Defense Overshadows One of the Best : USC: Trojans give up only 285 yards to Arizona, which had established itself against Miami and Washington.

In his sleep, when he is curled up in bed, far away from cardinal and gold and Traveler and USC alumni whistling “Conquest,” Trojan Coach Larry Smith sometimes dreams about the perfect football score.

It is always the same.

“We win by one point,” Smith said. “I don’t care if it’s 7-6 or 42-41, I don’t care if it’s high or low.”

In that case, USC’s 14-7 victory over Arizona Saturday was a downright runaway. If you like defense as much as Smith and Dick Tomey, his Arizona counterpart, then this was definitely the perfect day to show up at the Coliseum.

Actually, except for a flurry of activity during the fourth quarter, it was a game dominated by the team that didn’t have the ball. It probably should be noted that not everybody shared the same close kinship with defense that Smith and Tomey do.

In fact, in the eyes of many, the last time there was so much excitement at a Coliseum event, it was a monster truck pull. What transpired for the most part Saturday was the football equivalent of a pitcher’s duel.

Said USC linebacker Willie McGinest: “We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game, if any.”

If any, to be sure. But football is often an odd game. So it was that here in the midst of all the quarterback pressures, sacks and yards lost rushing, something that looked like an offensive game broke out at last.

For Arizona, the defense that gave up only eight points to Miami and three to UCLA and Washington, it was like suddenly finding there was a traitor in the family. It was bad enough that USC’s second-quarter touchdown had come as the result of a scoring drive that featured such big plays as a 19-yard pass from Rob Johnson to Johnnie Morton and a 29-yarder from Johnson to Curtis Conway.

After all, to Arizona’s way of thinking, two big plays were two too many, leading to the only touchdown the Wildcats gave up during the first half all season. Then, after Arizona took a 7-6 lead, the same thing happened again to the Wildcats during the fourth quarter, except that this time, it cost them the game.

Johnson’s 65-yard pass play to Morton set up the touchdown that not only won the game for the Trojans, but also ended the hopes of Arizona to play in the Rose Bowl. The Wildcats are the only Pac-10 team never to have appeared in the Rose Bowl.

However, Arizona linebacker Jamal Lee was optimistic.

“Unless I’m mistaken, this isn’t our last season, is it?” Lee said. “Arizona will be around next season, too.”

Since Lee is a senior, he won’t be. But maybe if Lee had been around Morton a little tighter on that 65-yard play, it could have been a different story. Instead, Lee got caught shadowing Morton one-on-one because free safety Tony Bouie failed to help on the deep coverage.

“I just got beat,” Lee said. “They caught us slipping.”

The numbers weren’t really that bad. USC gained 291 total yards, only 36 more than Arizona’s defensive average, but the telling yards came as the result of big plays.

The irony that a defensive team would lose because of defensive breakdowns seemed to be lost on Wildcat nose guard Rob Waldrop.

“They just hit their big plays,” Waldrop said. “It’s pretty hard to take, to play like we have been playing and then blow it like that.”

Tomey said Bouie’s blown coverage wasn’t the play that made the difference. Tomey also said that the trick play touchdown pass from Deon Strother to Johnson wasn’t the play that made the difference.

Tomey was in a distinct minority, even in his locker room. Said Lee: “People have been trying to pull big plays on us all year and this time they were successful--and it beat us.”

At the same time, McGinest said it was about time to recognize the USC defense, which gave up only 285 yards. Arizona’s offense, directed by ambidextrous quarterback George Malauulu, sometimes didn’t seem to know what the other hand was doing.

“We stuffed them,” McGinest said.

It was a position no one needed to defend any further.