Peete, Trojans Roll, 34-7, Over Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. —  USC Coach Larry Smith was concerned earlier that his team wasn’t at full strength for its opening game with Boston College Thursday night at Alumni Stadium.

Two starters in the offensive line, Brent Parkinson and Mark Sager, were left home with injuries. Defensive tackle Tim Ryan was restricted with an ankle injury, and tailback Steven Webster, the Pacific 10’s leading rusher last season, is still making a comeback from knee surgery.

However, USC was physically dominating, nonetheless, as it beat Boston College, 34-7, before a sellout crowd of 32,000 and a national ESPN audience.

The Eagles, who came close to upsetting the Trojans last year at the Coliseum before losing, 23-17, didn’t pose much of a threat on a mild New England evening.

USC opened up a 21-0 lead; led at halftime, 21-7, then scored in the third quarter on an unlikely pass from kick-holder Chris Sperle to tailback Aaron Emanuel after a busted field-goal attempt.

The Trojans closed out the scoring with a relentless 85-yard drive, staying on the ground most of the way.

USC quarterback Rodney Peete got his Heisman Trophy campaign off to a satisfactory start by completing 21 of 33 passes for 271 yards and 1 touchdown. He threw 2 interceptions, however, on deep patterns.

Most of the evening, though, he chose to go to patterns underneath the Boston College defense and was mainly successful.

His primary receiver, Erik Affholter, hugged the sidelines with sure catches, winding up with 7 for 74 yards.

The Eagles had difficulty moving the ball against an aggressive USC defense, and starting quarterback Mike Power was replaced by his backup, Mark Kamphaus, in the second quarter.

When Power started the second half, he was booed by the partisan crowd.

The Trojans were ragged at times, getting untimely penalties, but Smith was generally pleased with the way his team played at the outset of the school’s centennial year in football.

He was especially pleased with USC’s running game in the second half after Peete picked apart the Boston College secondary in the first half.

“In the second half, it was just traditional USC physical football,” Smith said. “We knocked the tar out of the other guys. Our running game took command in the second half.”

Even though Webster didn’t play, USC has depth in running backs, wearing down the Eagles.

Emanuel scored two touchdowns, one on a 2-yard run on his first carry since 1986. He was suspended for disciplinary reasons in 1987.

Fullback Leroy Holt got the last touchdown on a 2-yard power play and wound up as USC’s leading rusher with 86 yards in 18 carries.

USC dominated the statistics. The Trojans had 502 total net yards to only 253 for the Eagles.

“Southern Cal played an excellent game and proved why they are ranked among the best teams in the country,” Boston College Coach Jack Bicknell said. “I think the key to their success tonight was their short passing game. We thought they would go long like they did last year against us. Instead, they went short. And we just didn’t play well tonight. I think we were nervous and played tentative.

“Our defense didn’t sustain anything out there. We left the defense on the field too long, and USC’s offense just wore us down. As for Rodney Peete, I said all along that he is a great player and he proved it tonight.”

There was really no turning point in the game that USC dominated, but the Trojans will be featured in some television highlight films with a most unusual play.

Quin Rodriguez lined up to attempt a 19-yard field goal late in the third quarter. But center Scott Brennan’s snap was high, and the holder, Sperle, who is also USC’s punter, had to improvise.

He scrambled, and when he saw Emanuel waving his hands in the end zone, the punter became a passer.

Eagle defenders closed in on Emanuel, but he managed to catch the ball in a crowd for a touchdown.

On the point-after-touchdown try, it was the same scenario as the snap sailed over Sperle’s head and he barely got a hand on it. He tried to pass again, but once was enough, as far as the Boston College defense was concerned, and his throw was incomplete.

“It’s a play we practice all the time when the hold is muffed,” Sperle said. “I just yell, ‘Fire,’ to let the players know it’s a busted play. I saw a cushion (some free space) around Emanuel, but the way I throw, the cushion went away from Emanuel real quick.”

Sperle said that the only time he throws a pass is when he’s just tossing the ball around on the sidelines in practice. He added that he didn’t pass in high school, being used as a punter and wide receiver.”

Said Emanuel: “I didn’t really hear him say, ‘Fire,’ at first, but I went to the back of the end zone and began waving my arms.

“I had my hands on the ball, but so did No. 2 (cornerback Steve Williams), and I just pulled it away from him.”

His touchdown provided USC with a 27-7 lead, and the Eagles couldn’t recover.

Emanuel said he was surprised that he was called upon to score USC’s first touchdown. He had fumbled at the goal line in practice at UC Irvine last week and was chastised by the coaches.

The Trojans set the tone for the game with their first possession, driving 61 yards to the touchdown that Emanuel scored.

Rodriguez kicked a 33-yard field goal before the quarter ended. Then he kicked a 39-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

The Trojans were cruising when wide receiver Gary Wellman split two defenders and caught Peete’s perfect pass on a 33-yard touchdown play with only 67 seconds left in the first half. The score enabled Peete to tie Paul McDonald (1976-79) for career touchdown passes with 37.

Earlier, Peete went deep twice, only to have his passes intercepted.

Smith wouldn’t blame Peete, though, saying that the Eagle defensive backs were squatting on the USC receivers, opening up the deep routes.

Boston College, which has a veteran team, manged to score while trailing, 21-0, when Kamphaus threw a short pass to wide receiver Tom Waddle.

USC linebacker Scott Ross went for an interception but couldn’t get the ball. Waddle then cut back and scored on a 60-yard pass play with only 39 seconds left in the first half.

The touchdown didn’t provide the Eagles with the lift they needed, though. Both teams exchanged turnovers in the third quarter before the Trojans scored on the improbable passing combination of Sperle to Emanuel.

Peete, analyzing his own performance, said: “I can still improve on a few things. On the two interceptions, I was being a little greedy. I overthrew Affholter on one and the same thing on the second one.”

Then, when someone asked him facetiously if he was worried that Sperle would take over his job, Peete smiled and said: “That kind of worries me. You probably can see my gray hairs now.”