Aggressive Bruin Defense Has Field Day Against Trojans

Bob Field, Arkansas defensive back in the late 1960s and longtime defensive coordinator under UCLA Coach Terry Donahue, had a plan to beat USC Saturday. It was carefully conceived, nicely honed, meticulously crafted.

You might call it Razorback sharp.

To stop USC, a recent scoring machine en route to a Rose Bowl or major bowl berth, Field decided to go for the Trojan jugular, slice off the USC lifeblood. Which, of course, is quarterback Rob Johnson.

Field knew that would be easier planned than accomplished, since Johnson is one of those players mentioned when experts are discussing things like Heisman Trophies and All-American teams. A prime example of his skills took place early in Saturday’s game, when he completed his 22nd consecutive pass over the last two games to establish a Pacific 10 Conference record and then completed his 23rd to establish an NCAA record. The Pac-10 mark had been held by Cal’s Rich Campbell and the NCAA mark by Iowa’s Chuck Long and Brigham Young’s Steve Young, some pretty lofty company for Johnson.

In other words, Field was facing a player who, in the overused broadcast vernacular of the day, would soon be a “Sunday player.”

But clearly, Field was no amateur at this sort of thing. He had taken a look at what Arizona had done--or more specifically what it had failed to do--in its 45-28 loss to USC last Saturday. The failure of the Wildcats’ “Desert Swarm” defense to storm USC’s Johnson enough, Field felt, cost them the game.

“Rob Johnson is as good as there is in the college game today,” Field said, pausing a bit before adding the crucial part, “when he is in a groove, in a rhythm.”

Arizona stormed Johnson with three and four defensive players and lost by 17 points. So, Field reasoned, his Bruins would need to storm with more, sometimes five, six or seven.

The result was six sacks for losses totaling 43 yards; two interceptions, including Teddy Lawrence’s game-killer in the end zone with slightly more than three minutes left; a fairly anemic 246 passing yards for Johnson, and a 31-19 victory.

“I don’t want to take total credit for this, because other coaches and both the offense and defense contributed to what happened out there today,” Field said. “But yes, it is very nice to have a plan and see it implemented out there so well.”

Besides Lawrence, one of the heroes of the implementation was a 225-pound sophomore outside linebacker named Phillip Ward, who had three sacks.

“The plan was good, and I just knew that records meant nothing when we go against SC,” Ward said.

Junior linebacker Tim Waddleton, safety Ted Nwoke and nose guard Travis Kirschke also got sacks for the Bruins. “I got a challenge early in the game,” Waddleton said. “I was lined up against their big All-American (Tony) Boselli, and he told me there was no way I was going to get a sack over him all day. So, a few plays later, I went inside of him and did just that.”

Before Saturday, this was a Bruin defense famed only for its punter, All-American candidate Darren Schager. After USC’s 19 points Saturday, the only other team to score fewer than 20 points against UCLA was the 10 by Southern Methodist early in the season. The Bruins had given up an average of nearly 28 points a game going into Saturday, and that even included giving up 23 points to Oregon State’s wishbone offense.

But when Johnson’s pass settled into Lawrence’s hands near the end, all that was forgotten. Field and the Bruin defenders had had their way with one of the best quarterbacks ever to play at USC.

In the end, the 12-point victory margin was a hefty one. No close shave here. Not even anything to get lathered up about.