USC’s Collapse of ’96 : Preseason’s National Title Hopes, No. 7 Ranking Are Long Forgotten

It was seven months ago, midway through spring football practice, that USC’s season suffered its first serious blow.

Offensive lineman Phalen Pounds, 6 feet 7 and 310 pounds, slammed into a linebacker one afternoon and felt a “pop” in his right shoulder.

The shoulder remained sore the rest of spring practice and still hurts. Pounds had reconstructive surgery June 20 and won’t play again until Sept. 6, when USC opens its 1997 season, against Florida State.

In part because of Pounds’ absence, the Trojans, who were favored to win the Pacific-10 championship, instead find themselves 5-5, much to the displeasure of their fans.

The offensive coaches have been taking heat since the season’s first shock, the 22-15 loss to Cal on Oct. 5.

Now, because the Trojans turned a 20-7 halftime lead Saturday at Stanford into a 24-20 loss, the fans are furious at the defensive coaches too.

How did this all come about?

When USC was 3-1, no one saw the storm warnings--until the Trojans played Cal at the Coliseum.

They had opened Aug. 25 with a 24-7 loss to Penn State in New Jersey. General reaction at Heritage Hall: Disappointing, but not entirely unexpected.

Then came three victories, 55-3 at Illinois, 46-17 over Oregon State and 26-9 at Houston. Suddenly, no one was talking much about how young the Trojans were or about how every offensive lineman who started in the Rose Bowl game was gone.

The expectation was that USC was still Rose Bowl bound.

Instead, this happened:

--In the Oregon State game, USC’s best offensive lineman, left guard Chris Brymer, rolled his foot awkwardly on a running play. He missed the next four games, and it showed.

Brymer returned to play in the 48-35 overtime loss at Arizona State, but it was too soon. He was hobbled that day, and he tweaked his injury again at Stanford. He will sit out practice this week, then hope it’s healed by the UCLA game.

--Tight end John Allred, a possible NFL first-round pick and a player Coach John Robinson called “maybe the best blocker I’ve ever coached, at any level,” sprained his ankle on the first play of the Washington State game. He missed the rest of that game, Washington and Stanford, but expects to be back for UCLA.

Allred was also the team’s most reliable receiver. Nearly all of the remaining receivers have been consistently unreliable.

At Stanford, freshman R. Jay Soward dropped four passes.

And Soward, more than any other Trojan, has the coaching staff frustrated and mystified. Soward--who has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, may be the team’s fastest player and its best broken-field runner.

In scoring a touchdown Saturday at Palo Alto--on a pass he bobbled, then caught--he showed the best broken-field running by any player yet this season. But as a receiver, he has failed miserably.

Just as mystifying is the case of sophomore Billy Miller, thought to be the next Keyshawn Johnson. There were practices last season when it was difficult to tell Miller from Johnson. Both made leaping, acrobatic catches, sometimes one-handed.

Nearly everyone expected Miller to make at least 50 catches.

He has 17 and lost his starting job last week.

USC’s pass blocking suddenly disappeared in the Cal game, when senior quarterback Brad Otton, being protected mostly by freshmen and sophomores, was sacked six times. Then it was seven times against Arizona, three against Washington State, seven against Washington. . . .

Through it all, Otton refuses to blast his pass blockers. Only once has he even shown annoyance. After the Arizona game, when asked if he had ever been sacked that many times before, he responded: “Yeah, seven days ago.”

When the passing game fell apart, there was no running game to help out. The young offensive linemen don’t run-block well, either. Plus, tailbacks Delon Washington and LaVale Woods have had only fair-to-good seasons.

Shawn Walters, thought to be an emerging star as a sophomore two years ago, wound up in the NCAA doghouse for 13 games for dealing with an agent. He hasn’t been a factor this season.

Also, Robinson himself did two things that didn’t help much:

--He won a national championship in his first term at USC, in 1978.

--So when he returned for a second term, on Jan. 3, 1993, expectations soared. And they soared even higher when he spoke, albeit vaguely, of future national championships.

Everything seemed on track, until the Cal loss.

The Trojans had gone to three consecutive bowls, finishing 8-5, 8-3-1 and 9-2-1.

