Trojans Are Dominated by Arizona Defense, 38-7 : Pac-10: It is the worst USC loss ever for Robinson. Boselli suffers injury.

USC’s football team lost a game, perhaps its best player and perhaps a lot of hope for its season Saturday night.

Arizona routed USC, 38-7, in a game the Trojans were never in. It was as sound a defeat as USC has had in recent Trojan football history. And the 31-point margin was the worst ever for a John Robinson-coached Trojan team.

For USC, the news gets worse. Much worse.

Starting left offensive tackle Tony Boselli, an All-American junior, suffered a dislocated kneecap in the first quarter, left the field on a gurney, and will be sidelined for at least a month.

This, for an offensive line that was already missing its second-best performer, guard Joel Crisman. This, for a team that will play four of its next six on the road.

Arizona’s No. 1-ranked defense simply crushed USC’s record-breaking pass offense, the Rob Johnson-to-Johnnie Morton duo that buried Washington State a week ago, 34-3.

Saturday, before a near-sellout 56,075 at Arizona Stadium, defensive linemen, cornerbacks, safeties and linebackers all took their best shots at junior quarterback Johnson, who started the game as a 70.8% passer averaging 282 yards.

Morton, the Trojans’ All-American candidate at wide receiver, was averaging 140 yards in catches.

When it was over, Johnson completed 16 of 27 passes for 107 yards. His longest play was 15 yards.

Morton had seven catches for 49 yards.

Arizona, now tied for the Pac-10 lead with Cal at 2-0, had a 28-0 halftime lead and was in cruise control at 38-0 for most of the fourth quarter, before USC finally scored against the Wildcat subs.

USC (1-1, 2-3) never mounted anything resembling the fourth-quarter comeback at Penn State three weeks ago that fell short, 21-20.

Arizona has won three of its last four games against USC. The Wildcats are also 5-0 for the first time since 1975.

For USC, if anything surpassed the score for shock value, it was the play of Arizona’s quarterback, sophomore Dan White. His coach, Dick Tomey, said of him earlier this week: “Perhaps our expectations for him were too high.”

White, throwing deep perhaps more often that USC expected, completed 14 of 21 passes with three touchdowns and ran for another.

“I was stunned by Dan White,” Robinson said. “He was on target all night.

“Arizona played a great game and beat us thoroughly . . . with almost perfect execution. I was every bit as impressed with their defense as I was with Penn State’s.”

He wouldn’t say if the departure of Boselli, who left when there was no score, made a difference.

“It was difficult for us to pass block with Boselli out, but I don’t want to infer that it would have been any different if we’d had a complete offensive line in there.”

Johnson was sacked six times, three times by All-American nose guard Rob Waldrop.

“Basically, I was getting one look, at the first receiver, everytime I passed,” Johnson said. “We had a comeback at Penn State because it was 21-7, but (here) they blew us out early.”

Opponents had been averaging minus yardage rushing against the Wildcats. By that standard, USC had a great night running--47 yards.

It was the lowest rushing output by a USC team since the Trojans got 29 against Notre Dame in 1990.

USC had 139 yards passing, 32 of them by backup Kyle Wachholz, who took USC to its only score late in the game.

After Boselli went out, it was five more series before USC made another first down--and they had only three before halftime.

Arizona scored first after Johnson turned the ball over on a bad center snap at midfield. Six plays later, wide receiver Troy Dickey leaped high over USC’s Jason Oliver to open the scoring.

White finished a 70-yard drive midway through the second period with a one-yard touchdown for a 14-0 lead, and then Arizona’s Chuck Levy, after another brief Trojan series, returned John Stonehouse’s punt 61 yards to make the score 21-0.

When Trojan defender Jason Sehorn fell down in the end zone with about a minute to go in the half, it enabled Dickey to score on a 10-yard pass play and a 28-0 lead.

By then, it was virtually over.

“I told them it was one conference loss, just like UCLA, Arizona State,” Robinson said. “(I told them) that it would be very difficult for any team in the league to go undefeated, that Arizona would have problems down the road.

“As we’ve seen dramatic swings happen in this conference.”

Crisman, who has a toe injury, isn’t expected back for at least two weeks. Junior Jason Keiderling came in for Boselli, and both Jeremy Hogue and Kyle Ramsay have played Crisman’s guard spot.

Offensive line coach Mike Barry didn’t sound hopeful afterward.

“When you lose your best offensive player . . . well, it’s not like you have guys waiting in the wings to get in there,” he said.

“It wasn’t a cheap shot or anything,” Boselli said of his injury. “I was pass-blocking Tedy Bruschi, who’s really a class player, when I got hit from behind.”

Boselli, 6 feet 8 and 295 pounds, was taken to a hospital at halftime for X-rays. He will be examined by team doctor James Tibone on Monday.