ROSE BOWL: USC 41, Northwestern 32 : Johnson Is Brilliant for USC : Trojan Receiver Keys 41-32 Victory Over Northwestern

Keyshawn Johnson, the wide receiver who led USC to a thrilling 41-32 victory over Northwestern in Monday’s Rose Bowl, also led the celebration for his Trojans.

Moments after the game ended, when the last Northwestern chance, kicker Brian Gowins’ field goal try, smacked the upright and bounced back onto the field, Johnson dashed out of the huge crowd of USC celebrants and into the south end zone, where he danced and used the goal-post padding for a joyous punch-out.

Nobody deserved this center-stage show more than Johnson, who set a Rose Bowl record with 12 catches for 216 yards and earned the unabashed praise of Northwestern Coach Gary Barnett.

“He’s the best player we played against this year,” Barnett said.

Barnett called Johnson’s 56-yard scoring reception midway through the third quarter a key to the game. That made it 31-19, and even though gritty Northwestern caught up to the Trojans and took a 32-31 lead early in the fourth quarter, Barnett said that Johnson’s lightning-quick scoring play had a lasting effect.

Northwestern slowed USC (9-2-1) on its next thrust after the Wildcats took the 32-31 lead, but Adam Abrams was still able to kick a 46-yard field goal. That made it 34-32, but Northwestern (10-2) still seemed to have the momentum in the game.

But that ended quickly when Steve Schnur passed about a foot too high for Mike Hartl to catch and USC’s Jesse Davis gathered it in, returned it 41 yards and set up a final Trojan touchdown, a two-yard run by Delon Washington with 2:55 to play.

Northwestern, fighting to the end, actually got the ball into the end zone in the last minute, Schnur passing to D’Wayne Bates, who made yet another circus catch. But the Wildcats were caught holding, and when Gowins’ 49-yard field-goal attempt with 35 seconds left hit the upright, Northwestern’s Cinderella season had ended and Johnson had just begun to dance.

USC’s 24-10 lead at halftime was built with a combination of Johnson all over the field and Daylon McCutcheon in the right spot at the right time.

Johnson figured in just about everything but USC’s scoring. He caught eight passes for 124 yards, all of them from Brad Otton, who wound up completing 29 of 44 for 391 yards. Otton played the entire game for a USC team that had alternated him with Kyle Wachholtz all season.

Johnson’s receiving output meant that, of the 23 games he played at USC, 17 times he caught passes for more than 100 yards. This was the eighth time this season that he had topped the 100 mark, and he had done so with more than six minutes left in the second quarter.

With Johnson catching just about everything passed his way, the Trojans went 83 yards in 12 plays with the opening kickoff and LaVale Woods took it in the final yard.

After Northwestern bounced back with a 68-yard scoring drive and a three-yard scoring run by star running back Darnell Autry, the first of his three scores, USC marched 78 more yards to a 14-7 lead. Otton connected with Terry Barnum for the last 21 yards, after scrambling for what seemed like 10 seconds before finding Barnum all alone in the end zone.

That lead increased to 17-7 when a great juggling catch by Johnson put the Trojans within range for Abrams’ 30-yard field goal.

Northwestern, still looking game, started back with just over three minutes to go in the half, and got a big reception from Brian Musso, who carried the ball across midfield before being hit from behind by Sammy Knight. Replays showed that it was a split second between the time that the ball started to come out and Musso’s knee was touching down.

Nevertheless, the ball was picked up by McCutcheon, the speedy defensive back who starred as a running back last season at Bishop Amat High. McCutcheon, son of former Ram Lawrence McCutcheon, dashed 53 yards for a touchdown that put the Trojans in apparent control at 24-7.

But a short time later, Woods fumbled deep in his own territory, and 10 seconds later--two seconds before the end of the half--Gowins had kicked a 29-yard field goal that had not only cut the Trojan lead to 24-10, but gave Northwestern a nice psychological boost just before halftime.

Otton threw for 252 yards in the first half. Northwestern’s Autry was held to 43 yards in 12 carries in the half.

The third quarter got wild and crazy, and Northwestern, showing much of the same feisty quality that had stunned the college football world and elevated it to its No. 3 ranking, battled its way back to 31-26 going into the final period.

The Wildcats marched down near the Trojan goal and had to settle for a short field goal from Gowins when Schnur’s pass was batted away at the goal line by USC.

That made it 24-13, and Barnett, sensing that he had the Trojans somewhat reeling, stunned them further with an on-side kick that was so wide open that when Northwestern’s Josh Barnes picked up the kick after it traveled the required 10 yards, there were no USC players near him.

Now, USC started to fall all over itself. It had stopped the Wildcats on third down, when Schnur’s pass to Autry feel incomplete, but the Trojans were penalized for holding away from the ball, and Northwestern, given this second chance, swept in, Autry going the last nine yards. That made the score 24-19, and even a failed two-point conversion and the sensational 56-yard touchdown by Johnson didn’t seem to derail the Wildcat train.

Johnson’s catch gave him a Rose Bowl-record 199 yards in 10 catches, but the resulting 31-19 lead lasted only a few minutes.

Northwestern bounced right back with a 46-yard pass play, Schnur to Bates, who went up between two Trojan defenders for the reception. Schnur was roughed on the play, so the tacked-on penalty put Northwestern on USC’s 14. A few plays later, Schnur sneaked over from the one, Northwestern had cut USC’s lead to 31-26, setting up the exciting fourth quarter.