Trojans Watch Season Fizzle in Second Half : USC: Reserve quarterback leads Arizona to four touchdowns and a 35-26 victory.

Hold those holiday plans.

After squandering a 10-point halftime lead and losing Saturday to Arizona, 35-26, before 68,212 at the Coliseum, USC almost certainly won’t be making a fourth consecutive trip to the Rose Bowl and definitely won’t be playing for the national championship on New Year’s Day.

The Trojans’ season took the unexpected turn because in the second half they were unable to contain either quarterback Ronald Veal or cornerback Darryl Lewis.

Also, because they were the victims of a trick play.

Offensive guard Rick Warren, a walk-on transfer from Pittsburg State College in Kansas, ran 28 yards on a fumblerooski in the fourth quarter, setting up what proved to be the winning touchdown.

Most of the damage, however, was done by Veal and Lewis.

Veal, who watched in the first half as the Wildcats’ offense mostly sputtered behind starter George Malauulu, came on to direct four second-half touchdown drives, scoring three himself.

Lewis, a senior and converted running back from Nogales High in La Puente, set up two of the touchdowns with punt returns and twice intercepted passes thrown by the Trojans’ Todd Marinovich.

It was enough to put any Trojan in a foul mood, which was exactly the demeanor of linebacker Scott Ross. Ross was seen upbraiding his teammates as Veal, given advantageous field position time and again by the Wildcats’ special teams, took advantage of the Trojans.

“When you’re getting your (tail) whupped,” Ross said afterward, his right hand, broken in the second quarter, in a cast, “you don’t get a pat on the butt, you get a kick in the . . .

“So, I was getting a little (teed) off. There were some things going wrong and it looked like some people didn’t want to play. I mean, last week, (this) was a totally different team. These guys aren’t always there, like (my teammates) were last year.”

Ross said that he sensed last week in practice that the Trojans, playing a team that lost last week to Oregon State, were overconfident.

It couldn’t have helped that USC, in its first possession, ran right through the Wildcats, driving 84 yards in seven plays to open a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.

The Trojans’ lead was 17-7 at halftime after cornerback Calvin Holmes intercepted a pass by Malauulu that deflected off Arizona’s Mario Hampton and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown late in the half.

In the second half, however, the Trojans unraveled.

Their offense all but shut down from the opening minutes of the second quarter, when Quin Rodriguez kicked a 48-yard field goal to give USC a 10-0 lead, to the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, when the Trojans perked up after Arizona had struck for 21 consecutive points to take a 28-17 lead.

And Arizona, against a USC defense that ranked fifth in the nation against the run and had given up only 103 rushing yards in the last three games, ran for 252 yards, all but 81 after halftime.

“We just beat their (butt),” Veal said.

It happened quickly.

Starting its first possession of the second half at its one-yard line after a punt by Arizona’s Josh Miller had rolled dead within a few feet of the goal line, USC was unable to move and was forced to punt.

Lewis returned Ron Dale’s punt 42 yards to the Trojans’ seven-yard line and Reggie McGill scored on a five-yard run on second down, cutting the Wildcats’ deficit to 17-14.

Later in the quarter, after Rodriguez’s 50-yard field goal attempt was wide to the right, Arizona drove 67 yards to its go-ahead touchdown, aided by a late hit by Trojan safety Marcus Hopkins.

Veal scored on a 19-yard run to put Arizona ahead, 21-17, and cap a drive that lasted only 1 minute 48 seconds.

An even faster scoring drive early in the fourth quarter, this one taking only 1:39, was set up by Lewis, whose 14-yard punt return on the first play of the fourth quarter put the ball at USC’s 35-yard line.

On second down from the 31, center Paul Tofflemire left the ball on the ground for Warren, who had lined up at left guard. As Veal faked a handoff into the line and the Trojan defenders looked on bewilderingly, Warren picked up the ball and carried it 28 yards.

The fumblerooski took the ball to USC’s three-yard line. One play later, Veal scored on a one-yard run to make the score 28-17.

Meanwhile, Marinovich and the USC offense continued to struggle.

The Trojans made one first down in the third quarter and produced only 53 yards, 42 on a run by Scott Lockwood. Marinovich failed to complete any of his five pass attempts, one of which was intercepted by Lewis.

His third-down pass on the last play of the quarter also could have been intercepted, but cornerback Todd Burden dropped it.

Marinovich was booed as he walked off the field.

He missed on his first pass attempt of the fourth quarter, too, but then the Trojans started to move. They reached Arizona’s four-yard line with about 10 minutes left before two plays lost four yards.

After Marinovich threw incomplete into the end zone on third down, USC had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Rodriguez.

Arizona’s Michael Bates returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards. A late hit by the Wildcats brought the ball back to Arizona’s 35-yard line, but it did nothing to deter Veal, who capped a drive with a three-yard run to put Arizona in command, 35-20. USC scored on a 21-yard pass from Marinovich to Gary Wellman with 3:44 left, but nothing good happened after that.

Soon after, USC was 5-2 overall, 2-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference and, for the first time in four years, out of the Rose Bowl race.

Trojan Notes

USC wide receiver Gary Wellman was to spend the night under observation at the USC Medical Center after suffering a concussion on a scoring play with 3:44 to play. After Wellman caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Todd Marinovich, defender Richard Holt landed on Wellman beyond the end zone. Wellman, whose helmet had been knocked off two plays earlier, stayed down for several minutes. He eventually was helped off the field.