Bruins Win a Barnes Burner : Game: Barnes connects with Stokes for 90-yard touchdown. Trojans later miss two-point try for victory, 38-37.

After USC’s thrilling 45-42 victory over UCLA in 1990 at the Rose Bowl, many fans called it the most extraordinary game in the history of the rivalry, which began in 1929.

However, UCLA’s 38-37 victory over USC Saturday before 80,568 at the Rose Bowl provided almost as much drama.

Trailing, 38-31, after UCLA quarterback John Barnes combined with wide receiver J.J. Stokes on a 90-yard touchdown pass play with 3:08 remaining in the game, the Trojans’ Rob Johnson scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak with 41 seconds left to cap a 69-yard, 11-play drive.

USC, which needed a victory to earn a share of the Pacific 10 co-championship with Washington, which lost to Washington State, and Stanford, which defeated California, called a timeout to design a play for the two-point conversion.

After watching the Trojans line up, UCLA called a timeout to design a defense to stop the conversion attempt.

And the defense that UCLA coordinator Bob Field designed worked perfectly as linebacker Nkosi Littleton knocked down Johnson’s pass intended for tight end Yonnie Jackson in the left corner of the end zone to preserve the Bruins’ second consecutive victory over the Trojans and touch off a wild celebration.

“I saw him (Jackson) come right by my face and I wasn’t going to let him go,” Littleton said. “(Johnson) tried to look me off, but he threw it behind him a little bit and right into my hands.”

Johnson said he might have forced the pass.

“It was a delay pattern and I tried to put it into his hands. “I’m pretty (disappointed). You never expect to lose when you’re up by 14. And to lose like that to UCLA kills me. This is by far the worst I’ve felt. This was for the Pac-10 title. We blew our opportunity.”

USC Coach Larry Smith was livid after watching the Trojans waste a 31-17 fourth-quarter lead.

“I’m angry more than anything,” Smith said. “I don’t think (USC players) are sad, just angry. We blew it. There’s nobody to be mad at but ourselves.”

USC (6-3-1 overall and 5-3 in the Pac-10) finished in a third-place tie with Washington State, and might go to the Freedom Bowl.

The Bruins ended the season with three consecutive victories to finish 6-5 overall and 3-5 in the Pac-10.

“This game makes up for our season,” Littleton said. “It proves to people that we can play. The last three games we came back strong and had a winning season.”

But the Bruins might not have had a winning season without Barnes and Stokes.

Barnes passed for a personal-best 385 yards and three touchdowns, completing 16 of 28 passes, as the Bruins overcame the 14-point deficit.

“This was by far the best win of the season,” Barnes said. “It’s hard to put it into words. You dream about days like this. This is definitely a storybook finish.”

Stokes caught six passes for a school-record 263 yards, including touchdown plays of 57, 29 and 90 yards. It was the most receiving yards ever against the Trojans.

“We were just clicking in this game,” Barnes said. “We clicked in the last game against Oregon. With Sean LaChapelle hurt, we needed someone else to go to and J.J. stepped up.”

Trailing, 31-17, after USC scored two third-quarter touchdowns on Bruce Luzzi’s recovery of a punt that was blocked by Zuri Hector and a 32-yard run by tailback Estrus Crayton, who gained 140 yards in 28 carries, the Bruins scored three touchdowns in the final 12:49.

“This was a unique game,” UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said. “The last two quarters were totally different. USC totally dominated the third quarter and UCLA totally dominated the fourth quarter.”

Stokes started the comeback by catching a 29-yard touchdown pass with 12:49 left to cut the deficit to 31-24. Stokes was wide open after cornerback Jason Oliver slipped.

“J.J. took control of the game,” Donahue said. “Last week he made some impressive plays (during a 9-6 victory over Oregon) and this week he was just off the charts.”

Stokes set up Williams’ one-yard touchdown run with 7:06 to play, which tied the score, 31-31, when he combined with Barnes on a 59-yard pass play to the USC seven. Williams picked up six yards on the next two plays before scoring.

Stokes and Barnes improvised on the Bruins’ final touchdown. On third and four at the USC 10, Stokes gave Barnes a hand signal to tell him that he was going to run a streak route and Barnes signaled his acknowledgment.

Barnes passed to Stokes in stride at the Trojan 25 and he broke to the middle of the field and outran cornerback Jerald Henry to the end zone, giving the Bruins a seven-point lead.

“He put it right in front of me and I was just worried about getting into the end zone,” Stokes said. “I wasn’t surprised. With our preparation, I felt I could get open on anybody.”

Stokes got open on Henry, who was in single coverage because the Trojans were blitzing.

“He gave me a little move, but I jammed him,” Henry said. “He straight-armed me and I couldn’t get a nice grab on him. I knew they were going to throw the ball to him most of the game and I was prepared for it.”

Trojan-Bruin Notes

USC leads the series 34-21-7. Terry Donahue is 7-9-1 against USC and Larry Smith is 5-5-2 against UCLA, including a 3-2-1 mark at USC and a 2-3-1 record at Arizona. . . . UCLA quarterback John Barnes’ 385 passing yards ranks third on the school’s single-game list behind Tommy Maddox’s 409 yards against USC in 1990 and Steve Bono’s 399-yards against Brigham Young in 1983. . . . Wide receiver J.J. Stokes’ 263 yards in receptions shattered the school record of 175 yards, which was set by Scott Miller against USC in 1990. Stokes’ 90-yard touchdown play was three yards shy of the school record set by Ransom Livesay against Oregon in 1932. . . . UCLA receiver Sean LaChapelle, who had five catches for 42 yards, finished his career as UCLA’s all-time leading receiver with 142 catches for 2,027 yards.

UCLA kicker Louis Perez kicked a personal-best 47-yard field goal during the second quarter. . . . With his 36-yard touchdown pass to Rob Johnson during the first half, USC wide receiver Curtis Conway has scored a touchdown four different ways--rushing, receiving, returning a punt and a kickoff--and he has also passed for a touchdown. . . . Trojan tailback Estrus Crayton has rushed for more than 100 yards four times during his two-year USC career, including twice against the Bruins.

* HE WALKED ON

In John Barnes, the Bruins again find their hero in unusual circumstances. C8

* HE BARELY MISSED

Rob Johnson drove USC to the final touchdown, but two-point conversion failed. C8