USC Jolts Washington in an Oh, Henry Story : Receiver’s 2 Touchdowns Lead Surge in Second Half, 20-10

USC Coach Ted Tollner knew that Washington was an awesome first-half football team. The Huskies had scored a combined 51 points in the second quarter in lopsided wins over Ohio State and Brigham Young.

But Tollner wasn’t sure the Huskies were a second-half team, because they hadn’t had to be.

So his game plan was to stay close to Washington in the first half and then beat the Huskies in the second.

Saturday, that plan worked to perfection.

The Trojans, getting a third-quarter lift on a surprise 67-yard touchdown pass play from flanker Randy Tanner to split end Ken Henry, upset the Huskies, 20-10, at the Coliseum before a crowd of 58,023.

It was the Pacific 10 opener for both schools and most likely established USC as a legitimate Rose Bowl contender at this early juncture of the season.

It was also USC’s second straight victory over a top 10 team. Baylor was rated ninth nationally before losing to USC, 17-14, the previous week, and Washington was ranked sixth coming into Saturday’s game.

So the 12th-ranked Trojans probably will move up in the polls this week. But the most important consideration is that USC is 3-0 with a win over one of the contenders for the conference championship.

Washington led at halftime, 7-3, and increased its lead to 10-3 in the third quarter, but the Trojans had them in their sights.

Tanner’s pass to Henry pulled USC even at 10-10 at 9:25 of the third quarter, and quarterback Rodney Peete threw a 13-yard scoring pass to Henry at 2:22 of the fourth quarter. Don Shafer finished the scoring with a 25-yard field goal with just over five minutes to play.

“We were hoping to stay in the game in the first half because we had played in a fourth-quarter game and they hadn’t,” Tollner said. “We believed we could win if we stayed in the game. We had to find a way to keep them from making a big play because we knew we’d wear them down late in the game. And it unfolded just that way.”

Tollner said he wanted the game to turn into a figurative “fistfight” and that USC won it in the trenches.

The victory was the most significant for Tollner since 1984, when USC beat then unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Washington, 16-7, here in a game that determined the Rose Bowl bid.

This was only a September game, but it enhanced USC’s credentials from a national and conference standpoint.

Peete, who had completed only 40.8% of his passes in wins over Illinois and Baylor, was more accurate against Washington. Buying time by rolling out, he completed 15 of 24 for 181 yards and 1 touchdown while throwing only 1 interception.

“Rodney played the way he’s capable of playing,” Tollner said. “I’ve told you that he is a better passer than he has shown.”

Except for Washington’s 80-yard touchdown drive on its first series, USC’s defense frustrated a team that had rolled over Ohio State and BYU by respective scores of 40-7 and 52-21.

Marcus Cotton, USC’s quick outside linebacker, was at his big-play best again. He was in on 10 tackles, one a 10-yard sack of Husky quarterback Chris Chandler, and he deflected four passes.

Cotton limped off the field with a bruised left knee late in the game but not before he had pressured Chandler into an interception. It was the Huskies’ last gasp from the USC 48-yard line.

“In the first half, we were swarming to the football but we weren’t hitting hard,” Cotton said. “So our objective in the second half was to come out and punish them.”

Cotton had plenty of help from linebacker Sam Anno, strong safety Tim McDonald and other Trojan defenders.

USC defensive coordinator Artie Gigantino said USC’s plan was to to take away any big pass plays by Chandler. He had thrown six touchdown passes in the first two games.

“You can’t take everything away, so (fullback) Rick Fenney made some yardage (89 yards in 18 carries),” Gigantino said. “Our cornerbacks, Greg Coauette and Lou Brock, did a great job of disrupting the release of their wide receivers.”

USC has apparently become a big-play offensive team. It was evident in the first two games and again Saturday.

Tanner had thrown a 30-yard scoring pass to Henry against Illinois two weeks earlier, and it didn’t seem likely that the flanker would get away with another gimmick play against a team as sound as Washington.

