Only Role Left for USC Now Is That of a Spoiler : ‘Gutty Little Trojans’ Could Prevent UCLA’s Bruins From Going to Rose Bowl

So now it comes down to another UCLA-USC game with the Rose Bowl on the line. Only this time the prize is available only for the Bruins.

UCLA, 8-1-1 overall and 6-1 in the Pacific 10, will represent the conference in the Rose Bowl against a Big Ten team by beating USC Saturday at the Coliseum.

The Trojans (4-5 and 3-3) are confined to a spoiler role in a season that began with high expectations and is winding down in frustration.

USC could knock UCLA out of the Rose Bowl by winning or tying providing that Arizona State (5-1 in league) beats Arizona (4-2) Saturday night at Tempe, Ariz.

Even if the Trojans upset the Bruins, UCLA would go to the Rose Bowl if Arizona beats Arizona State. In the event of a multiple tie for the conference championship, UCLA would prevail in tie-breaking procedures.

There is now a role reversal. UCLA was once identified as the “gutty little Bruins,” a phrase not to be confused with the size of the team, just a prevailing underdog attitude.

But UCLA has been the football school in the city, not USC, in recent years. The Bruins have won four of the last five games from the Trojans and will be favored to make it four straight for the first time since the series began in 1929.

So, it’s now the “gutty little Trojans” trying to knock the Bruins out of the Rose Bowl. USC did it in 1977 and 1981 when it was out of the race. The Trojans also failed under the same circumstances in 1975, 1982 and 1983.

What little momentum USC hoped to carry into the UCLA game was stripped away by the stunning, 20-17 loss to Washington Saturday in Seattle.

On the verge of putting the Huskies away with a 17-13 lead and a first down on the Washington one-yard line, USC suddenly self destructed. Tailback Ryan Knight lost a fumble and Washington, parlaying fourth down passes, drove 98 yards for the winning touchdown in the closing minutes.

Now the question is whether USC’s morale will be so damaged in the aftermath of that defeat that it won’t be able to summon sufficient emotion for UCLA despite the significance of the rivalry.

“Morale is obviously affected when you lose,” USC Coach Ted Tollner said Sunday. “Different losses have a different affect on you. If you’re a 4-5 team, morale is more difficult than if you were 7-2. So that becomes a concern. People aren’t saying a lot of good things about us.

“But I think we have a solid group that won’t stop fighting. I think we’ll play a very hard and tough game against UCLA. It will take that to be in the game with them. I think we will meet the challenge of playing UCLA, which is best team in our league.”

Tollner is also being challenged. His team was generally favored to repeat as the Pac-10 champion but has floundered.

He is constantly reminded by the media that he has yet to beat traditional rivals UCLA and Notre Dame since he became USC’s coach in 1983. And, if he loses to the Bruins Saturday, he’ll become the first USC coach ever to lose to both UCLA and Notre Dame three straight years.

But USC has a glimmer of hope. The Trojans found their quarterback of the future in redshirt freshman Rodney Peete, who performed commendably in his first start against Washington.

Peete, 19, provides USC with another dimension at the position with his ability to keep plays alive with his quick feet and turn a broken play into something positive.

“The young man was exceptionally poised for his first full game,” Tollner said.

Tollner was asked why Peete was not given a chance to start earlier when the offense was struggling with veteran quarterback Sean Salisbury?:

“I feel comfortable with the decisions we made on the quarterback position,” he said. “We went with Sean for the right reasons and we had the right reasons for going with Rodney.”

But it will take more than the emergence of Peete to beat the Bruins, who are playing with confidence and haven’t had a let down since the second half of the Washington game last September.

“I would say they’re the best team we’ve met,” Tollner said. “They have an outstanding defense against the run, (UCLA is No. 1 nationally, allowing only 60.1 yards a game), they have the best field goal kicker (John Lee) in the country, they’re leading the conference in rushing, but they have the ability to throw, so they have a balanced offense.”

It’s the best of times for the Bruins. The Trojans still have the basketball season.

Trojan-Bruin Notes Ted Tollner said that tailback Ryan Knight will most likely start against the Bruins, adding that senior Fred Crutcher will get his share of playing time. Crutcher didn’t play against Washington. “Fred has been playing semi-banged up half of the season,” Tollner said. “I was planning on playing him last Saturday but we were gathering some momentum with Ryan in the lineup.” . . . UCLA has most likely lost reserve cornerback Darryl Henley for the USC game with a bruised kidney. Henley backs up Dennis Price, who is questionable with a shoulder injury. So is defensive tackle Frank Batchkoff with a sprained knee. . . . Tollner said that cornerback Matt Johnson has recovered from a mild concussion that he suffered late in the Washington game. Johnson was still woozy when he failed to get into the proper coverage quickly enough on quarterback Chris Chandler’s 13-yard game-winning pass to split end Lonzell Hill with 56 seconds remaining. . . . Knight’s 44 carries against Washington were the most rushing attempts since Marcus Allen had 46 against California in 1981.