USC Goes From Sayonara to Aloha With a 20-6 Win

As a cultural experience, USC’s players said they benefited from their stay in Japan even though their hotel accommodations were not first-class and there weren’t any sightseeing tours planned for them.

In turn, Japanese fans warmly greeted the Trojans after they beat Oregon, 20-6, in the ninth annual Mirage Bowl Saturday at Olympic Memorial Stadium.

USC players stayed on the field long after the game had ended, reaching up to shake hands with their foreign friends, who crowded a rail near the field.

As an exhibition of American college football, the game didn’t do much to make many converts, but the Japanese spectators didn’t seem to mind. After all, if the game was rather dull in the second half, the USC and Grambling bands were always going full-blast to keep the entertainment lively.

As for the game, it ceased to be a contest when Oregon quarterback Chris Miller was knocked out of it by USC inside linebacker Rex Moore in the third quarter.

Miller was on a scrambling sideline route for 14 yards and had apparently stepped out of bounds when Moore gave him a solid lick.

A flag was dropped indicating a personal foul, and Miller, the nimble all-Pacific 10 quarterback, was carried from the field on a stretcher.

His injury was later reported to be a possible chipped bone near the pelvis. With Miller gone, the Ducks were dead. Two inexperienced reserve quarterbacks, Johnny Coppedge and Adam Muniz, were constantly hounded by a blitzing USC defense.

USC wasn’t doing much offensively either as penalties, a fumble and dropped passes hampered its efficiency. But it didn’t matter.

The Trojans led, 17-3, when Miller went down, and after that, the teams merely traded field goals.

“I’m pleased with the win, but I was disappointed with our execution in the second half when it got sloppy,” USC Coach Ted Tollner said. “If our defense hadn’t played as dominating a game as it did (Oregon had only 189 yards in total offense), we would have been in for a long day.”

As it is, USC avoided the stigma of going into a Dec. 28 Aloha Bowl game against Alabama in Honolulu with a losing record. The Trojans, on a mild two-game winning streak, are now 6-5 overall, with a final 5-3 record in the conference. Oregon had to settle for a losing season at 5-6.

Oregon Coach Rich Brooks was tight-lipped after the game. It was obvious that he was furious about the play that deprived him of his star quarterback.

“It happened right in front of me,” he said. “Chris had just stepped out of bounds, and the USC player (Moore) didn’t take anything off his hit and smashed him into the ground.

“When we lost Chris, we pretty much lost any chance to win. The quarterbacks behind him are inexperienced.”

Moore, who has been inactive with a hamstring injury most of the season, is an aggressive player; he threw a clump of mud into the face of Notre Dame tailback Allen Pinkett in a 1984 game at the Coliseum. But he was contrite about the controversial play against Oregon.

“It was a late hit, and I feel bad about it,” Moore said. “I didn’t want to hurt anybody. It was just a mistake. I was going full speed and I couldn’t stop.”

Miller had a different version.

“Hell, yes, I was out of bounds,” he said. “I’m definitely bitter. The guy (Moore) apologized to me, but it’s still flagrant and it still makes me mad.”

Still another version was offered from USC inside linebacker Sam Anno, who was close to the play.

“Rex hit him before he went out of bounds,” Anno said, “and then I was cheap-shotted by Tony Cherry (Oregon’s tailback).”

Borderline or flagrant? Most of the estimated crowd of 65,000 didn’t seem to care. They were too intent on waving their USC- and Oregon-colored pompons and appreciating the rousing music.

A huge message board at the north end of the stadium kept the audience informed of every activity. For example:

--While the teams were going through their routine pregame drills, a message said: “Both teams practice warming up.”

--Then, at halftime, when the bands and song girls from each school were on center stage, the board helped out again with this message: “Halftime show.”

It wasn’t a day for quarterbacks, although USC’s Rodney Peete was named the most valuable player in the game. Sean Salisbury, a fifth-year senior who recently lost his No. 1 status to Peete, came in for one series in the first half, a series that probably will be the last of his star-crossed college career. He had previously missed part of one season and almost all of another because of knee operations.

Salisbury suffered a separated right shoulder while scrambling and attempting to complete a short pass to tight end Joe Cormier. Peete had left the game briefly with a minor leg injury. He returned, but Salisbury didn’t.

USC led, 17-3, at halftime, with Oregon contributing to the Trojan margin. Lew Barnes fumbled a punt to Martin French, positioning USC for its first touchdown.

The Trojans had to drive only 33 yards in the first quarter, with tailback Ryan Knight getting the touchdown on a one-yard run.

Oregon obliged USC again early in the second quarter when fullback Alex Mack fumbled as he was hit by outside linebacker Garrett Breeland, who also made the recovery.

The Trojans got the ball on the Ducks’ 29-yard line, and Don Shafer made it 10-3 with a 33-yard field goal.

Mack ruptured an Achilles’ tendon on the play, which Brooks contended was not a fumble.

“It was definitely a late call,” Brooks said. “The official marked the ball with his foot and then changed his mind and gave the ball to USC.”

USC did get a touchdown without any help just before halftime. On first down from the USC 46, Peete drilled a pass to flanker Al Washington, who eluded an Oregon defender and got to the 11, a 43-yard play.

Peete and split end Hank Norman teamed for the touchdown, a four-yard lob into the end zone just over the head of cornerback Ron Johnson.

But that’s when most of the football entertainment fizzled out--a second half of matching field goals by Oregon’s Matt MacLeod, who had kicked one in the first quarter, and by Shafer.

Peete, making his third start at quarterback, was efficient, completing 9 of 17 pases for 103 yards, and didn’t throw an interception.

“We wanted to wear them down with our running game, especially in the second half,” said the 19-year-old redshirt freshman.

Tollner used three tailbacks--Knight, Fred Crutcher and Aaron Emanuel, who was the most productive. Emanuel, a freshman who has been inactive for a month with a sprained ankle, broke tackles and quickly accelerated through some holes.

Emanuel gained 99 yards in 22 carries as USC rushed for a total of 227 yards, one of its better ground games of the season.

But the Trojans were also self-destructive on offense: Fullback Kennedy Pola lost a fumble at the Oregon 20-yard line early in the third quarter; USC squandered a touchdown opportunity at the Oregon 10 when it was cited for offensive pass interference in the fourth quarter, and Cormier dropped a fourth-down pass from Peete that would have provided the Trojans with a first down at the Ducks’ 34-yard line.

USC has made these types of errors all season, but on this clear, cold day in their Mirage Bowl experience, the Trojans found that the mistakes weren’t too costly.

As for a future Mirage Bowl appearance, the Trojans said once is enough. Sayonara.

“It was a great experience to come to Tokyo,” Peete said, “but I long for a hamburger at McDonald’s.”