But USC added a wrinkle to the Tanner pass in practice last week. Instead of taking a reverse from tailback Ryan Knight as he did against Illinois, Tanner caught a cross-field lateral from Peete. He then lofted a pass to Henry, who was running alone at the Washington 24-yard line. The split end scored easily, far outdistancing the pursuing defensive backs.

“The pass gave our team a tremendous lift,” Tollner said. “We knew that Washington wasn’t vulnerable to the reverse pass, so we worked on this play in practice as a one-play shot.”

Tollner said the play from the USC 33-yard line was set up by a previous quick screen pass from Peete to Tanner. Henry was a blocker on that play.

But after the lateral from Peete to Tanner on the big play, Henry faked a block on a Husky safety and headed downfield. “He thought I was going to block him, but I didn’t,” Henry said.

With five touchdown catches in three games, Henry has the most Trojan scoring receptions in a season since Timmie Ware caught five touchdown passes during the entire 1983 season.

Henry’s opportunity to team with Tanner was provided by Cotton, who sacked Chandler for a 10-yard loss on third-and-seven at the USC 23. Jeff Jaeger then missed a 51-yard field goal attempt, and the Trojans had possession.

Early in the fourth quarter, Henry burned the Washington secondary again. He got behind cornerback Demouy Williams in the corner of the end zone and caught Peete’s 13-yard scoring pass.

“It was a post pattern, and he (Williams) grabbed my jersey, but I got away from him,” Henry said. “Rodney threw a perfect pass.”

Peete was wearing a cut-off T shirt with the lettering “Make it Happen” in the dressing room. It’s a gift from his mother, and he wears it every game.

“I wasn’t really concerned about my passing percentage coming into the game,” Peete said. “I only knew that we were 2-0 and now 3-0. If I only completed 10% of my passes and we were undefeated, I would be happy.”

Peete said he was pressing a bit in the first half and missed some receivers.

“But we were also more productive today on first-down plays than we were against Baylor,” he said. “That made things work on second and third downs. Baylor was in my face most of the game, but Washington didn’t blitz, just staying in its basic defense.”

Peete continually came up with some big plays on third-and-long, such as his 13-yard touchdown pass to Henry on third-and-10. For the game, USC converted on 9 of 18 third-down plays, to only 3 of 13 for Washington.

The Huskies were averaging more than 400 yards in total offense before Saturday’s game. But they could manage only 287 yards against USC. The Trojans had 367 yards in total offense, with 248 coming by passing.

It was the USC players’ contention in the dressing room that they wore down the Huskies.

“I could see it in their eyes that we intimidated them in the second half,” All-American guard Jeff Bregel said.

Perhaps Washington scored too easily at the outset of the game and might have had visions of another rout. Chandler deftly mixed the running of the 241-pound Fenney and some quick passes to provide the Huskies with a 7-0 lead with 4:25 left in the first quarter.

“After we scored the first touchdown, it was so easy that we kind of relaxed and felt things would go like that all day,” Fenney said. “They obviously worked harder than we did. We knew it was going to be tough down here, but we didn’t know it was going to be this tough.”

Washington was penned into its own territory most of the second quarter as the result of a towering Chris Sperle punt that was downed on the Husky one-yard line.

USC had some opportunities for touchdowns in the second quarter, but Washington defensive tackle Reggie Rogers, whose older brother, Don, died a tragic drug-related death this summer, spoiled each advance. The 268-pound Rogers trapped tailback Aaron Emanuel for a five-yard loss when USC had a first-and-goal at the Husky seven-yard line. So USC settled for Shafer’s 24-yard field goal.

Later in the quarter, Rogers tipped Peete’s pass away on third down from the Washington 19-yard line. Shafer then missed a 36-yard field goal try.

But Tollner was comfortable with a four-point halftime deficit because he believed the second half would belong to the Trojans.

“We are still not where we feel we can be, but when something is on the line, we make it happen,” Tollner said.