Trojans Get Run Down

Having said all week that they would go back to the run, the USC Trojans did just that Saturday, being run out of the Coliseum, 21-10, by a fired-up Washington team inspired by tailback Corey Dillon.

With the latest loss, Coach John Robinson’s team is rapidly running out of excuses.

It is also running out of time and running out of bowl options.

USC still might reach El Paso for the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 or Honolulu for the Aloha Bowl on Christmas Day, but only if the Trojans (3-3 in the Pacific-10, 5-4 overall) can figure out how to finish with a winning record and get a bowl bid.

Assuming, of course, that anyone wants them.

Washington, on the other hand, seems to have a good shot at going to the Cotton Bowl as the Pac-10’s second-place finisher. Saturday’s victory, in front of 60,039, improved the Huskies’ record to 5-1, 6-2.

It also exposed many of the Trojans’ offensive shortcomings. A few examples:

--Quarterback protection. Brad Otton was sacked six times and his backup, Matt Koffler, once. Otton had to come out of the game twice to recover from the battering he took from an all-out Husky blitz.

--Time of possession. Washington had the ball eleven minutes longer than the Trojans.

--Lack of a running game. Shawn Walters and Delon Washington finished last week’s Washington State game in promising style, but they were no match for Washington’s defense, led by Ink Aleaga (nine tackles) and John Fiala (eight).

--Dropped passes. There were three more, by LaVale Woods, Billy Miller and R. Jay Soward.

USC had 124 net yards on offense and minus-14 yards rushing--the worst game by a USC offense in more than 20 years.

The Trojans, who were beaten for the third time in their last five games, were held to their lowest rushing total ever. The previous USC low was minus-11 yards against Ohio State in 1941.

Robinson’s team is faced with having to win two of three from, in order, Stanford, UCLA and Notre Dame to assure itself of a wining season, required by the NCAA to play in a bowl.

Judging by Saturday’s feeble second-half performance, that might be a tall order.

The first half was a different matter, and USC took a 10-3 lead into the locker room thanks to aggressive defense by linebacker Sammy Knight, who made a diving interception, and safety Brian Kelly, who created a fumble on a Husky pass reception.

But Dillon, the once-troubled teenager from the streets of Seattle who returned home after junior college stops in Kansas and Utah, proved to be the Trojans’ undoing. The powerful 6-foot-2, 225-pound tailback carried a school-record 37 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns.

He was primarily responsible for keeping a tiring Trojan defense on the field.

Afterward, Robinson could only state the obvious.

“Our offense was overwhelmed, we just did not function,” he said. “They were coming on every down [in the second half]. Our defense just couldn’t hold up forever. The breakdown on offense seemed to be everywhere.

“Again, our defense went beyond the call of duty . . . it did everything you could ask.”

Once Dillon had given Washington a 15-10 lead with a one-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter, the Huskies’ defense manhandled USC’s pass protection, just when the Trojans needed big pass plays to catch up.

Washington’s game-turning drive in the third period began with Dillon going over 1,000 yards for the season (he has 1,035), but the surge to 15-10 was aided immeasurably by a fourth-and-five fake punt play, when Cam Kissel, from Manhattan Beach, took a short snap and ran 20 yards up the middle, to USC’s 25.

How bad was it for USC? Two series tell the tale.

In the final quarter, the Trojans, trailing, 15-10, had a first down at their 25. Otton threw an incomplete pass, Walters lost a yard, USC was penalized 11 yards for holding, an Otton pass missed its target . . . and USC punted from its 13.

After that debacle, Dillon carried five times in a 40-yard Washington drive and scored the touchdown that assured the Huskies the win.

On its next series, USC began at its 27 and finished at its 12.

Husky Coach Jim Lambright was jubilant after his first win over USC in his fourth Washington season. His praise, not surprisingly, was directed toward Dillon.

“Corey Dillon plays better and better . . . he’s a big-play player,” Lambright said.

“The offensive line has great confidence in him. The more we give him the ball, the more it increases our confidence in him.”

The Trojans found that out early.

In the first quarter, Dillon carried seven times in Washington’s first scoring drive, which culminated in a 25-yard field goal. He also made his longest run of the afternoon, a 22-yarder, during which he broke free of two Trojan tacklers.

Echoing Robinson, USC offensive coordinator Mike Riley pointed to other weak offensive efforts, against Penn State, California and Arizona.

“When we got behind, we had to throw too much, which meant too big a burden for the offensive line, picking up all their blitz people,” Riley said.

“Our run game kept us in the game, kept them from overwhelming us. But it wasn’t netting the yardage we needed to win.”

Whereas Dillon had 128 of Washington’s 173 rushing yards--or more than USC’s entire offense--USC’s two best ballcarriers, Walters and Washington, combined for only 30.

The Huskies netted 294 offensive yards.

USC’s defensive players are coming to accept the inevitable, that they’ll be asked to play to the edge of exhaustion, every Saturday.

Said defensive tackle Darrell Russell: “We knew when the season started that this would be a young offense that needed time to develop.”

Added cornerback Daylon McCutcheon: “Any time you go on the field, it doesn’t matter if you’re tired. When you’re called on, you’ve got to go out and play ball.”

And from linebacker Chris Claiborne, who had 12 tackles: “I got a little tired, but we played hard, right to the end. It’s our job to play defense, no matter what.”

Finally, from safety Knight, who also made 12 tackles: “We were a little tired, but their offense was getting tired too. They made a lot of third downs on us. That’s what’s so frustrating.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

No Offense, but . . .

USC had minus-14 yards rushing against Washington, breaking the school record of minus-11, set in a 33-0 loss to Ohio State in 1941. USC had only 124 yards of offense against the Huskies, not a record, but not very good either. Here’s how the USC record book now stands on one-game highs and lows of the Trojan offense:

* Most yards rushing:: 753 against UCLA in 1929

* Fewest yards rushing:: Minus-14 against Washington in 1996

* Most total yards:: 978 against Pomona in 1925

* Fewest total yards:: 65 against Ohio State in 1941