The Day Chandler Tossed USC for a Loss : It Isn’t Easy for the Trojans to Forget What Huskies Quarterback Did to Them in 1985

Some football coaches don’t distinguish among losses. They’re all bad, they rationalize. Even so, there are defeats that are more painful than others because they were improbable and morale shattering.

Washington will play USC Saturday at the Coliseum, reviving a painful memory for Coach Ted Tollner and his team.

The Trojans had apparently beaten the Huskies last November in Seattle. USC led, 17-13, and had a first down at the Washington one-yard line with 4 minutes 15 seconds left.

The anticipated touchdown would just make the final score more decisive.

Even when tailback Ryan Knight fumbled to Washington, there was no apparent reason for the Trojans to be alarmed. The Huskies still had to drive 98 yards with time running out, and their offense hadn’t been prolific.

Washington Coach Don James wasn’t optimistic. He believed at the time that Knight’s fumble just kept the score from being larger.

No one figured that sophomore quarterback Chris Chandler, playing as a starter for the first time, would take his team to a touchdown in the waning minutes. But he did. The 20-17 loss was so devastating, USC safety Tim McDonald said, that he didn’t sleep for the next week. Tollner said it was the toughest loss he had experienced since becoming USC’s coach.

“We were coming off a loss to Cal, and we felt we played well enough to win against Washington,” Tollner said. “It was one of those things--what else can go wrong? Circumstances and the way the game ended . . . well, when we looked at that film last night it still hurt.”

Tollner said he has some idea how Baylor feels after losing to the USC last Saturday, 17-14, despite thoroughly outplaying the Trojans for 3 1/2 quarters.

So it’s another season, and the Huskies will be here with obviously a far better team than the one that had a 7-5 record in 1985.

“Washington is playing as well as anyone in the country right now,” Tollner said.

That’s not necessarily hyperbole considering that sixth-ranked Washington has routed Ohio State, 40-7, and BYU, 52-21, while outscoring those opponents, 51-0, in the second quarter. Moreover, they’re saying in Seattle that Chandler, a 6-foot 4-inch, 205-pound junior, is most likely the best quarterback Washington has had during James’ tenure.

And James has had some pretty fair quarterbacks. Warren Moon, Tom Flick, Steve Pelluer and Hugh Millen are all with National Football League teams now.

Chandler, a big, mobile quarterback, has All-American statistics so far. He has completed 62.7% of his passes for 406 yards and 6 touchdowns. His four scoring passes in the second quarter against BYU tied an National Collegiate Athletic Assn. single-quarter record set by John Elway at Stanford.

Chandler gives full credit to his young but huge offensive line, split end Lonzell (Mo) Hill and 241-pound fullback Rick Fenney.

Hill, in particular, has been spectacular in the first two games. He has caught 7 passes for a 20.9-yard average and 4 touchdowns. It was Hill who caught the game-winning pass against USC last year with only 56 seconds left.

Chandler recalls in detail every memorable moment of the 98-yard drive that devastated USC and firmly established him as Washington’s No. 1 quarterback.

Let’s go down the field with him:

Fourth and two at the Washington 10-yard line. Chandler throws to Hill for 15 yards. “We couldn’t punt and have a chance of winning, so we had to go for it. Mo found an opening in the middle of the USC zone defense, and I just threw it to him. It was just a simple curl route.”

Fourth and eight at the Washington 27. Chandler to Hill for 17 yards. “Mo ran a corner route, and knowing that their safeties were going to react real quick, I had to throw it early. I just threw it as hard as I could and it got between a couple of guys. Another inch and it would have been batted away.”

First and 10 at the Washington 44. Chandler to Dave Trimble for 21 yards. “It was a sprint-out and I rolled to my left. Trimble ran a good route and shook off the cornerback.”

First down at the USC 35. Chandler to Hill for 11 yards. “It was the same route, a curl, as the first first-down play. I remember that they blitzed McDonald from the outside and, although we didn’t totally block him, we slowed him down enough so I could get the ball off.”

First down at the USC 24. Chandler’s pass intended apparently for Trimble is incomplete. “I just wanted to throw the ball out of bounds to stop the clock.”

Second down at the USC 24. Chandler to Rod Jones for nine yards. “I looked off to my right and came back and he found a seam between their linebackers.”

Third and one at the USC 15. Chandler sneaks two yards for a first down at the 13 , then throws to Hill in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown. “They brought in a lot of defensive linemen for their short yardage defense on my sneak. I got up and called a play at the line of scrimmage as quickly as I could so they wouldn’t have time to bring in their nickel (five defensive backs) package.

“Hill ran a great route and eliminated one of their cornerbacks. USC’s No. 8 (Matt Johnson) was in underneath coverage, and all I had to do was throw it over the top of him.”

Looking back, Chandler downplays his part in the drive. “The linemen blocked real well and the receivers caught the ball,” he said. “All I had to do was drop back and throw.”

Until he started against USC, Chandler didn’t get much playing time in 1985 or 1984 after redshirting in 1983.

It was while he was redshirting and relatively idle that he had second thoughts about choosing Washington over Stanford.

“I thought, ‘What would it have been like if I had gone to Stanford?’ ” Chandler said. “The thought crossed my mind, ‘Why didn’t I go to Stanford?’ But I never thought seriously about transferring.”

Chandler said the determining factor in choosing Washington over pass-minded Stanford was that the Huskies go to bowl games more often than the Cardinal.

Washington has made seven straight bowl appearances and eight in the last nine years under James. With Chandler firmly in control of the offense, that streak will probably continue.

Trojan Notes Chris Chandler says that to intensify his concentration in practice he has to picture that each play is fourth and eight against USC. . . . Ted Tollner said that fullback Todd Steele, who sprained his left knee against Baylor, is questionable for Washington. Outside linebacker Michael Williams most likely won’t play because of a knee injury. . . . Tollner said that Rodney Peete has a minor hamstring injury and his practice time will be limited, but he expects that the quarterback will be ready for the Huskies. . . . Kevin Gogan, Washington’s 290-pound offensive right tackle, is sidelined with a sprained knee. The other tackle, Rick McLeod, sprained an ankle against BYU and is doubtful for USC. . . . Still, Washington has imposing size in an offensive line that averages 283 pounds, even without Gogan.

Dennis Brown, a 6-foot 4-inch, 296-pound defensive tackle from Long Beach Jordan, is a future star, according to Washington Coach Don James. “He would have started against Ohio State if he hadn’t sprained his ankle and he got in for about 20 to 30 minutes against BYU,” James said. “He’s a real load at 296 pounds and has good lateral movement. He could eventually be one of the top linemen in the country.” . . . This is the first time that USC and Washington have played as early as September. It’s traditionally a November game. Asked about meeting Washington so early in the season, Tollner said: “There are so many contenders in the Pac-10 that it probably doesn’t matter. Washington is apparently the best team now, and we catch them on a roll.”

Peete has completed only 40.8% of his passes in two games. But Tollner said that the sophomore quarterback is a better passer than he has shown and is confident of his ability. . . . First-down frustration: USC had 19 first-down plays against Baylor, passed on 11 of them and completed only 3 of those, all in the fourth quarter. Eight running plays netted only 18 yards.