COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Secondary Problems Are Primary Concern for Trojans

Before the start of the season, USC Coach John Robinson gave the Trojans three goals: Beat Notre Dame and UCLA, and play in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1990.

Too bad Robinson isn’t coaching baseball, where one for three is good.

For the fifth consecutive year, USC lost to a supposedly overmatched UCLA team, as the Bruins took it to the Trojans for a 24-20 victory Saturday at the Coliseum.

The slow-starting Trojans spotted UCLA three quick touchdowns and spent the rest of the game trying to catch up in slow motion.

“I don’t know why we continue to start slow, because it is not like we want to fall behind and then make a comeback,” USC tight end Johnny McWilliams said. “We’re a more talented team than UCLA, but we found a way to lose again. This hurts really bad.”

After pulling out a tie against Washington and a last-minute victory over Stanford with fourth-quarter comebacks, the Trojans had their chances to do the same against UCLA, but were unable to break out of their funk when it counted.

This was especially evident in their final drive of the game. With UCLA ahead, 24-14, the Trojans took their time marching 82 yards for a score on a drive that took over nine minutes to complete.

When quarterback Brad Otton passed to Tyler Cashman for a one-yard touchdown on the 20th play of the drive, USC trailed, 24-20, but only 3:30 remained in the game.

“Yes, [the drive] might have been a little long,” said Robinson, who is now a combined 0-5-1 against UCLA and Notre Dame in his second tenure at USC.

USC never saw the ball again as the Bruins were able to gain two first downs and run out the clock.

“This loss is going to be on our minds up until we start to prepare for the Rose Bowl,” USC tailback Delon Washington said.

If the Trojans need to find a reason why the Bruins won, they have to look at two coverage breakdowns in the secondary that led to easy UCLA touchdowns.

The first came on UCLA’s second possession with the Bruins ahead, 7-0. Faced with second down and 15 from his 40-yard line, UCLA freshman quarterback Cade McNown bootlegged right and found a wide open Jim McElroy for a 59-yard pass play down the right sideline to the USC one.

USC’s breakdown came when cornerback Brian Kelly thought his coverage responsibility was the right flat, while the Trojan secondary call was for him to cover the deep right side of the field.

“It was a communication breakdown,” said safety Jesse Davis, who tackled McElroy one play before the Bruins scored their second touchdown on a one-yard run by Cheyane Caldwell. “It was just a blown coverage from the jump-street.”

On USC’s next secondary breakdown, UCLA scored on a 35-yard reverse pass from McElroy to Kevin Jordan, thanks this time to poor coverage by the secondary.

This time, Kelly and safety Sammy Knight lost track of Jordan, who ran a post-corner pattern, and they were unable to recover after stepping up to defense McElroy on the reverse. Jordan’s touchdown reception pushed UCLA’s lead to 21-0.

“Those two plays were the difference in the game,” Robinson said. “We turned two wide receivers loose on two long trick plays, where we just did not get the job done. They were things that we worked on in practice, but somehow we gave them two easy touchdowns from them.”

Added Knight: “We prepared for those plays in practice, but we just had coverage mix-ups at the wrong time. Busted coverages will hurt you no matter how well you defense the pass overall.”

For USC seniors, the loss marked a college career in which they never defeated UCLA or Notre Dame.

“Going to the Rose Bowl is going to be great only because it was one of my goals when I came here,” linebacker Scott Fields said. “But not ever beating UCLA or Notre Dame is very hard to take. It’s something that I will have to deal with for the rest of my life, and that hurts.”

If there is a positive from Saturday’s loss, USC can look back to 1984. That season, the Trojans won the Pacific 10 Conference title and earned their first Rose Bowl berth in five years. USC, however, lost to UCLA and Notre Dame in its final two games.

In the Rose Bowl, the Trojans defeated favored Ohio State, 20-17.

USC can only hope that history repeats itself.