Robinson Gives, These Trojans Receive : USC: members of Morton’s supporting cast have caught on even though they had expected to be passed over by their coaches.

When John Robinson became USC’s coach for the second time last Jan. 3, he was vaguely aware that among the returning players was a pretty good receiver named Morton.

He could have guessed then that Trojan receivers would catch a lot of passes this season, but he had no way of knowing that Johnnie Morton would have an All-American season and set Pacific 10 records.

The coach who had been most associated with high-performance running backs such as Charles White and Marcus Allen on the college level wanted to go with a high-percentage, low-risk passing game.

“There was a perception that (Robinson) was basically a running-game coach, but people forget that when he was offensive coordinator at Oregon, he had (Dan) Fouts,” said Mike Sanford, Robinson’s wide receiver coach.

“And like any coach, you fit your players to an offense best suited for them. We had Morton, lots of other good receivers and not a lot of experienced running backs.”

Morton, the acrobatic receiver from South Torrance who will play his last college game Thursday night against Utah in the Freedom Bowl at Anaheim Stadium, had 78 catches in a 1,373-yard season. He has been drawing comparisons to a USC All-American of 20 years ago, Lynn Swann.

In 12 games, Morton had more receiving yardage than the total for the next three Trojan receivers, who combined for 1,175 yards. It would seem strange, then, to say this USC pass offense is one of breadth and depth.

But that’s the case.

Consider Deon Strother, who last spring was switched by Robinson from tailback to fullback. Strother’s spirits sank.

“I thought: ‘Oh, no--all that pounding,’ ” Strother said.

But he was integrated into the pass offense, and midway through season was second only to Morton in catches.

When asked then if he was happy with the switch to fullback, he said: “Are you kidding? Morton is setting records for this team, and I’m No. 2 in catches!”

Strother finished that way, the runner-up to Morton’s 1,373 with 500 yards on 51 catches.

Another senior who saw his receiving statistics soar was Brad Banta, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound tight end from Baton Rouge, La. When Banta introduced himself to Robinson last January, the coach told him: “The first thing you can do is uncurl those fingers, because you’re going to catch a lot of passes next season.”

Under former coach Larry Smith, Banta caught 16 passes for 207 yards. This season, he caught 28 for 265 yards, the most catches by a Trojan tight end since Charles Young had 29 in 1972.

Robinson said this season he believes Banta will have a 10-year NFL career, because he’s also a long snapper.

As a group, the USC tight ends caught 72 passes.

When the Trojans went to training camp at UC Irvine last August, Robinson and his staff were nervous about their pass offense. Was there any depth to the receiver corps? They weren’t sure.

Morton, they knew, was a big-time player. But the other key wide receivers, Ken Grace and Ed Hervey, were untested junior college transfers.

“We were nervous, yeah,” Sanford said.

“Grace and Hervey were both in summer school, we’d never worked with them and we just didn’t know if they could click in right away. And we really needed them to play well right away, to take the heat off Morton.”

So, who are these guys--Morton’s fleet, sure-handed supporting cast?

They are the receivers who have helped to make junior Rob Johnson a 63.4% career passer (68.6% this season), topping Todd Marinovich’s record 61.6% and within reach of the Pacific 10 career record of 64.5%, set by Cal’s Rich Campbell.

Sanford recently reviewed the main receivers in supporting roles:

--Strother, senior fullback, 51 catches--”Deon is going to do in the NFL just what he’s done for us, catch a lot of passes coming out of the backfield, be a good runner and blocker.

“He runs great routes and has great hands. He’s made unbelievable catches in practice, real acrobatic stuff.

“Two things happened to enable Deon to have a great year: First, he worked hard in the off-season and improved all areas of his game, and then this offense we put in fit him perfectly.”

--Grace, junior wide receiver, 32 catches--”I was recruiting other players in Northern California when several coaches up there told me to go see Grace, who was at Contra Costa Junior College.

“I went there and watched him play point guard on his basketball team, and I could see that great quickness and speed. I met him, liked him a lot and watched film. I brought some film on him back to school, showed it to (Robinson), and he said: “We’ve got to get this guy.

“We couldn’t be happier with Ken. He made really big plays against Penn State and Oregon State for us.

--Banta, senior tight end, 28 catches: “The main thing about Brad is, he’s one of the hardest-working guys I’ve ever been around. And for such a big guy, he really impresses you with his hands and the fact he can make acrobatic catches, too.

“He knew going into this season we would throw to the tight ends more, but I think even Brad is surprised at how many opportunities he’s had.”

--Hervey, junior wide receiver, 21 catches. “Ed is tall (6-3), fast, has a great work ethic and is a very tough guy. . . . He gives you a feeling of trust, of being very reliable.

“He was the quarterback at Pasadena City College when we recruited him. Kansas was recruiting him as a quarterback, so I had to convince him that his best position on the major college level, as well as in the NFL, was at receiver.”

--Tyler Cashman, sophomore tight end, 19 catches--”Tyler was a 190-pound wide receiver when we recruited him out of Los Alamitos High, and we recruited him because he was an outstanding athlete.

“We weren’t sure what position he’d play. We even considered safety. But when he got up to 6-4 and 235, we put him at tight end.

“He runs very good pass routes, he has good hands and he’s a very physical player. Tyler is a good blocker, but not as good as Banta, who is the best.”

--Johnny McWilliams, sophomore tight end, 15 catches--”Johnny has great, great athletic ability. He’s going to be a big-time player. He’s 6-5 or 6-6 and 255, and he can really run.

“His potential is unlimited. He reminds all of us of Kellen Winslow, the great Charger tight end a few years back. He’s certainly not there now, but that’s where he’s headed.”