Otton Survives Arizona

Brad Otton presented USC fans with a new side of his personality Saturday at the Coliseum.

No longer was the quarterback the graceful, accurate player of Rose Bowl fame.

This was Otton the Nasty. No one ever compared his game to Bobby Layne’s, but there it was--toughness, grit and courage, as teammates and coaches would later call it.

Before 51,088, Otton willed USC to a 14-7 Pacific 10 Conference victory over Arizona, a team with an offense nearly as punchless as the Trojans’.

The 6-6, 225-pound Otton held his offense together on two touchdown drives. He persevered despite being sacked seven times and survived perhaps a dozen more fierce collisions as he threw.

“He was under great pressure on almost every play, his receivers dropped too many balls and he took a lot of hits,” USC Coach John Robinson said. “It was the kind of game good quarterbacks win.”

With Otton almost single-handedly holding the offense together, the Trojans also produced an impressive defensive performance. As defensive line coach Jeff McInerny put it: “Any time you hold anybody to seven points, you’ve done a good job.”

With their top two left guards out because of injuries the last two games, the Trojans, 4-2 overall, 2-1 in conference, survived this one as much as they won it. And they’re hoping the news gets better beginning today when their best offensive lineman, Chris Brymer, tries to run on the foot he broke Sept. 14 against Oregon State.

Without him and backup Faaesea Mailo, who has a cracked shoulder socket, Cal and Arizona have had open season on Otton. Saturday, he, at times, looked the dummy in tackling practice.

“I feel a little spacey, I took a couple of shots in the head,” Otton said.

“They came after me a lot harder than Cal did. They tried to get as physical as they could with me, trying to get me to quit.”

Otton completed 23 of 41 passes for 220 yards on a day when USC’s offensive line couldn’t run block much, either.

Tailback Shawn Walters made his first appearance in more than a year, and had 24 yards in nine carries.

Otton took the Trojans on an 18-play, 79-yard drive on USC’s first series, capped by a one-yard touchdown run by LaVale Woods. He scored again on another one-yard run that produced a 14-0 lead on the third quarter’s first series.

Arizona (3-3, 1-2) lost its best weapon, the scrambling runs of quarterback Keith Smith, late in the third quarter. Smith jammed a shoulder when hit hard by Chad Morton and was forced to leave the game.

His backup, Brady Batten, promptly beat USC cornerback Daylon McCutcheon with a 34-yard pass to Richard Dice at USC’s two-yard line. McCutcheon was called for pass interference on the next play, and Batten then threw to Dice in the end zone.

And that was as close as the Wildcats came to catching USC, which won this matchup for the third consecutive year. USC’s defense didn’t allow Arizona to get closer than the Trojans’ 37 in the fourth quarter.

How long can USC allow opponents to tee off on Otton? Mike Riley, the Trojans’ offensive coordinator, closed his eyes, not wanting to think of the consequences.

“We absolutely have to fix this, we can’t let him take a beating like that again,” he said.

“I thought Brad was courageous. He made some great throws under pressure.”

Meanwhile, all eyes will be on Brymer late this afternoon.

“I’ll run and if it feels OK, then it’ll depend on how much pain I have Monday,” Brymer said.

“If it’s still OK, I’ll run Tuesday. I definitely want to play against Arizona State [next week at Tempe].”

Offensive line coach Mike Barry attributed Arizona’s successful rush on Otton to a delayed linebacker blitz.

“They were showing us a twist-stunt with a tackle and the defensive end, then the outside linebacker would come after a delay,” he said.

“I saw some improvement, but we have to do much better. One thing I was really happy about was the fact we ran well on the last series of the game--I think at that point we’d worn them down up front.

“That’s what an offensive lineman lives for, creating first downs with run plays and running out the clock to win it.”

Indeed, the Trojans showed their best running on the game’s last series, which began with 3:21 left at the USC 36.

With the 5-7 Woods carrying six times and Walters chipping in a five-yard run, USC ran out the clock and headed up the tunnel.

Arizona had 247 net yards--almost half coming on Smith’s runs--and USC 297.

Smith had a 22-yard keeper in the second quarter and a 42-yarder in the third.

“He’s maybe the fastest quarterback I ever played against,” USC defensive tackle Darrell Russell said.

“We knew they couldn’t block us, but our biggest worry was Smith running.”