Big Target : Used Mainly as a Blocker in First Three Seasons at USC, Banta Shows Off Receiving Skills

Last January, after returning to USC from a trip to his Lake Charles, La., home, tight end Brad Banta introduced himself to the new head coach, John Robinson.

“I walked up to him, he looked at me, and said, ‘Brad Banta, tight end, right?’

“I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ Then he said, ‘The first thing you can do is uncurl those fingers because you’re going to catch a lot of passes next season.’ ”

Banta, at 6 feet 6 and 250 pounds, is the biggest target in USC’s high-performance, high-percentage passing game, which this season has reached out and touched almost everyone on the roster who can catch a football.

In three seasons before this one, Banta caught 16 passes for 207 yards. This season, with two games left, he has caught 21, for 209 yards.

This is one happy Louisiana redhead.

USC doesn’t keep reception records for tight ends, but it’s believed that the most catches by a USC tight end in one season are 44, by Joe Cormier, in 1985.

Wide receiver Johnnie Morton is the headliner with 71 catches and 1,233 yards, but Robinson’s offense stresses multiple receivers. In USC’s 42-14 victory over California two weekends ago, quarterback Rob Johnson completed passes to 11 receivers.

Eighteen have caught passes, with Banta fourth among them in catches.

Banta, mobile for his size and sure-handed, has made numerous plays this year that have held Trojan scoring drives together, mostly on short over-the-middle passes from Johnson.

Last Saturday, for example, on USC’s first possession, Banta made a nice catch on a nine-yard second-down play that set up the Trojans at Stanford’s 24. Three plays later, they scored.

Two series later, he made a third-down catch for a six-yard gain, giving USC a first down at Stanford’s 49. USC soon had a 14-3 lead. On the third-quarter drive that resulted in a 31-17 Trojan lead, Johnson found Banta for a 12-yard gain that gave USC a first down at Stanford’s one.

Banta is also the team’s snapper on punts and field goals, a skill Robinson says will lengthen the player’s NFL tenure.

“He’s a big, strong guy with good hands and good work habits,” Robinson said. “He’ll play 10 years in the NFL because he’s a long snapper.”

Banta said Robinson told the team’s tight ends last spring that they would be fully involved in the passing game. They are, even to an extent beyond what Robinson predicted.

“Coach told us the tight ends would catch 40 to 50 balls this season, but it’s already more than that,” Banta said.

It’s 58 tight-end catches and still counting.

And when Banta departs, the position will be in good hands. In fact, the Trojans have more quality young players at tight end than at any other position.

Sophomore Tyler Cashman (6-4, 235) has 16 receptions, sophomore Johnny McWilliams (6-5, 265) 12, and freshman John Allred (6-5, 230) nine. Another freshman tight end, Jeff Diltz (6-5, 230), has played mostly on special teams.

Next year, Robinson said, look for a triple-tight end offense.

Banta, who caught seven passes in the last two victories over Cal and Stanford, said the Trojan offense has shifted into a rhythm as USC (6-4 overall, 5-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference) flies to Seattle today to play Washington on Saturday.

“Any time you bring in a new offense, it takes a long time before everyone really knows it,” he said. “We’ve been learning all season.

“I’ve had the feeling over the last two games that we’ve reached the point where we all now really understand what coach wants us to do with this offense. And more important, we all know what everyone else is supposed to do, too.

“On almost any play, when you know your assignment and then you know exactly what your teammates’ assignments are, it really makes a difference. The timing is much better.

“I think that’s why we’ve played so well the last two games. We’re in a rhythm now. Our short stuff is really clicking, and that brings up the DBs (defensive backs) and linebackers, which opens up the game for us to go deep to Morton.”

Banta said the key to the game at Washington is crowd control.

“Number one, we have to quiet the crowd,” he said. “That means scoring early, taking charge. We want to take it to them from the start, and to do that we need a very good week of practice.

“Number two, we need to establish our running game early, to make our passing game more effective.

“We really want to beat Washington. I played here four years, and to know that I never played on a team that beat Notre Dame is heartbreaking. But this team can still do some great things this season.”

David Robinson, 30, son of the head coach, is the tight end coach.

“Brad is one of those guys who’s very talented and who practices and plays very hard,” he said.

“He always knows his assignments, and he asks more questions in meetings than anyone in our group. And because he’s been around the conference, he understands the defenses we see every Saturday better than the other guys.”

The story of how this big redhead who calls everyone but his teammates “sir”--he even says “yes, sir,” if you ask him not to call you “sir”--wound up at USC isn’t nearly as interesting as why he didn’t wind up at LSU.

“My high school, University High, is right in the middle of the LSU campus in Baton Rouge,” he said.

“We played our home games on the LSU practice field. Fraternity Row was right across the street. I considered going to LSU, but it would have seemed like four more years of high school.

“I wanted to go away to school, meet new people and experience another part of the country.”