USC Pounds Door but Can’t Open It : College football: Trojans turned back repeatedly by Washington, which holds on for 14-3 victory.

Time and again during its 14-3 loss to second-ranked Washington Saturday at the Coliseum, USC had its way against the nation’s No. 1 defense, driving at times, striking for big plays at others.

On their first possession, the Trojans moved methodically down the field, penetrating to the Huskies’ 14-yard line.

During the second quarter, quarterback Reggie Perry hooked up with Travis Hannah on a 39-yard pass and, later, the Trojans put together another long drive, this time to the nine-yard line.

During the third quarter, Perry completed a 46-yard pass to Curtis Conway, reserve tailback Estrus Crayton made a 40-yard run and, after replacing Perry, Rob Johnson led a drive that reached the Huskies’ one-yard line.

When the game ended, however, all USC had to show for its efforts was a 22-yard field goal by J.J. Dudum and a fourth consecutive loss, equaling its 1975 losing streak, longest since 1960, when the Trojans lost their first three games under Coach John McKay to extend to five games a losing streak that started the previous season under Coach Don Clark.

The Trojans are 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the Pacific 10 Conference, winless at the Coliseum in three conference games this season and assured of only their second losing season in 30 years.

With two games left--against Arizona this Saturday at Tucson and UCLA on Nov. 23 at the Coliseum--USC has a chance to lose as many as eight games in a season for the first time since 1957, when it was 1-9.

Washington improved to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the Pac-10, keeping alive its hopes of a national championship and leaving the Huskies one victory away from a second consecutive Rose Bowl bid.

A victory over winless Oregon State this Saturday at Corvallis, Ore., will clinch a return trip to Pasadena for Washington.

But if not for a few key plays, the Huskies might have lost:

--When USC’s first drive stalled, Coach Larry Smith called on Dudum, a walk-on junior college transfer who was filling in for freshman Cole Ford, sidelined because of a hip injury aggravated in practice last week. Dudum’s 33-yard field goal attempt was wide to the left.

--Washington tailback Beno Bryant, who rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns, then caught USC in a defensive switch, made a nice cutback and ran 55 yards to a touchdown midway through the first quarter.

“As we started to move, they ran the play and we got caught completely off-balance,” Trojan linebacker Matt Gee said.

--During the second quarter, fullback Matt Jones ran for a first down on a fake punt--even though USC was expecting the play--to lead to the Huskies’ second touchdown. Bryant scored again, this time on a seven-yard run.

“We were in the best defense we could be in for that,” Smith said of the fake punt. “We expected it. We were in a punt-safe (defense), where we don’t rush and we don’t try to return. We just play the fake.

“But they executed it.”

The Huskies hadn’t run the play all season.

Said Gee: “I think our defense got a little relaxed after we stopped them (on the previous play, a two-yard loss on a run by Jay Barry).”

--Later during the second quarter, only seven seconds before halftime, Smith elected not to risk another attempt by Dudum and instead ordered a pass by Perry from the Huskies’ nine-yard line.

“I was hoping that Curtis (Conway) was going to break a corner route,” Perry said. “I was trying to hit him in the corner, but right when I released it, I was hit. I don’t even know what happened after I threw it.”

It was intercepted in the end zone by Shane Pahukoa.

--During the third quarter, a third-and-goal pass by Johnson from the Huskies’ 10-yard line was caught by split end Johnnie Morton, whose knees were down in the end zone as he reached back across the goal line for the pass.

The officials ruled that the ball never crossed the plane of the goal line, spotting it less than a foot outside.

“I didn’t understand the call,” Morton said, “because when I got back to the sideline, I had yellow paint (from the end zone) on the back of my hands. Sometimes, they make calls that don’t go your way.”

--On the next play, before Johnson could hand off to tailback Deon Strother for a fourth-and-goal dive over the left side of the line, right tackle Michael Moody, a fifth-year senior, jumped off-side.

“I was overanxious,” Moody said. “Sometimes you overreact and go early because you’re so anxious to block.”

Said Smith: “We just jumped. Everybody was edgy, fired up.”

The five-yard penalty moved the ball to the six, and Smith brought on Dudum, whose 22-yard field goal ended the shutout.

USC stayed close to the Huskies statistically, getting 305 total yards against a defense that was yielding an average of 223.8 and giving up 356 yards to an offense that was averaging a conference-best 487.6.

But after Dudum’s field goal, the Trojans got only one more first down, courtesy of a pass-interference penalty, and zero net yards.

They were left to reflect on what might have been.

“Our team has nothing to hang its head about,” Smith said. “It wasn’t a victory . . . (but) if we’d played defense like that all year, there’s no question we’d be sitting here with six wins or so.”

Gee also praised the play of the Trojan defense, which gave up 601 total yards last week in a 52-30 loss to Cal.

“Defensively, we proved what we wanted to prove, especially after the disgrace at Cal,” Gee said.

But Moody summed it up best.

“You’ve got to feel a little good,” he said, “but you’ve got to feel a little disappointed, too. We could have won the game.

“They made the plays to win.”

And USC did not.

Trojan Notes

USC tailback Mazio Royster never left the bench. “I thought the other guys were doing pretty good,” Coach Larry Smith said of starter Deon Strother, who ran for 40 yards in 14 carries; and backup Estrus Crayton, who rushed for 38 yards in six carries. . . . Royster had four carries last week against Cal.

Washington, which leads the nation in turnover margin, lost a fumble and had two passes intercepted while forcing only one turnover. . . . Washington had been 0-4 at the Coliseum since 1980. . . . USC hasn’t lost five in a row in one season since 1957. . . . Since Oct. 6, 1990, USC is 0-4-1 at the Coliseum in Pac-10 games. . . . USC is 1-4 at the Coliseum this season, 1-6-1 since Oct. 6, 1990, and 3-6-1 since the start of the 1990 season.

* BENO BRYANT: For the second consecutive week, a former Southland recruit comes back to haunt the Trojans. C6