COLLEGE FOOTBALL: THE BOWL GAMES : USC Shows Best Side to Texas Tech, 55-14 : Cotton Bowl: Keyshawn and Rob Johnson put on record offensive performances as Trojans take 28-0 first-quarter lead.

Keyshawn Johnson moved up the Cotton Bowl tunnel with the same stride he had just employed to dazzle 70,218 in Monday’s Cotton Bowl.

He ran past a Texas Tech defensive player who had said something to the 6-foot-4 junior, who caught eight passes for 222 yards in USC’s 55-14 victory.

“Don’t ever give me a personal challenge like that,” Johnson said.

A few days earlier, the Texas Tech player had said if Johnson intended to strike an end-zone Heisman pose, he had best do it before the game.

“Well, when he said that and I read it in the paper,” Johnson said, “I said to myself: ‘OK, I accept that, him saying that.’ But I took it as a challenge.”

The challenge was answered seconds after the first of Johnson’s three touchdowns Monday, this one on a 12-yard pass from Rob Johnson late in the first quarter, giving USC a 27-0 lead. Keyshawn Johnson dropped the ball, and in slow motion struck the Heisman Trophy pose. The fans booed and threw tortillas at him.

But to win the Heisman, you must be a college player. And Keyshawn Johnson, even after his spectacular game, wouldn’t say if he intended to remain at USC or leave after one season and make himself available for the NFL draft.

He has given mixed signals for weeks, but in the interview room after the game, Johnson said of his record three-touchdown receptions: “That’s a little taste of what’s coming in ’95.”

Said wide receiver coach Mike Sanford: “How good is he? I don’t want to take anything away from Johnnie Morton, but Keyshawn Johnson is not only the best receiver I’ve ever coached, he’s the best I’ve ever seen.”

He looked every inch of that Monday, on a cool, cloudy afternoon in which he set Cotton Bowl records for scoring by receivers (18 points) on touchdowns measuring 12, 22 and 86 yards. His 222 yards were five short of Morton’s one-game school record.

Johnson, voted the game’s most valuable player, overshadowed even senior quarterback Rob Johnson, who became USC’s career passing leader.

Rob Johnson, who completed 16 of 21 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns, broke three records.

He passed Rodney Peete to finish with 8,472 yards. He threw his 56th, 57th and 58th touchdown passes, and his career completion rate, 64.6%, is a Pacific 10 Conference record.

Afterward, Coach John Robinson called Rob Johnson “one of the two or three best quarterbacks in the history of SC.”

He also said: “When I’m 73 and retired, and living in some nursing home, he’ll still be playing. And I’ll be watching on TV, and still yelling: ‘Rob, get rid of it!’ ”

Robinson’s Trojans saved perhaps their best game for the finale, finishing 8-3-1. Texas Tech fell to 6-6, and perhaps showed the disbanding of the Southwest Conference is probably a good idea.

Robinson got a long look at the immediate future Monday. Brad Otton, a contender as Rob Johnson’s successor, came in after Johnson was pulled in the third quarter.

Otton completed eight of 14 passes for two touchdowns, including the 86-yarder to a wide-open Keyshawn Johnson.

Fourth-stringer Matt Koffler mopped up. Kyle Wachholtz, academically ineligible during the fall semester, is expected to duel for the quarterback’s job next summer with Otton. He didn’t play Monday because the USC administration hasn’t cleared him to play, even though the semester is over.

“This was a great week for us, because it set the stage for us for next year,” Robinson said.

Robinson even left Dallas without losing his offensive coordinator. Mike Riley was a finalist this week for the Vanderbilt head coaching spot, but it went to Cleveland Brown assistant Rod Dowhower.

This one was over early. The co-champions of the SWC were knocked out in the first round.

Beginning with its second possession of the game, the Trojans suddenly scored three touchdowns in one minute 16 seconds.

It happened this way:

--After Shawn Walters’ 11-yard run for a 7-0 lead, Texas Tech fumbled away the kickoff.

--On the first play from the Texas Tech 19, Rob Johnson hit fullback Terry Barnum in the end zone for a 14-0 lead.

--On Tech’s third play after the kickoff, USC’s John Herpin returned an interception 26 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0.

On the next USC series, with the first Johnson-to-Johnson scoring pass, the score became 28-0 with 2:21 left in the first quarter. At that point, Texas Tech had had 13 plays, including punts.

It was 235 to 17 in net yardage after one quarter.

And it was 34-0 at the half. It was 48-0 late in the third quarter when Robinson pulled his regulars.

Later, Texas Tech Coach Spike Dykes saluted his opponents.

“I obviously didn’t do a good job of preparing this team,” he said. “We apologize to all our fans. There will be another day; the sun will shine again. . . . John Robinson is a class guy--that score could have been a lot worse.”

Riley praised his quarterback, Rob Johnson, one final time.

“Rob was never sharper than he was today,” he said. “He got the ball very quickly to people, but that’s a typical Rob Johnson game. We’ll miss him.”

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Record Harvest

USC established a school record for points in a bowl game in its victory over Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. A look at the most points the Trojans have scored in bowl games: Year Bowl Opponent Score 1994 Cotton Texas Tech 55-14 1930 Rose Pittsburgh 47-14 1977 Bluebonnet Texas A&M; 47-28 1963 Rose Wisconsin 42-37 1973 Rose Ohio State 42-17 1933 Rose Pittsburgh 35-0