Past Glory Won’t Help at the Coliseum Today : USC: Penn State comes West off a loss. And the Trojans’ victory over Syracuse had its flaws.

The first regular-season game between USC and Penn State, which will be played today before about 75,000 at the Coliseum, matches two of the winningest programs in college football.

The question is, how good are these teams this season?

A loss by the favored Trojans would negate the optimism generated by a 34-16 victory over Syracuse two weeks ago at East Rutherford, N.J., where quarterback Todd Marinovich passed for a career-high 337 yards and three touchdowns but the Trojan running game was mostly ineffective and the defense seemed vulnerable.

A loss by Penn State would drop the Nittany Lions to 0-2 for only the second time in 25 seasons under Coach Joe Paterno.

Penn State was uncharacteristically mistake-prone last Saturday in a 17-13 loss to Texas at University Park, Pa. Besides being penalized 13 times, the Nittany Lions were the victims of a blocked punt and a blocked field-goal attempt and an 88-yard return on the second-half kickoff.

“We didn’t play with much poise,” Paterno said.

Still, they lost only after kicker Henry Adkins missed a 31-yard field-goal attempt with 5:16 left and quarterback Tony Sacca threw incomplete into the end zone on the last play of the game.

And though Texas drove inside the Nittany Lions’ 15-yard line five times, the Longhorns scored only one touchdown--after Adrian Walker returned the second-half kickoff to the Penn State six.

In at least one respect, USC Coach Larry Smith said, the Penn State defense is no different this season than it has been in the past.

“They’re just a bunch of hard-nosed, tough competitors,” Smith said. “My general impression of the Penn State defense is, they just keep coming at you.”

The Penn State offense traditionally has relied on its tailbacks, including Blair Thomas last season. But last week the Nittany Lions were led by Sacca, a junior who passed for a career-high 243 yards, including 135 in the fourth quarter.

“He has a great arm,” Smith said of Sacca, who completed 13 of 32 passes against the Longhorns. “They have a lot of speed in their receivers, and he gets the ball down to them.”

Not consistently, however.

Many observers regarded Sacca as the nation’s No. 1 high school quarterback three years ago, but he has been erratic at Penn State, completing 39% of his passes.

His completion percentage is in sharp contrast to Marinovich’s, which improved to 63.5% in 13 games as USC’s starting quarterback after he completed 25 of 35 passes against Syracuse.

“He’s as precise as anybody we’ve played,” Paterno said.

Against Syracuse, however, USC rushed for 100 yards, averaging 2.8 yards per attempt, its worst day on the ground since last season’s opener against Illinois.

“Our offensive line graded out pretty well in the pass-protection department, and average to above average in the run department in the second half,” Smith said. “In the first half, our run-blocking was terrible and our running game execution was terrible.”

That execution must improve today, said Smith, who described the Nittany Lions’ defensive linemen as “big, rugged guys.”

They may be big and rugged, but like the Trojans, the Nittany Lions are young. Of the 86 players listed on the depth chart, only 11 are in their final season of eligibility.

“I had no delusions of grandeur with our present team,” said Paterno, who has had four unbeaten teams and won two national championships at Penn State. “I’m disappointed--any time you don’t win, you’re disappointed--but I’m not discouraged.

“We have a solid young team that, as I said prior to the season, might be a little overscheduled.”

Trojan Notes

USC has shuffled its secondary again. Marcus Hopkins and Stephon Pace are expected to be the starting safeties today, with junior Calvin Holmes and redshirt freshman Mike Salmon starting at the corners. . . . In the Trojans’ opener against Syracuse, Hopkins and Howard McCowan were the starting safeties, and Pace and Marcel Brown were the starting cornerbacks.

USC and Penn State have played twice. USC beat the Nittany Lions, 14-3, in the 1923 Rose Bowl, and Penn State beat the Trojans, 26-10, in the 1982 Fiesta Bowl. . . . This is the first game of an eight-game series between the schools. They will play in the Coliseum again next season, then will play at University Park, Pa., in ’93 and ’94.

Penn State lost its first three games in 1984 but rebounded to finish 8-4-1, including a 13-10 victory over Washington in the Aloha Bowl. . . . In the only previous meeting between the coaches, Joe Paterno and Penn State beat Larry Smith and Tulane, 9-6, in the 1979 Liberty Bowl.

Penn State is 220-58-3 under Paterno, who ranks first among active Division I-A coaches in victories and second to Nebraska’s Tom Osborne in winning percentage. . . . Penn State hasn’t played in Los Angeles since Oct. 12, 1968, when it beat UCLA, 21-6, at the Coliseum.

Syracuse had 333 total yards against USC, 142 running and 191 passing. Only Notre Dame had as much yardage against the Trojans last season. . . . Paterno compared USC quarterback Todd Marinovich to Brigham Young’s Ty Detmer, who passed for 576 yards during a 50-39 loss to Penn State last December in the Holiday Bowl. . . . Penn State was 8-3-1 last season.