Trojans Go for Juggler, Beat UCLA, 17-13 : Affholter Is in Bounds; USC Is in Rose Bowl

It was a frantic scene outside the USC dressing room Saturday as Coach Larry Smith anxiously searched for his wife, Cheryl, while blinded by television lights.

He was clutching a bunch of roses--which seemed improbable considering that UCLA was an 8 1/2-point favorite to beat USC in their Rose Bowl showdown game.

But the Trojans, who were self-destructing in the first half, came roaring back in the second half to win on Erik Affholter’s juggling catch of a 33-yard touchdown pass, 17-13, before a sellout crowd of 92,516 at the Coliseum and a national television audience.

USC trailed UCLA, 10-0, at halftime and 13-0 early in the third quarter before surging to victory.

So USC will be rematched with Michigan State, the Big Ten champion, in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s day. The Spartans beat the Trojans, 27-13, in the season opener for both teams Sept. 7 at East Lansing, Mich.

The Trojans, 8-3 overall and 7-1 in the Pacific 10, would have gone to the Sun Bowl on Christmas Day if they had lost, but El Paso wasn’t in their holiday plans.

UCLA, 9-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference, will have to settle for a date with Florida in the Aloha Bowl Dec. 25.

USC goes to the Rose Bowl because it beat UCLA in head-to-head competition.

USC won without the services of tailback Steven Webster for three quarters. He went down with a knee injury on the last play of the first quarter.

It was announced that he’ll undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee today and most likely won’t be able to play in the Rose Bowl game.

So USC lost the Pac-10’s leading rusher, averaging 119.4 yards a game, and still prevailed.

It was a strange game in which three USC touchdowns were nullified by penalties. UCLA also lost a touchdown because of an infraction.

USC finally pulled ahead of UCLA midway through the fourth quarter on quarterback Rodney Peete’s 33-yard touchdown pass to split end Affholter.

Affholter, who had beaten UCLA cornerback Marcus Turner, juggled the ball in the end zone, then held it, just barely keeping his feet in bounds.

Peete had one of his best games of his college career. He completed 23 of 35 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns. He also set three more school passing records and tied a fourth.

Smith said that Peete made the “hidden big play of the game,” and it wasn’t a pass.

After he threw his only interception late in the first half, a ball that was deflected and picked off by strong safety Eric Turner at the goal line, the quarterback became a sprinter.

He doggedly chased Turner and finally caught up with him and brought him down after an 89-yard chase that ended at the USC 11-yard line.

“I really thought I could catch him, but I didn’t know when,” Peete said. “I didn’t want it to be in the end zone, though. ‘Don’t let him score’ is all that went through my head.”

It was, indeed, a big play as UCLA would have had a 17-0 halftime lead if Turner had scored.

Affholter was as effective as Peete. He made tough, stretching catches all afternoon--9 of them for 151 yards.

As for his touchdown catch, the junior from Agoura said: “The pass wasn’t designed to come my way. I was supposed to clear out with the tight end getting the ball underneath. I just saw the ball at the last minute and pulled it down.”

Affholter added that that it was the first pass he had juggled all season. “I feel if I can touch a ball I should catch it,” he said.

Another star was free safety Mark Carrier, who intercepted two of UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman’s passes. On his first interception, which came in the fourth quarter, he cut back across the field and ran 72 yards to an apparent touchdown.

But USC was cited for an illegal block on the return, so Carrier was credited with only a 29-yard run back that preceded the winning touchdown drive.

Then, with time running out and UCLA desperately trying to score from its own 19-yard line with only 67 seconds left, Carrier dashed the Bruins’ hopes with his second interception. It was a bitter, disappointing defeat for UCLA.

“USC played a great game,” Coach Terry Donahue said. “They did the things they needed to win and they were the better team today. We came awfully close to being conference champs, but we lost the wrong game.”

The Bruins seemed out of synch most of the picture-perfect day.

Aikman hadn’t played a bad game this season, not even close to it. And he was the nation’s leader in passing efficiency. But he was off form Saturday, completing 11 of 26 passes for 171 yards while throwing 3 interceptions.

He had thrown only 3 in 10 previous games and two of those were on deflections.

“We came into the game wanting to pick off five of his passes, but we settled for three,” Carrier said, “but they were three big ones.”

Nonetheless, Aikman, the junior transfer from Oklahoma, said: “I still feel we are a better team than they are,” he said.

That wasn’t reflected in the statistics, though. USC had 404 yards in total offense to 316 for UCLA. The Trojans also controlled the ball 32 minutes and 25 seconds to 27:35 for the Bruins.

