The Men Who Embody Rivalry : UCLA: For Donahue, memories of playing against the Trojans are more enjoyable than those of coaching against them.

Coach Terry Donahue, who has been associated with UCLA’s football program for nearly half of his life, has a 9-12-2 record against USC as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

“I think you enjoy the game much, much more as a player than you do as an assistant coach or a head coach,” Donahue said. “I think there’s much less pressure when you’re a player. The kids are playing college football to have fun and to enjoy it. When you’re coaching, you’re doing it for a living. There’s a vast difference.”

Donahue, who came to UCLA as a walk-on defensive tackle, was 2-0 against the Trojans when he played for the Bruins in 1965 and 1966.

After spending four seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas, Donahue returned to his alma mater as an assistant in 1970 and served three seasons under Pepper Rodgers and two under Dick Vermeil, during which the Bruins went 1-3-1 against the Trojans.

Since taking over in 1976, he is 6-9-1 against USC.

“It’s been an enriching and fortunate experience in a lot of ways,” Donahue said of the rivalry. “It’s also been a very painful, difficult one in many other ways.”

Donahue’s first game against the Trojans as a head coach was painful.

A Rose Bowl bid and a possible national title were at stake when No. 2 UCLA played No. 3 USC in 1976 at the Coliseum. The game matched rookie head coaches succeeding men who had gone on to the NFL: USC’s John Robinson had succeeded John McKay and Donahue had replaced Vermeil.

UCLA, which had upset then-No. 2 Arizona State in Donahue’s debut as a head coach, was 9-0-1 going into the showdown against the Trojans, who had won eight consecutive games after a season-opening defeat by Missouri.

A close game was anticipated, but USC took a 24-0 lead and won, 24-14, before 95,019 at the Coliseum.

“It was a very, very tough, disappointing loss because the stakes were so high,” Donahue said. “I don’t remember it being 24-0. That’s a shock to me. But I’ve been in so many battles, my mind is probably gone. In my mind, I thought it was a real good game.”

How did he handle the defeat?

“Probably, not well,” Donahue said. “As I reflect back, I don’t think you ever handle anything like that particularly well. You do the best you can. As a head football coach, you’re not any different psychologically and emotionally than any other human. You have the same capacity for thrill, excitement, satisfaction and pleasure, and you have the same capacity for disappointment and hurt.”

USC finished No. 2 in the polls behind Pittsburgh, defeating Notre Dame, 13-3, and then Michigan in the Rose Bowl, 14-6. UCLA finished No. 15 after a 36-16 defeat by Alabama in the Liberty Bowl.

The nation’s second-highest scoring team before the USC game, UCLA had averaged 37 points and 361 yards rushing. But the Trojans smothered the Bruins’ veer offense, holding them to 140 yards on the ground.

And the Bruins’ couldn’t contain USC tailback Ricky Bell, who rushed for 167 yards, even though he was playing on a sore ankle. USC rushed for 266 yards, as quarterback Vince Evans ran for 63 yards and a touchdown.

The Bruins also helped beat themselves, giving the Trojans two touchdowns with turnovers.

USC safety Dennis Thurman recovered halfback Theotis Brown’s airborne fumble and ran 47 yards for a touchdown during the second quarter, giving the Trojans a 7-0 halftime lead. Thurman was aided by a screen block by an official who got in the way.

Then, with USC leading, 10-0 during the fourth quarter, UCLA back Levi Armstrong was called for pass interference against wide receiver Randy Simmrin at the UCLA one-yard line. Although both players appeared to be going for the ball, Levy was penalized and Bell scored on the next play.

The officials needed three timeouts to quiet the Bruin fans.

So, trailing, 17-0, UCLA had to throw. Linebacker Rod Martin intercepted a pass by Jeff Dankworth that was juggled by running back Wendell Tyler. Martin returned it 12 yards to the Bruin 35. Evans’ 36-yard touchdown run gave the Trojans a 24-0 lead with seven minutes to play.

The Bruins got two late touchdowns. Brown scored on a nine-yard run to cap a 60-yard drive with 3:15 remaining. Donahue chose to go for the two-point conversion, and Dankworth converted by throwing a pass to Rick Walker to make the score 24-8.

Then the Bruins tried an onside kick with everyone lining up to the left of kicker Frank Corral at the last second. The gamble worked. Mike Molina recovered at the USC 47, UCLA later scoring on Dankworth’s one-yard run.

The Trojans stopped Dankworth at the one on the two-point conversion try, though, and recovered an onside kickoff.

Although he has been criticized for being too conservative for much of his career, Donahue tried a flea-flicker play at the end of the first half, with UCLA trailing by 7-0. UCLA flanker Wally Henry threw a long pass to Homer Butler with 22 seconds to play in the half. It almost worked. Butler was open, but Thurman batted the ball away at the last moment.

And even though the Bruins were not a passing team, Donahue called three consecutive pass plays when UCLA took over at the Trojan 44 on its first series of the third quarter, after an interception by Pat Schmidt. But Dankworth misfired on all three passes.

“I felt we could throw on them all day,” Donahue said after the game. “That seemed like the time to take advantage of it.”

Robinson didn’t agree.

“I think the Bruins had lost confidence in their ability to run by that time,” he said afterward. “I believe they felt they had to back us off from the line.”

But the Trojan defense didn’t back off, handing Donahue his first defeat as a head coach.