Trojans should make it a long day for UW

LOS ANGELES – There are so many tourist things to do in this sprawling, smoggy metropolis: Check out the muscle-bound free spirits at Venice Beach, hang out with Mickey Mouse and friends at Disneyland or buy a map and park in front of some fading movie star’s house.

So what does the Washington football team choose?

The Huskies are having all their teeth pulled, followed by radical cosmetic surgery, and then plan to sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic from one end of Tinsel Town to the other. OK, they’re actually playing the unbeaten and top-ranked USC Trojans – but it should be just as painful, disfiguring and monotonous.

A UW team with most of the meat stripped off the bone shows up today at Memorial Coliseum as a 34½-point underdog, auditioning its third starting quarterback this season and just hoping everyone gets back to the Northwest in one piece.

The Trojans (6-0 overall, 3-0 Pac-10) have size, speed, Heisman Trophy candidates, practically two of everything. The Huskies (1-5, 0-3) aren’t exactly sure whom they have, with freshmen still introducing themselves in the huddle to any senior still in uniform.

This match-up could prove very unsettling to the out-of-towners. At least until the 3:30 p.m. kickoff, the Trojans are being polite about it.

“They’ve had a tough run this year, and they’ve been really unlucky with all those players getting hurt,” USC senior linebacker Matt Grootegoed said. “It’s been one of those years where nothing goes your way. We regard Washington always as a good team. You can’t really say anything else.

“With teams like Washington struggling and not winning games it should win, you never know.”

Oh, yes, they do. The only real issue confronting the talent-rich Trojans this weekend is whether they’ll be properly motivated. After knocking off unbeaten Pac-10 entries the past two weeks, they face one of the league’s two last-place clubs.

“The only guys I fear about with that are the younger guys on the team,” Grootegoed said. “They might relax a little this week.”

For the Huskies, that won’t be nearly enough. They’ve been stitched together more than a patchwork quilt. Things have gone so bad, another loss and they turn over their well-crafted, 27-year streak of non-losing seasons. It’s stiff upper-lip time.

“Nobody’s given up, nobody’s checked out, and we still have a lot to play for,” UW junior offensive tackle Robin Meadow said. “We could have lost every game of the season, and I’d still be excited to play the No. 1 team in the country. If we beat them, we’d get a lot of respect. A little respect is what we need right now.”

They might have to settle for a few offensive thrills and spills. That’s what you get with elusive sophomore Isaiah Stanback at quarterback.

The Garfield High School alumnus gets his first opening assignment, marking the first time since 1972 that the Huskies have gone with three different starting quarterbacks. That season also was the last time a UW quarterback made his first-unit debut against the Trojans, also in Los Angeles, and it didn’t go well. With then-sophomore Denny Fitzpatrick at the controls, the Huskies were beaten 34-0.

Fitzpatrick, however, had never played in a game before. Stanback, though making his first career start, has two relief outings under his belt and is supremely confident in what he does.

“I have a picture of myself and know what I can do,” he said. “I’m going to keep chasing it. I know I can do this, so let me do it. With time and coaching, I think I’ll be there eventually.”

Stanback becomes the 37th different player to start for the Huskies this season, with only eight guys starting in the same spot in every game so far.