It was a turnaround from the mauling the Trojans took from the Bruins last year, when they were thrashed, 45-25, while trailing, 31-0, at halftime.

Historically, however, when the Rose Bowl is on the line for both teams, the Trojans usually frustrate the Bruins. It was the 19th time that the cross-town rivals were in this clutch situation and USC now has a 13-5-1 record against UCLA in those games.

Smith, in his first year as USC’s coach, kept his mystique in tact of winning games against traditional rivals. As Arizona’s coach, Smith beat Arizona State five straight years before accepting the USC job last January.

“I’ve been associated with a lot of football teams, but never one that had as much fight, drive and desire,” said Smith in the emotionally charged USC dressing room. “If you want to see a team that truly earned a championship this one did. I’m not a great coach, but they’re a great team.”

As for the rematch with Michigan State, Smith said: “After that opening game of the year, we made a commitment to play that team again and I want to tell you that we’ll be ready.”

It didn’t appear the Trojans were ready in the early stages of Saturday’s game.

The Bruins broke on top midway through the first quarter on a 72-yard touchdown drive.

Tailback Gaston Green went the final six yards on a spectacular run. He was cut off to his right, so he circled back to the 15, avoided a diving tackle by USC cornerback Dwayne Garner and scored in the corner of the end zone.

Green had bedeviled USC last year when he scored 4 touchdowns and rushed for 224 yards, a Trojan opponent record.

He was on the verge of breaking several long runs Saturday, but settled for just a competent performance with 138 yards in 38 carries, but no run longer than 20 yards.

USC tried to close the gap early in the second quarter, but was thwarted by penalties.

Peete’s 21-yard pass to flanker John Jackson that went to the UCLA 18-yard line was for naught because of a holding penalty.

Then, on the same drive, Peete threw an apparent 34-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ken Henry that was nullified due to a delay-of-game penalty.

The Bruins increased their lead to 10-0 on Alfredo Velasco’s 32-yard field one play after a holding penalty wiped out a 15-yard touchdown pass from Aikman to split end Mike Farr. The Trojans then drove to the UCLA one-yard line and called time out before a fourth-down play. There was some confusion and the Trojans called time out. Reserve fullback Ryan Knight ended up taking a handoff from Peete, hit the line and fumbled. He crossed the goal line, but didn’t have the ball, the Bruins recovering at the two-yard line.

Smith admitted there was some confusion, saying that Peete was originally going to carry the ball on a keeper, but the play was changed.

In any event, USC lost another scoring opportunity.

Then, on USC’s next possession, Peete ran down Turner as the half ended.

Early in the third quarter, UCLA got excellent field position when USC punter Chris Sperle’s kick traveled only 18 yards, the Bruins taking over at the USC 27-yard line.

Velasco then improved UCLA’s lead to 13-0 on 38-yard field goal.

The Trojans finally got on the board on their next series when Quin Rodriguez kicked a 26-yard field goal.

With Webster out, freshmen tailbacks Scott Lockwood and Ricky Ervins were alternating and they did a creditable job.

It was Ervins, though, who fumbled at the UCLA 23-yard line late in the third quarter only to have Peete pick up the ball and throw a scoring pass to flanker Randy Tanner. No sale. USC was penalized for having an illegal receiver down field.

However, USC scored legally on the same drive early in the fourth quarter when Tanner went into motion, circled into the middle of the end zone and caught Peete’s six-yard pass. That made it 13-10.

After Affholter’s clutch touchdown reception, there were almost eight minutes remaining, plenty of time for the Bruins to go ahead again.

But UCLA had to punt on its next series and, after USC drove to its own 48-yard line, Sperle got off what was, perhaps, his best punt of the season. It was a 47-yard kick with hang time that pinned UCLA down on its five-yard line.

A few plays later Carrier put the lights out for the Bruins with his second interception.

So it’s roses for USC and leis for UCLA.

Trojan Notes

USC quarterback Rodney Peete set school records for most completions (175) and passing yards (2,460) in a season. He also set a record for most total offense yards in a season with 2,551. And he tied the record for touchdown passes in a season with 19, a mark he now shares with Rob Hertel (1977) and Paul McDonald (1979). . . . By throwing for 304 yards Saturday, Peete went over the 300-yard mark for the first time in his career. . . . USC also beat UCLA, 17-13, in 1985 at the Coliseum. UCLA Coach Terry Donahue’s record against USC is now 5-7.