BRAGGING RITE : UCLA vs. USC / SATURDAY, AT ROSE BOWL : USC’s Controversial Catches Corner UCLA Agony Market

Eric Turner reasons that USC owes UCLA 14 points. Bruin fans would say that’s merely a down payment for all the points supposedly stolen by the Trojans over the years.

Turner, UCLA’s free safety, was referring to controversial touchdowns scored by the Trojans in the 1987 and ’89 games at the Coliseum.

Of course, there have been more controversial plays in the series that began in 1929.

The recent plays in question were scoring catches by Erik Affholter and Gary Wellman. They were similar inasmuch as they occurred in the right corner of the end zone at the peristyle end of the Coliseum.

Affholter’s catch in 1987 was more meaningful because it provided the Trojans with a 17-13 upset victory and a berth in the Rose Bowl.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Rodney Peete threw a 33-yard pass that Affholter juggled in the end zone. It was ruled that he had possession long enough, depriving the Bruins of an opportunity to play in the Rose Bowl.

“I just saw the ball at the last minute and pulled it down,” Affholter said, pulling the Bruins down with him.

The circumstances weren’t as dramatic last year. USC had already clinched the Rose Bowl bid, and UCLA (3-7) was struggling.

In the first quarter, Todd Marinovich threw a 13-yard pass to Wellman, who made the catch while barely staying in bounds in the end zone. Or was he?

Turner and other Bruins contend that although Wellman made a great catch, he was out of bounds. The Times ran a photo later that seemed to show Wellman made a legal catch.

The Bruins never bought it.

“It was a good catch, but not a touchdown,” Turner said.

The game ended in a 10-10 tie when a 54-yard field-goal try by UCLA’s Alfredo Velasco hit the crossbar and bounced back.

The Coliseum corners have been cruel to the Bruins.

In 1969, in the gathering gloom of late afternoon, USC’s Sam Dickerson caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jimmy Jones with 1 1/2 minutes left.

Dickerson caught the ball in the right corner of the end zone at the closed end of the Coliseum to give USC a 14-12 victory with the Rose Bowl on the line for both teams.

However, the Trojans wouldn’t have been in position to score the winning touchdown if not for a fourth-down pass interference penalty, called against Danny Graham (covering Dickerson), that gave USC a first down at the UCLA 32-yard line. Jones’ pass was overthrown, but Graham didn’t know it at the time.

“I thought I had made a good play, but I had slipped and didn’t see Jones throw the ball,” Graham said. “I didn’t know if the pass was thrown badly or not.

“I hoped to get my hands on Dickerson as he got his hands on the ball. But when I looked up, an official had thrown his flag.”

That the ball was uncatchable was not a consideration for an official at the time.

Another pass interference penalty against UCLA in 1977 caused Coach Terry Donahue such anguish that he smashed his hand against a locker after the game.

USC already had been eliminated from the Rose Bowl race, but UCLA was due to be invited if it beat the Trojans.

It seemed the Bruins were on the verge of that, leading, 27-26, in the final minutes.

The Trojans were trying to get into field-goal range, but time was running out.

On third and 10 from midfield, USC quarterback Rob Hertel threw a pass intended for Kevin Williams. It was incomplete, but UCLA defensive back Johnny Lynn was cited for pass interference, giving USC a first down at the Bruin 40-yard line.

Hertel threw a 17-yard pass to Randy Simmrin to get into field-goal range. Frank Jordan kicked a 38-yard field goal with two seconds remaining to knock the Bruins out of the Rose Bowl and put Washington in.

Although fate has felled the Bruins several times in their rivalry with USC, they benefited from a pass interference penalty in the 1959 game.

USC was unbeaten at the time and ranked No. 2 nationally. It seemed that the game might end in a 3-3 tie when UCLA quarterback Bill Kilmer threw a pass that was intercepted by USC’s Willie Wood at the Trojan seven-yard line in the fourth quarter.

But USC’s Jerry Traynham was called for pass interference, giving UCLA the ball at the seven. Three plays later, UCLA’s Ray Smith scored, spoiling an unbeaten season for the Trojans and sending the Bruins to the Rose Bowl.

The Trojans claimed that the official who made the call was upfield and not in position to make such a decision.

Perhaps the most significant game of the series was played in 1952. Not only were the teams playing for a Rose Bowl berth, as they have so many times, they were both undefeated and untied.

That was a first in the series and hasn’t been matched since.

USC won, 14-12, when Trojan guard Elmer Willhoite intercepted a pass thrown by Paul Cameron and returned it 72 yards to the UCLA eight-yard line in the second half, setting up the winning touchdown.

In retrospect, an unlikely play was the difference.

In the second quarter, USC wingback Al Carmichael was apparently stopped on a reverse. However, as he was going down, he threw a lateral to tailback Jim Sears, who ran 75 yards for a touchdown.

Bruin fans contend to this day that Carmichael threw a forward, illegal lateral to Sears.

Some games may be difficult to recall now, but disputed plays have a life of their own.