Arizona Goes From Desert Storm to Desert Squirm : Pacific 10: Wildcats’ granite defense turns to sand under pressure from USC passing game.

It was fun while it lasted. The clever play of words and war, the Sports Illustrated cover, the notoriety.

Desert Swarm had a nice run until Saturday but might now be retired. Not back to Tucson, but to Tombstone.

Forty-five points and 550 yards will put holes in a Wild West legend faster than Billy the Kid.

USC’s 45-28 victory over Arizona at the Coliseum did more than knock the Wildcats out of the Rose Bowl picture. It cut deep into a program’s psyche.

“They just took us apart,” Wildcat defensive back Spencer Wray said. “I would have never imagined that. I can’t imagine that. It’s just something we don’t understand. They hit us with so many different receivers, five, six guys (seven, actually) got receptions, they just spread it around to whoever was open.”

It didn’t take long to become Desert Swarmed.

Arizona began the game as the nation’s sixth-best defense, first in rushing defense, second in points given up per game.

It left in tatters, unwilling to accept what had just happened.

“How many passing yards did they have?” one Wildcat wondered.

He didn’t like the answer: 434. USC totaled more than twice as many yards as Arizona surrenders on average per game.

Trojan quarterback Rob Johnson, in a short passing-game clinic, baffled the Arizona defense with his three-step drop and quick release.

“When we have trouble getting to the quarterback, it’s hard for us, because of all the one-on-ones (coverages) out there in the way we play defense,” Wildcat Coach Dick Tomey explained. “We blitzed a lot. We tried everything. There were no answers. The answer is players have got to make plays. And we didn’t.”

USC won most of the battles. The most compelling was the matchup between Tony Boselli, the Trojans’ best tackle prospect since Anthony Munoz, and Arizona defensive end Tedy Bruschi, the Lombardi Award finalist.

Bruschi thought he held his own.

“It was a tough battle all day,” he said. “He did a good job, I think I did a good job.”

Wait until Bruschi sees the film.

With the way Johnson was throwing, Arizona could only hope it could knock the Trojan quarterback out of the game.

That Wildcat wish came true with 7:06 remaining, when Johnson reinjured his right ankle and hobbled off the field with USC leading by a touchdown, 35-28.

“I had a glimmer of hope,” Bruschi said. “The backup quarterback comes in, it was like, ‘Let’s see what he can do.’ Then he throws a bomb to No. 3.”

He was reserve Brad Otton, who came in cold off the bench and, on his first play, heaved a deep hanging pass for Keyshawn Johnson, who leaped above two defenders to complete a 43-yard reception at the Arizona 12. That set up Leonard Green’s game-securing 11-yard run.

It was a tough day all around. Defending on Johnson’s catch was Wray, who happens to be the receiver’s cousin.

Wray said he’d discuss it later with Johnson at dinner. Look for Keyshawn, who finished with five catches for 109 yards, to do most of the talking.

Forty-five points are the most Arizona has given up since 1991, when the Wildcats surrendered 54 to UCLA and Washington in consecutive weeks.

But that was pre-Desert Swarm. Before running against Arizona was supposed to be like hurling yourself into cactus. Before a national magazine arranged players for a cover photo-shoot and proclaimed this bunch as the nation’s best.

“We didn’t have those expectations,” said Tomey, whose team fell to 7-3 and now considers all bowls not beginning with Rose. “If you asked me if it was the goal to be the No. 1 team in the nation, it was not. We’re just trying to win every week. The expectations were put on us by someone else.”

Tomey said one game does not undo all that has been done.

“By no stretch of the imagination did we do what we were supposed to do,” Tomey said. “But I wouldn’t trade anybody in the world for this defense, either.”

Saturday, neither would USC.