If This Was a Test, Wildcat Defenders Deserve All (U)A’s

They called a Wildcat strike again Saturday: Arizona 38, USC 7.

Another game, another notch on the belt for the nation’s top-rated defense. But maybe this was a little different. It supposedly was against somebody . Not Texas El Paso or Pacific or Oregon State. Not even Illinois, a school with a reputation, but also a freshman quarterback in his second game.

This was against USC, not only standing in the way of the Wildcats’ Rose Bowl Express but coming off a game in which its quarterbacks threw for 413 yards and one receiver, Johnnie Morton, hauled in passes for 229 of those. The Trojans were supposed to be a real test for the Arizona defense.

So what happened?

They weren’t even a pop quiz.

“Coming into this game, we obviously wanted to win,” said Tedy Bruschi, the sophomore defensive end who had two of Arizona’s six sacks of Rob Johnson. “But I was totally surprised we won so easily, because SC is a good team. But we came together.”

The Trojans were held to their fewest rushing yards (47) since the Notre Dame game of 1990 and their lowest total offense (147 yards) of the season. In truth, their offense was totaled.

How dominating was it? Apart from the fact that the Trojans had only 11 yards on the ground until Shawn Walters broke free to gain 29 on their final drive, helping to set up the lone touchdown, there was the conversation between Bruschi and his partner on the defensive line, Akil Jackson.

“Meet you at the quarterback, Tedy,” Jackson said.

“See you there, man,” Bruschi replied.

And not long after, the Wildcats were practically holding a student body meeting in the USC backfield.

The Trojans were not alone in their pain. Imagine the crowd of 56,075 inside Arizona Stadium, practically all clad in red and white save for a small contingent backing the visiting team. All that standing and sitting, standing and sitting, standing and sitting, the workout that came with rewarding the defense with standing ovations almost every time they came off the field.

“Probably half of them are drunk,” Bruschi said, “but it’s great anyway.”

“They expect us to do well,” free safety Tony Bouie added.

Indeed, recognition has not been hard to come by, within the conference or on a national level, not when you come into the fifth game of the season ranked No. 12 and have let opponents inside the 20 all of nine times. Nicknames are stacking up as fast as fallen opponents.

Meet the Cactus Curtain, primarily in honor of the defensive front.

And introduce yourself to inside linebacker Sean Harass, who came into the world as Sean Harris.

While you’re at it, salute the entire defense with its most common moniker, Desert Swarm, the one most of the players seem to prefer because it includes the whole unit.

“I don’t think it helps us,” said Wildcat Coach Dick Tomey, holding as firm against the positive publicity as his defensive line does against the run. “I’m only interested in what the guys like. And they don’t particularly like all of it, so I don’t like it.”

Said defensive coordinator Larry Mac Duff: “We’ve got some guys who can really ham it up; they love the crowd. But I’ll tell you what. If I say to them let’s meet someplace in an empty parking lot and play without anybody else there, they’d all show up.

“I think that’s the underlying thing about this group--they love to play the game more than any other group I’ve ever been around.”

With seasons like this, no wonder.

“I think we all know inside not to let it go to our heads,” Bruschi said. “It’s nice to get recognized, but we’re not going to stop now. So they’re just going to have to keep recognizing us.”