USC Hopes Officially Fade

By EARL GUSTKEY

Oct. 20, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

TEMPE, Ariz. — The USC Trojans, unable to hang on to leads given them by a gift touchdown and a 98-yard kickoff return, went spinning off to no better than the Mediocre Bowl (Take your pick: Cotton, Aloha or Sun).

In an overtime game Saturday in which officials muffed calls on two scoring plays, Arizona State won a four-hour, 48-35 marathon that left both teams as wilted as a dried-up desert rose.

“I’m tired,” said exhausted USC defensive tackle Darrell Russell. “Fatigue was a big part. We went head-to-head with them for a long time and one of us slipped.”

This one, it seemed in the aftermath, was never in the cards for the Trojans. They’re now 2-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference and 4-3 overall to fourth-ranked Arizona State’s 4-0 and 7-0.

The Trojans were up 14-0 after their first two possessions.

Arizona State quarterback Jake Plummer--later to be compared to Joe Montana by John Robinson--rallied the Sun Devils back to 21-21 in the fourth quarter, but then Trojan freshman R. Jay Soward’s 98-yard kickoff return shocked the crowd of 74,947--largest ever to see an Arizona State game in Sun Devil Stadium--into silence.

Momentary silence, of course.

USC’s defense, statistically the Pac-10’s best entering the game, seemed to have momentum going all its way after halftime, shutting down Arizona State six times before it ran out of gas on Arizona State’s last two regulation possessions.

But run out of gas it did, and Plummer (26 for 44, 277 yards) pounced. Shaking off three previous interceptions, he did what championship quarterbacks are supposed to do with a Rose Bowl opportunity at hand.

Before the Soward return he had taken the Sun Devils 98 yards in 11 plays to make the score 21-21. Then he took them 78 yards in 14 plays, completing four of six and finally sending Terry Battle (30 carries, 184 yards) around the left side for a seven-yard score and 28-28 with 1:30 to go, setting up the first overtime game for both schools.

USC’s defense, finally, had wobbled, after being on the field much longer than its offense. On a hot afternoon (82 degrees at the 12:37 p.m. kickoff), Arizona State had possession for 37:58 to USC’s 22:02 and the Sun Devils had a 543-295 yardage edge.

The Trojans got the ball first in overtime, setting up first-and-10 at the Arizona State 25, and scored in four plays, on an 11-yard Brad Otton-to-Rodney Sermons pass. That made the score 35-28.

Plummer got another tie at 35-35, when he hit Keith Poole for a six-yard score.

Because Arizona State won the overtime coin toss and elected to defend first, it had consecutive possessions.

This one was easiest of all--Battle running 25 yards straight up the middle for 42-35 and the Sun Devils’ first lead of the game.

Then USC fell victim to a muffed officials’ call, which was a switch.

USC had made the score 21-14 early in the final quarter when two officials nearest the play awarded Chris Miller a 29-yard touchdown catch from Otton. Replays clearly showed he had dropped the ball in the end zone and caught in on the bounce.

This time, on the game’s final play, Otton, under pressure, appeared to throw an incomplete shovel pass on third and seven. Most everyone stood around and watched the bouncing ball . . . but not Arizona State cornerback Courtney Jackson. He picked it up, hesitated for a second, then kept running . . . 85 yards.

The Trojans protested, wanting an incomplete pass call, not a fumble. But by then the Sun Devil victory dance was under way.

End of game, end of any real Trojan Rose Bowl hopes (they retain a mathematical chance), and end of high hopes many USC partisans had for this team.

The Trojan locker room was tomblike afterward. The only flash of anger seen was by Otton, who passed two officials entering the same door and shouted: “I don’t know who called that, but he blew it!”

Robinson praised Plummer as well as his own quarterback.

“Plummer is one of the most competitive players I’ve ever seen,” he said.

“I hate comparing anyone to Joe Montana, but his style of play is like [(Montana’s]. . . . He just kept getting better in the game.

“I thought Otton played very well, it was just hard for us offensively. We’re not the potent offensive machine we were last year.”

Some wondered where tailback Shawn Walters was in the USC offense. Robinson said earlier in the week Walters would get “equal carries” with LaVale Woods and Delon Washington, but Walters was in for only one play in the second quarter.

“We just wanted quicker backs in there for pass protection,” Robinson said.

And dropped passes continue to plague this team. When the Miller end zone drop that was ruled a touchdown is included, Trojan receivers dropped five Saturday.

A few grains of good news for USC partisans:

--The poor pass blocking of the previous two games was significantly improved. After getting dumped 13 times against Cal and Arizona, Otton was pressured at times but not sacked Saturday.

--Chris Claiborne, the freshman middle linebacker, was brilliant again. He had 20 tackles, most by a Trojan since Delmar Chesley had 27 against Notre Dame in 1987. And Russell had three sacks of Plummer in his nine tackles.

--Soward’s kickoff return was USC’s first since Curtis Conway’s 95-yarder against Arizona State in 1992.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Overtime at a Glance

USC BALL

* (holding on first play, first down at the 38)

* 1st--Brad Otton pass to Jeff Diltz for 22 yards to the 16

* 2nd--LaVale Woods runs for five yards to the 11

* 1st--Otton pass to Rodney Sermons for TD (PAT is good)

USC 35-28

ARIZONA STATE BALL

* 1st--Jake Plummer to Steve Bush for 11 yards to the 14

* 1st--Terry Battle runs for five yards to the 9