A RUN FOR THE ROSES : Trojans Need Only a Tie After Defeating Huskies

Near one corner of Husky Stadium’s west end zone, about 1,500 jubilant USC fans and the Trojan band’s travel squad started up the chant:

“Beat the Bruins! Beat the Bruins!”

They stood and saluted their team, standing below them, a team that, with some help in Berkeley, had taken the Rose Bowl race down to the season’s last day.

The Trojans, with another great second-half defensive display, turned away Washington, 22-17, to set up next Saturday’s USC-UCLA game at the Coliseum as the Rose Bowl decider. Because of Arizona’s loss to California and UCLA’s loss to Arizona State, the Trojans, now leading the Pacific 10, will play in Pasadena on Jan. 1 if they beat or tie the Bruins.

It was the sixth consecutive game that USC’s defense has not yielded a second-half touchdown. The unit has given up only three in the second half all season.

The Trojans, before a near-capacity crowd of 72,202, won their third in a row since their loss at Notre Dame and improved to 7-4 overall, 6-1 in the Pac-10. Washington, which had 7-3 and 14-10 leads Saturday, fell to 6-4, 4-3.

For USC, it was an improbable cast of characters Saturday.

One hero was John Stonehouse, the punter who had been in a slump for weeks. But Saturday, he got off several long punts, including a 67-yarder from his 20-yard line with 55 seconds left. On two fourth-quarter series before that, he had 44- and 50-yarders.

Said Coach John Robinson: “Stonehouse was the star of the game, as far as I’m concerned. He’s struggled all year but came through like a champion today. That’s how this team has gone, too.”

Another big-play man was Micah Phillips, the backup strong safety who started for injured Mike Salmon. He made six unassisted tackles, was in on seven others and recovered a Husky fumble.

Rob Johnson had a 252-yard, 24-for-37 day, completing passes to nine players on a day when his main receiver, Johnnie Morton, played despite flu. Morton, who didn’t know if he would play an hour before the kickoff, caught three for 45 yards.

Johnson saluted his prime receiver: “Johnnie had a 104-degree temperature, but he went out there and drew coverage for us. He showed a lot of courage.”

Johnson has 2,978 passing yards this season, breaking a single-season USC mark set by Rodney Peete in 1988.

Phillips, a sophomore from Dallas, recovered Napoleon Kaufman’s fumble on the game’s first series to set up a USC drive that finished with Cole Ford’s 31-yard field goal, with 10:09 left in the quarter.

Phillips said he was “a mess” shortly before kickoff.

“Coach (Keith) Burns told me 15 minutes before kickoff,” Phillips said. “He took me out of the locker room and said: ‘You’re in the lineup.’ Well, my hands started shaking and my stomach started churning. I was a wreck. Then Willie (McGinest) said to me: ‘Cool down--you’ll do a great job.’

“I tossed and turned all night, figuring I might start. Just before the kickoff, Coach Lindsey (defensive coordinator Don Lindsey) told me there’s nothing wrong with being nervous.

“But once the game started, it was just like practice.”

Robinson said afterward Phillips’ performance is characteristic of the Trojans.

“That’s how it’s been--guys keep stepping up and playing well when we need them to,” he said.

So next Saturday should be no problem. Robinson needs another secondary player to step up. Starting free safety Jason Oliver went down in the third quarter with a broken tibia.

Said Robinson: “This team has gotten up off the deck four times this season, after everyone gave up on us. Now our game next week is for the Rose Bowl, and that’s great.”

USC seemed to teeter on the brink of calamity every time Washington’s Kaufman touched the football. He scored for an early 7-3 Husky lead, gained 119 yards in 18 carries but a half-dozen times seemed a half-step away from breaking long plays.

The only man on the field who made Kaufman disappear was the Washington coach, Jim Lambright. For some reason, he alternated Kaufman with Beno Bryant (10 carries, 36 yards).

Said Salmon, who played a half-dozen plays: “It was just like practice; they ran the same stuff we thought they would.”

Said McGinest, the senior defensive end: “We tried to make Kaufman run between the hash marks. We knew he’d make great plays because he’s a great back. You can only contain him, you can’t stop him.”

The game’s first touchdown came at the end of a Kaufman-dominated drive covering 51 yards in the first quarter. It began after Kaufman returned a kickoff 45 yards.

Kaufman had a great stutter-step run of 24 yards to put Washington at USC’s 19, then, on third-and-three at the USC 12, he ran up the middle, changed direction and scored.

Then USC’s freshman tailback, Shawn Walters, on his way to a 116-yard game, carried six times on a drive he ended by catching a two-yard scoring pass from Johnson, for a 10-7 Trojan lead.

Washington got the lead back, 14-10, with an 86-yard second-quarter drive.

The Trojans took control on their first two possessions of the the third quarter. Wide receiver Ken Grace gained 34 on an across-the-field run after catching a sideline pass from Johnson, and wound up at the Washington 18.

Walters scored from the seven, Ford missed the conversion, but USC had the lead for keeps, 16-14.

On the Trojans’ next series, Johnson and fullback Deon Strother hooked up on a 24-yard sideline play that ended two feet from the goal. Strother put it in, a two-point conversion try failed and USC was up by 22-14.

A nine-play Washington drive stalled at USC’s 22 and Travis Hanson kicked a field goal with 9:45 to play for what would be the final, 22-17.

Linebacker Joe Barry killed Washington’s last possession on a midfield interception with 31 seconds left, and USC ran out the clock.

Afterward, Robinson wanted to enjoy it. Talk about UCLA, he was asked.

“No. UCLA is a school on the West Side,” he said. “We’re playing them for the Rose Bowl.”

And history, next Saturday, will be on USC’s side. In USC-UCLA games when the Rose Bowl has been on the line for both schools, USC is 14-5-1. And USC has won the last nine such games.

For McGinest, an old scar finally healed over Saturday. In 1990, he played as a freshman in the Washington’s 31-0 victory here.

“I vaguely remember that now,” he said.

“Now, our dreams are under our control--the dream is within our grasp.”