They Get Great Reception : ROSE BOWL SHOWDOWN / UCLA vs. USC : J.J. Stokes Used ’92 Victory Over USC as Springboard to a Banner ’93 Season

Begin with what won’t happen Saturday.

J.J. Stokes won’t be covered man to man by a 5-foot-8 USC cornerback. The Trojans know better now.

A case could even be made that Larry Smith is unemployed because they tried it a year ago this week, and that John Robinson replaced Smith as USC’s coach because Stokes caught six passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-37 UCLA victory.

“I don’t think Stokes or (USC’s Johnnie) Morton or Jerry Rice can be (single-covered),” Robinson said. “Stokes is a superior receiver, and if you want to put him one on one, I don’t want to be the guy, unless I have a gun or something. You can’t become obsessed with somebody, and you can’t try to deny a good football player a good game. You just try to keep them from personally beating you.”

Last year’s game was one for the archives, which is where Stokes is storing it because he has more passes to catch. Stokes didn’t see videotape of the fourth quarter until last summer, when he watched it with his brother in Switzerland, where John Stokes is a chef.

His four fourth-quarter catches for 192 yards, particularly his catch-and-run for 59 yards to set up a touchdown to tie the score, and his 90-yard touchdown on a throw from John Barnes to take the lead, are indelible. But that was then, and this is now.

“I haven’t watched it this week,” Stokes said. “I’ve watched (USC) against Cal and Notre Dame and Penn State and Oregon.”

Watching last year’s game wouldn’t help, anyway. Trojan cornerback Jerald Henry is second or third string now, and Stokes, who is 6 foot 4 and 215 pounds, will be dealing with Jason Sehorn, who can look him in the eye. And Sehorn will have help. USC won’t be blitzing an inexperienced Barnes. Wayne Cook will be the target, and the defense won’t sell out pass coverage to get to him, Robinson said.

The Trojans did that a year ago, and look what happened.

And what has happened since.

“When somebody asked me before the season, ‘J.J., how many balls do you think you’ll catch?’ I told them about the same, about 40,” Stokes said.

He has caught 62 for 952 yards and 16 touchdowns, only one behind Mario Bailey’s Pacific 10 Conference record. Single-covered by Washington, which apparently didn’t watch the USC film, either, he had four touchdowns, burning three defensive backs. One play covered 95 yards, bringing back memories of a season ago.

He caught touchdown passes in seven consecutive games, all Bruin victories, until he was shut out by Arizona State in a 9-3 loss last Saturday.

Now it’s Stokes vs. Morton. Morton vs. Stokes. UCLA vs. USC.

“It’s going to be exciting, and I hope fans come out because I’m sure something exciting is going to happen,” Stokes said.

There is ample precedent.

He was behind Sean LaChapelle in the Bruin pecking order last season.

“I was the third choice most of the game,” Stokes said. “He was the first.”

LaChapelle, now with the Rams, is UCLA’s season and career leader in receptions and yards gained, and it was his last college game. Everywhere he went, two USC defenders went along, and UCLA frequently put another receiver on the same side of the field with him, and that drew even more attention.

Stokes was on the other side.

“I wasn’t surprised (at the coverage).” he said. “You can’t double-cover everybody, and I was on the back side. That left me single-covered.”

There was one exception, in the second quarter, when he and Barnes connected on a 57-yard touchdown pass against two defenders Stokes had left in his wake.

But USC’s defense was working. The Trojans had sacked Barnes four times and held a 31-17 lead when the fourth quarter began.

Then the lead vanished.

Working from the shotgun formation, Barnes found Stokes alone at the goal line, threw to him for 29 yards and the lead was down to 31-24.

He hit Stokes again, for 14 yards to open their next series. The next play was the same play, and Stokes was open in the middle of the field. The pass was complete, and Stokes was left to deal with Trojan tacklers.

“I was in front of him, and I didn’t know where he was,” UCLA’s Avery Anderson said. “Then I heard the crowd and figured something had happened, so I looked for somebody to block.”

That somebody turned out to be Stokes.

“I was just waiting for my blocking and I was weaving and just ran into (Anderson) and it knocked me (to the inside),” Stokes said. “I was going to turn outside, because I knew I could make the end zone, but I hit his shoulder.”

Jason Oliver and Stephon Pace tackled Stokes at the USC seven, and, three plays later, Kevin Williams scored on a short run.

Stokes broke the 31-31 tie shortly thereafter, winning a 90-yard race with Henry.

“When we tied the score, I got comfortable,” Stokes said. “Then, the moment I got in the end zone on the 90-yard play, I thought that was it.”

It was, although it took some last-minute heroics by Nkosi Littleton, knocking down a two-point conversion pass, to finish off the Trojans.

Stokes had caught more passes against Oregon the week before, 10, but plays in the UCLA-USC game make reputations, and Stokes had his. He has polished it this season, while, across town, Morton has been doing the same, what with Curtis Conway gone.

They don’t know each other, except by reputation.

“I’ve seen maybe one of his games this year,” Stokes said. “Oh, I’ve seen some highlights of him. He has some great highlights.”

Stokes vs. Morton is for others to ponder, though.

“I think we both run good routes,” Stokes said. “I think we both understand defenses. We’re both able to get open off the line. After we catch the ball, we both tend to make something happen, and a lot of the time we get into the end zone.

“It doesn’t bother me if I’m compared with him, but I don’t see myself like any other receiver. I think I’m different in that I played running back when I was younger. I still think of myself like a tailback when I catch the ball.”

And UCLA vs. USC is for the alumni and fans.

“It’s a matter of dislikes,” Stokes said. “SC and UCLA don’t like each other. I heard that when I got here. But I have nothing against SC.”

Rather, he has fond memories of the Trojans, one defensive back at a time.