ROSE BOWL: USC 41, Northwestern 32 : Playing at Their Own Level : Otton and Johnson Come Up With the Big Pass Plays Whenever USC Most Needs Them

It wasn’t the turning point--there were several of those--but it was the defining moment in USC’s 41-32 Rose Bowl victory Monday over Northwestern.

The Wildcats had come out blazing in the second half, scoring a field goal, then recovering their on-side kickoff and driving for a touchdown, quickly trimming USC’s commanding 24-10 lead to a shaky 24-19.

This was the Northwestern team all those purple-shirted folks in the stands had come to see, and the joint was jumping.

USC began building another drive. A first down here, another there. Then, after a holding penalty and a sack of quarterback Brad Otton, USC was suddenly looking at third and 11 from its 44.

So Otton did what he had been doing all afternoon, and what he did for a good share of the rest of it. He looked for Keyshawn Johnson. Found him too. Right there, running down the middle, way ahead of those defensive backs. And the resulting 56-yard scoring play accomplished two things.

First, of course, it bumped the lead back up to double digits. That didn’t last, but it looked good at the time, and it gave the Trojans some breathing room.

But more important, it sent a message: Do what you want, Wildcats, because we can do this whenever we want.

And, in fact, that’s what they did. After Northwestern had taken a 32-31 lead in the fourth quarter, USC came back with a field-goal drive that included a completion of 10 yards from Otton to Johnson, on third and 10.

Then in the Trojans’ final touchdown drive, Otton-to-Johnson clicked for six yards on third and four.

Otton. Johnson. If it wasn’t one, it was the other--and most of the time it was both. They were enough to drive a Wildcat to catnip.

“Otton and Keyshawn were a little above everyone else,” Northwestern Coach Gary Barnett said. “Even when we knew Otton was going to throw to Keyshawn, we couldn’t stop it.

“That’s the best job of quarterbacking I’ve seen in a long time. . . . Keyshawn? He must have caught 100 passes, but that big one down the middle is the one that hurt us. . . . He’s the best we’ve played this season. I’m glad he’s out of here.”

Johnson didn’t catch 100 passes, but he did catch an even dozen for a Rose Bowl-record 216 yards. That earned him the award as player of the game.

Otton completed 29 of the 44 passes he threw, for 391 yards, all without an interception. Just as impressive, he completed them to eight receivers, further frustrating the Wildcats.

“We were not able to put enough pressure on Otton to get him out of his rhythm,” Barnett noted. “He always seemed to find an alternate receiver. And then that big play by Keyshawn. . . .

“They did just what we thought they’d do. It was just that Otton kept making plays. We’d have him by the leg and he’d make the play.”

Otton’s performance was so smooth and effective that Coach John Robinson felt compelled to abandon his season-long habit of alternating his quarterbacks. When the second quarter began and Kyle Wachholtz was due in, Otton stayed put and, for the first time this season, played an entire game.

“Brad did an absolutely fabulous job,” Robinson said. “It was unfair that Kyle didn’t get to play, but Brad was playing so well I just couldn’t do it.

“That was one of the great quarterback performances in my time. He went to the No. 2 or 3 guy. . . . We were planning on playing two quarterbacks, but Brad was so effective I couldn’t take him out. I’m disappointed I couldn’t play them both but it was the right thing to do, just as it was the right thing to alternate all season.”

So taken with Otton was Robinson that he almost overlooked Johnson.

“It’s a little blurry to me,” he said when asked about Johnson’s record-setting game. “But he’s one of the great players for rising to the occasion. His story, what he represents to college football--everything about him is fabulous.”

Northwestern cornerback Hudhaifa Ismaeli saw quite enough of Johnson.

“He’s decent,” Ismaeli said, facetiously.

It was Ismaeli whom Johnson turned to toast on the 56-yard touchdown play.

“I was playing man to man,” Ismaeli said. “I played him outside and I should have played him inside. I just blew it.”

Johnson said he had thought that might be the case.

“After they scored, I went to [offensive coordinator Mike] Riley and said, ‘Just let Brad and me take care of it.’ Then I said to Brad, ‘Let’s do it together.’ ”

By that time, Otton was playing relaxed, no longer concerned that he might have to give way to Wachholtz.

“I stopped looking over my shoulder after the first play,” he said. “I was determined I was going to play the whole game. I asked Coach Riley in the second quarter, ‘Is Kyle going in?’ and he said no, so. . . .”

So he and Johnson got together and just did it. At Northwestern, they may never forget it.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

By the Numbers

A look at USC’s Keyshawn Johnson and Brad Otton after their performances in Monday’s Rose Bowl: MOST YARDS RECEIVING IN ROSE BOWL

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Player School Year Rec Yds Avg. Keyshawn Johnson USC 1996 12 216 18.0 J.J. Stokes UCLA 1994 14 176 12.6 Cris Carter Ohio State 1985 9 172 19.1 Pat Richter Wisconsin 1963 11 163 14.8 D’Wayne Bates Northwestern 1996 7 145 20.7

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KEYSHAWN JOHNSON IN BOWL GAMES

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Year Bowl Rec Yds TD 1995 Cotton 8 222 3 1996 Rose 12 216 1

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MOST YARDS PASSING IN ROSE BOWL

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Player School Year Comp Att Yards Danny O’Neil Oregon 1995 41 61 456 Ron Vander Kelen Wisconsin 1963 33 48 401 Brad Otton USC 1996 29 44 391 Steve Schnur Northwestern 1996 23 39 336 Chuck Long Iowa 1986 29 37 319 Mark Brunell Washington 1993 18 30 308

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TIME OF POSSESSION

USC: 29:47

NU: 30:13

PASSING YARDAGE

USC: 391

NU: 336

RUSHING YARDAGE

USC: 29

NU: 139

SCORE BY QUARTERS

USC: 7, 17, 7, 10 -- 41

NU: 7, 3, 16, 6 -- 32

TEAM STATS *--*

USC NU 22 First downs 23 27-29 Rushes-Net 39-139 391 Net Yards Passing 336 29-44 Passes 23-39 1-41 Int.-yd. ret. 0-0 71-420 Plays-net yards 78-475 2-44.5 Punts-average 2-38.5 2-18 Punts ret.-yd. 0-0 3-31 Kickoffs ret.-yd. 8-225 1-1 Fumbles-lost 1-1 11-86 Penalties-yards 7-72

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

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USC TCB NYG Avg. TD Washington 16 51 3.2 1 Barnum 1 2 2.0 0 LWoods 5 -2 -0.4 1 Otton 5 -22 -4.4 0 Totals 27 29 1.1 2 NU TCB NYG Avg. TD DAutry 32 110 3.4 3 Schnur 3 13 4.3 1 AAutry 2 8 4.0 0 Bates 1 4 4.0 0 Hartl 1 4 4.0 0 Totals 39 139 3.6 4

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Passing

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USC PA PC PI Yd TD Otton 44 29 0 391 2 NU PA PC PI Yd TD Schnur 39 23 1 336 0

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Receiving *--*

USC No. Yd. TD Johnson 12 216 1 Barnum 4 42 1 CMiller 3 50 0 Cashman 3 19 0 LWoods 2 21 0 McWilliams 2 20 0 Washington 2 18 0 Parker 1 5 0 Totals 29 391 2

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NU No. Yd. TD Bates 7 145 0 DAutry 6 38 0 Musso 5 91 0 Drexler 1 16 0 Beazley 1 16 0 McGreen 1 11 0 Hartl 1 10 0 Brown 1 9 0 Totals 23 336 0

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