COLLEGE FOOTBALL : DAILY REPORT : USC : Trojan Band Leader Is a Halftime Hit

One of the most impressive hits Saturday at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium was made during halftime by USC’s 52-year-old band director, Arthur Bartner.

After a fan ran out of the stands and blindsided Bijon Watson, the Trojans’ 6-foot-6, 330-pound drum major, Barter took the man down with a flying tackle.

If the USC defense had been able to track San Diego State’s Marshall Faulk as well as Bartner corralled one of two halftime interlopers, the Trojans might have won instead of hanging on for a 31-31 tie.

“Defensively, in the third quarter, we were miserable,” Coach Larry Smith said Tuesday, referring to a 15-minute period in which San Diego State turned a 21-7 halftime deficit into a 31-28 lead. “We didn’t run, we didn’t hit, we stood around.”

USC avoided losing its opening game only when San Diego State’s senior kicker, Andy Trakas, missed field-goal attempts of 30 and 55 yards in the last 54 seconds.

Still, Smith said he left San Diego with the feeling that USC is “much better,” particularly offensively, than it was last season, when the Trojans were 3-8.

“A lot of good things happened in that game,” Smith said. He was alluding to the passing and catching of Rob Johnson and a talented group of receivers, the running of Estrus Crayton and Dwight McFadden, the kicking of Cole Ford, the punting of John Stonehouse and the play of the Trojan defense during the first half.

But, he added, “You can’t play two quarters, take a quarter off and then come back and play because against the people we play against, in a quarter you can get buried. And that’s what happened. We let them back in the ballgame.”

The offense was at fault, too, failing to generate a first down during its first four possessions of the second half and losing a fumble to set up an Aztec touchdown.