield. And they need Tommy Maddox.

Please see MURRAY, C9 PRO FOOTBALL TODAY RAIDERS vs. SEATTLE Site: Coliseum, 1 p.m. TV: None Radio: KPI, KOGO, KSPA BACK TO BASICS: The Sea-hawks have scrapped the run-and- shoot and will, use their power-back offense against the Raiders. C18 RAMS vs. CHICAGO Site: Soldier Field, 4:30 p.m., PDT TV: Channel 9, TNT Radio: KMPC, KRSO CHANGE OF PACE: The Rams, after facing some of the top passing attacks in the league, will try to stop the Bears' running game.

C18 NFL CAPSULES: A look at this week's games. C18 BASEBALL UCLA quarterback Tommy Maddox looks for a receiver against San Diego State. Stanford Has 15 Minutes in Sun, Then USC Romps WORLD SERIES Cincinnati vs. Oakland SCHEDULE Date Site Time Tues. Cincinnati 5:32 p.m.

Wed. Cincinnati 5:29 p.m. Fri. Oakland 5:32 p.m. Sat.

Oakland 5:29 p.m. Sun. Oakland 5:29 p.m. Oct. 23 Cincinnati 5:29 p.m.

Oct. 24 Cincinnati 5:29 p.m. included 230 yards passing by quarterback Jason Palumbis in the first quarter, the Trojans dominated the last three quarters of a 37-22 victory over the Cardinal before 62,000. "Early, things looked like they were going to come apart for us," USC Coach Larry Smith said. When the game was finished, though, USC had a season-high 500 yards and scored on five of seven possessions in the second and third quarters to overcome a 16-7 deficit and run its record to 5-1 overall, 2-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference.

Stanford is 2-4 and 1-2. Stanford Coach Dennis Green called USC's offense overpower- Trojans: Marinovich, Wellman have big games after defense slows Cardinal quarterback Palumbis, 37-22. By JERRY CROWE TIMES STAFF WRITER STANFORD A surprise victor over Notre Dame a week ago, Stanford hoped to knock off another giant Saturday in Stanford Stadium. USC wanted no part of it. And so, delayed but not demoralized by a fast Stanford start that ing.

After the first quarter, the Trojan defense was overpowering, too. Quarterback Todd Marinovich completed 17 of 30 passes for a career-high 338 yards and three touchdowns. He also scored a touchdown on a nine-yard pass from reserve flanker Curtis Conway. "I had a good rhythm," said Marinovich, whose passing was used to complement USC's resurgent running game in the Trojans' previous two games. "In previous weeks, I didn't feel like I had a good rhythm.

"I just felt confident throwing the football. Whenever you get Please see USC, C8 If necessary. All times Pacific. GAME 1 STARTERS Oakland: Stewart (22-11) Cincinnati: Rijo (14-8) MIKE DOWNEY: Everybody has an opinion on how umpire Terry Cooney handled Roger Clemens after the Boston pitcher's verbal assault. C2 JAYNE KAMIN-ONCBA Los Angeles Times USC quarterback Todd Marinovich is on the opposite end of a touchdown pass as he scores on a throw from Curtis Conway.

Chargers Don't Fret, Play Jets COLLEGE FOOTBALL TROJANS WIN: Stanford started fast, but USC rallied for a 37-22 victory as quarterback Todd Marinovich passed for 338 yards including three touchdown passes. CI The Wizard of Willpower John Wooden Almost Lost Desire to Live When Wife Died, but Great-Grandchildren Have Helped to Restore His Spark UPSETS MICHIGAN STATE 28 NO. 1 MICHIGAN 27 TEXAS 14 NO. 4 OKLAHOMA 13 NO. 18 GEORGIA TECH 21 NO.

15 CLEMSON 19 OREGON STATE 35 NO. 21 ARIZONA 21 KANSAS STATE 23 OKLAHOMA STATE 17 COVERAGE: C3-12 ByT.J.SIMERS HUES STAFF WRITER EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.-There were no position changes this week, no major roster moves, no startling adjustments in philosophy. No need for it, the Chargers decided, because world opinion be damned. "We aren't a bad team," defensive coordinator Ron Lynn said. "We aren't as nearly as bad as what our record indicates." Their record places them in the AFC West basement.

They have one victory in five attempts this season. And today they go into Giants Stadium as five-point underdogs to the team with the worst record in the AFC last season, the New York Jets, who finished 4-12. They are 2-3 this season. But fret not, said Coach Dan Henning, "I believe our players Please see CHARGERS, C18 "the only girl I ever went with," will seldom leave him. But they will not overwhelm him, as they threatened to for a long time after her death in 1985.

In recent years, newspaper and magazine articles have portrayed Wooden as a lonely, depressed man, all but consumed by his grief. The man who prepared his teams so thoroughly Wooden's players brought their own pillows on trips to get-a better night's sleep was himself unprepared for the inevitability of his wife's death. The portrayals were accurate, Wooden indicated, but his outlook has since brightened. Please see WOODEN, Cl( By JERRY CROWE TIMES STAFF WRITER On his 80th birthday today, in a routine that he follows every Sunday, John Wooden will attend services at First Christian Church in Santa Monica and visit the grave of his wife, Nell, at a cemetery in the Hollywood Hills. This afternoon, the greatest coach in college basketball history maybe the greatest coach ever will join his family and several of his closest friends for dinner at the home of his daughter, Nan Muehlhausen, in Reseda.

All the while, thoughts of his beloved Nell, his wife of 52 years and INDEX Jim Murray CI Morning Briefing C2 Newswire C15 Horse Racing C19 The Day in Sports C20-23 ANACI.CTO RAPPING I.OS AngclcsTimes Great-granddaughter Cori Nicholson, 5, and other great-grandchildren keep John Wooden vibrant..