Hey, This Was Supposed to Be a <i> Defensive </i> Game

Before Saturday’s kickoff, Jimmy Gunn, Al Cowlings (hmmm, I know that name from somewhere), Tody Smith and Willard Scott (not the weatherman) were introduced on the Coliseum sideline and waved to the crowd. They were members of USC’s “Wild Bunch” defensive line of 1969.

Their bunch was only mildly wilder than the one that made pussycats of the Arizona Wildcats, 45-28, over the next few hours. What a sight, watching Trojan quarterback Rob Johnson chow down on Arizona’s non-filling defense, Desert Spam, or whatever it’s called. Four hundred and thirty-four yards passing--by Tailback U.!

“One of the best players I’ve ever seen,” Coach John Robinson called Johnson, who led USC teammates on longer drives than even Cowlings did.

Twelve years ago today, USC and Arizona played an absolutely wacky prime-time game in Tucson that went to the Trojans, 48-41. Robinson stepped down as coach three games later, only to return in the 1990s with the campaign promise to take that football and run, run, run, run, run.

Well, change of plans.

Playing without its top tailback, USC went another route Saturday in winning one of college football’s most entertaining games of this season. We all know the Trojans have played some wild ones--42-37 over Wisconsin in the 1963 Rose Bowl, 46-35 over Washington State in 1973, more recently those 38-37 and 45-42 losses to U-know-who. This one was so much fun, it felt like Nintendo.

USC did not have its new Shawn & Keyshawn & Long Gone offense. That’s because Shawn Walters, the tailback, happened to have a thumb the size of a plum, a fact that sneaky old Robinson said, “We weren’t going to advertise.”

Ah, but the team did have Keyshawn Johnson, the not-so-wide receiver, who at one point sprang so high for a pass that Arizona’s defenders must have checked for a trampoline.

And the team also had the other Johnson, the quarterback with the strong arm and the weak ankles, whose fabulous play Saturday had so many people shouting “Oh, Rob!” everybody in the stadium ended up sounding like Laura Petrie.

Johnson passed for 368 yards-- in the first three quarters . Then he one-footed off the field with a sprained ankle and in came Brad Otton and up went Keyshawn Johnson for a 43-yard catch and down-and-out ran Terry Barnum for a short gain and up the middle went Leonard Green with a bang for an 11-yard touchdown and up went the Trojans, 42-28.

Everybody had a hand in this one. Off hand, I can count an alert interception by John Herpin, a clever maneuver by Johnny McWilliams, a crushing block by Norberto Garrido, a moonshot kickoff by Cole Ford (I think it landed between Vermont and Normandie), a determined run by Rodney Sermons, a game-saving goal-line stop by Brian Williams, a 99-yard dash by Sammy Knight (that didn’t count, but nice run, Sammy), a heads-up fair catch by a fast-thinking Greg Tellam and a 180-degree spin-around by Edward Hervey on his way to the end zone.

Which play won this game?

None, in my opinion.

My personal choice would be a tackle by Mario Bradley, the USC free safety, for which he should be given a game ball. Late in the third quarter--game even at 28--a running back named Ontiwaun Carter, not to be confused with Ki-Jana Carter or Lynda (Wonder Woman) Carter or any other able-bodied Carter, broke loose 43 yards toward an Arizona touchdown. Except he was caught by USC’s Bradley, just in time, at the two.

Two plays later, Herpin intercepted.

And Arizona never scored again.

That one was the key play. Rob Johnson was the key player. He was in a zone. Johnson fell two yards shy of his school-record 392 yards passing, only because he fell to the turf with some fat Wildcat on his ankle. Fifteen passes in a row he completed, over one stretch. He threw for three touchdowns, ran for another and made me wish he could return to the Coliseum next year to relieve Jeff Hostetler.

“I got it tweaked pretty good,” was Rob’s way of describing his ankle condition, which he says is fine so don’t go worrying about him missing the UCLA thing next week.

Everything was clicking so well, Johnson said, “I couldn’t wait to get back on the field every time. The way everybody was blocking, you should complete them all, I guess.”

What, against Arizona? Against Desert Spam . . . uh, I mean Storm?

“They were talking some serious trash last week. That’s the best part,” Johnson said. “Usually, the teams that talk don’t play well. We don’t talk too much.”

Good. Let other people talk about USC. Right now, people are saying that USC is playing some of the best football in the country. (Well, maybe not UCLA people.)