It’s a 103 Heat Wave in Southland: : UCLA (40-17), USC (63-0) Romp : Bruins Dismantle Sun Devil Defense but Lose Sherrard

When the dust settles and all the statistics are tallied from UCLA’s 40-17 victory over Arizona State at the Rose Bowl Saturday, the Sun Devils’ lofty defensive rankings will be a thing of the past--just yellowing computer printouts.

After two straight shutouts (over Pacific and USC) and 11 straight quarters without giving up a touchdown, the Sun Devil defense met up with an offense it couldn’t begin to stop.

UCLA quarterback David Norrie connected on a 36-yard touchdown pass play to Mike Sherrard, and after Sherrard went out with a broken collarbone, Norrie connected on a 54-yard touchdown pass play to Willie Anderson.

Fullback Mel Farr scored on a five-yard run, and backup fullback Marcus Greenwood scored on a seven-yard run.

John Lee kicked four field goals, making it 11 straight this season and 15 straight over two seasons. And he kicked four extra points, running that streak to 81 straight.

Add it all up, and UCLA scored more than three times as many points as the 12 that Arizona State had given up in its first three games.

UCLA had 460 yards in total offense, pretty evenly divided between running (245) and passing (215). Norrie completed 14 of 24 passes without giving up an interception. And UCLA converted on 11 of 19 third-downs plays.

“They had a great game plan,” Arizona State Coach John Cooper said. “They picked us like a chicken.”

So, both UCLA and Arizona State are 1-1 in the Pac-10 race. UCLA (3-1-1 overall) was coming off a tough 21-14 loss at Washington. Arizona State (2-2) was coming off a heady 24-0 victory over USC.

“The chemistry for us to win today was awfully strong,” UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said. “John (Cooper) had a tough job bringing his team in here after such a decisive victory over USC. It’s hard to get your team back down to earth after a game like that.”

Cooper wasn’t arguing the point. He knew what he was up against coming in. He said: “We were awful. UCLA whipped us every way that a football team can. We were just not mentally ready to play today.

“It’s the coach’s job to prepare the players mentally, and I’m to blame because we weren’t mentally ready to play.”

The Bruins had their usual third-quarter lapse but, all things considered, managed to stay mentally on top of things.

Just before the first half ended--while the Bruins were driving for the field goal that put them up, 27-7, as time ran out--Sherrard caught a 19-yard pass that made him the leading yardage receiver in UCLA history but also put him out for the rest of the regular season.

“After I caught the ball, I was slung down, and as I hit the ground, the defender fell on top of me,” Sherrard said. “I didn’t even want to get up. But we were in our two-minute drive, so I hurried and lined up--all cockeyed--just so we could get the next play off. I was having a lot of pain.

“I thought it was probably dislocated, but the doctors think it’s broken. . . . I didn’t know I had the record. They told me while they were working on my shoulder.”

Sherrard is not only one of the most valuable players on the team but also one of the favorites. It was quite a blow to the Bruins to play the second half with him standing on the sideline with his arm in a sling.

“We got the defense together and said that it was left up to us to stop them in case the offense started to have some trouble without Sherrard,” linebacker Tommy Taylor said.

Arizona State did score twice before UCLA came back with a Sherrard-type play. But a sack on third down by Bruin outside linebacker Melvin Jackson assured that the first ASU score of the second half was a 32-yard field goal by Kent Bostrom and not a touchdown.

ASU quarterback Jeff Van Raaphorst did some quick-strike passing on the next Sun Devil possession, and tailback Darryl Harris, who had scored in the first quarter from two yards out, scored this time on a seven-yard run.

But that was it for the Sun Devils.

Norrie brought the Bruins right back with the 54-yarder to Anderson, Sherrard’s understudy.

“I have a lot of confidence in Willie,” Norrie said. “He has some improving to do, but he’s a good receiver. He has world-class speed. In fact, I think he had to wait for my ball. . . .

“We didn’t change our offense because Mike was out. . . . We were looking for that situation when a cornerback was sitting back a little bit. When we got it, we knew Willie could do it, too.

“That was a big play by Willie. They were starting to come back, then. They were gaining momentum, and just like at Washington, they were starting to get a little bit vocal on the field. We needed that strike.”

Anderson said of his scoring reception: “It was a play-action pass, and the defensive player got sucked in pretty good. We were having a good day running, and that always helps the passing game. . . . It’s hard to say, but maybe they were playing me differently than they might have played Mike.”

There’s not much bragging in that statement. But then, Anderson says that one of the things he has learned from Sherrard, who is also his roommate, is how to be humble.

“He won’t ever talk about the (reception-yardage) record,” Anderson said. “I always have to bring it up.”

Anderson’s catch was his second as a Bruin. His only other reception was also a touchdown catch, at Tennessee.

As tailback Eric Ball said: “Mike Sherrard is a very important person to this team, but when he can’t play, we have to compensate for him. We have other receivers who will compensate. Just like we had to compensate when Gaston (Green) was hurt.”

Green has missed three games with a knee injury and might miss a couple of more. Ball started at tailback against Arizona State, but both he and James Primus have been playing well in place of Green.

Ball gained 70 yards Saturday, mostly in the first half, before he suffered a shoulder injury. Primus finished with 84 yards.

Ball also wanted to point out that the fullbacks--both of them--gained a lot of yards.

It was one of those games. Plenty of credit to be shared.

The defense made a good showing, holding ASU to just 248 yards--18 rushing.

Free safety James Washington intercepted a Van Raaphorst pass and returned it 25 yards, setting up Lee’s last field goal. And Taylor, who led the team with nine tackles, recovered a fumble that led to Lee’s first field goal.

“The best defense is a good offense,” Taylor said.

Saturday, it was.