The downside: USC has lost five in a row to UCLA and is winless against Notre Dame since 1982.

Now, there are two games left, against UCLA on Nov. 23 and Notre Dame Nov. 30.

The Trojans need to win at least one to avoid their first losing season since 1991. There have been only three losing years since 1961.

Is there a way to save the season and silence the critics?

Two things might happen:

--If UCLA or Notre Dame draws a bead on Otton, Robinson might send in freshman speedster Quincy Woods, a quarterback who, perhaps, can run out of trouble.

--There is a highly recruited wide receiver who hasn’t been used yet, Stan Guyness of Los Alamitos. Maybe it’s time to see if he can catch.

Would victories over both UCLA and Notre Dame save some coaching jobs?

Maybe.

Robinson, with a five-year, $3-million contract, seems safe.

What about his staff?

Robinson wasn’t talking to reporters Monday, but he did say this, through a USC spokesman:

“Every coach and player on our team is deeply disappointed in our record to date. We haven’t played to our potential. We must get by the negatives and work together and as hard as possible and put together the best possible effort in these last two games.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Middle of the Road

Game-by-game look at how USC has fared in key statistical categories in its 5-5 season:

PENN STATE 24, USC 7

*--*

First downs Penn St. 23 USC 12 Net rushing yards Penn St. 313 USC 138 Net passing yards Penn St. 149 USC 144 Third down conv. Penn St. 8/15 USC 5/15 Time of possession Penn St. 34:08 USC 25:52

*--*

USC 55, ILLINOIS 3

*--*

First downs USC 20 Illinois 16 Net rushing yards USC 154 Illinois 88 Net passing yards USC 428 Illinois 198 Third down conv. USC 7/14 Illinois 3/15 Time of possession Illinois 30:36 USC 29:24

*--*

USC 46, OREGON STATE 17

*--*

First downs USC 22 Ore. St. 11 Net rushing yards USC 314 Ore. St. 119 Net passing yards USC 307 Ore. St. 97 Third down conv. USC 5/12 Ore. St. 4/14 Time of possession Ore. St. 32:21 USC 27:39

*--*

USC 26, HOUSTON 9

*--*

First downs USC 20 Houston 14 Net rushing yards Houston 131 USC 92 Net passing yards USC 290 Houston 150 Third down conv. USC 10/18 Houston 3/13 Time of possession USC 33:55 26:05

*--*

CAL 22, USC 15

*--*

First downs Cal 22 USC 15 Net rushing yards Cal 186 USC 102 Net passing yards USC 234 Cal 229 Third down conv. Cal 8/18 USC 5/12 Time of possession Cal 38:23 USC 21:37

*--*

USC 14, ARIZONA 7

*--*

First downs USC 25 Arizona 13 Net rushing yards Arizona 135 USC 77 Net passing yards USC 220 Arizona 112 Third down conv. USC 10/21 Arizona 3/12 Time of possession USC 35:56 Arizona 24:04

*--*

ARIZONA STATE 48, USC 35*

*--*

First downs Ariz. St. 29 USC 13 Net rushing yards Ariz. St. 266 USC 90 Net passing yards Ariz. St. 277 USC 205 Third down conv. Ariz. St. 8/20 USC 2/15 Time of possession Ariz. St. 37:58 USC 22:02

*--*

*--Two overtimes

USC 29, WASHINGTON STATE 24

*--*

First downs Wash. St. 23 USC 19 Net rushing yards USC 148 Wash. St. 55 Net passing yards Wash. St. 314 USC 130 Third down conv. Wash. St. 6/14 USC 5/12 Time of possession USC 31:32 Wash.St. 28:28

*--*

WASHINGTON 21, USC 10

*--*

First downs Wash. 16 USC 11 Net rushing yards Wash. 161 USC -14 Net passing yards USC 138 Wash. 133 Third down conv. Wash. 6/18 USC 2/15 Time of possession Wash. 35:41 USC 24:19

*--*

STANFORD 24, USC 20

*--*

First downs USC 22 Stanford 18 Net rushing yards Stanford 195 USC 68 Net passing yards USC 277 Stanford 166 Third down conv. USC 8/18 Stanford 6/17 Time of possession Stanford 30:14 USC 29:46

*--*