UCLA Wins Battle Arroyo

At 4:23 p.m. Saturday in the Rose Bowl, UCLA’s “clutch series” finally had something to do with success and not the Bruins squeezing their throats.

Skip Hicks, in and out of the doghouse much of the season, had reached the penthouse, where he found Coach Bob Toledo ready to embrace him.

At 4:23, Hicks took a handoff from Cade McNown, started left, then cut upfield, leaving USC tacklers in his wake en route to the end zone, the game’s final touchdown and a 48-41 victory.

The time of day is the only available measure, the Rose Bowl game clock having no significance because it was the second overtime, a first in the 66th meeting of the teams that was perhaps the most frustrating, but probably the most exciting, of them all.

It was certainly the most draining.

“I need to get my breath,” said Toledo, fully 30 minutes after Hicks had scored and UCLA’s Anthony Cobbs had intercepted a fourth-down pass by Matt Koffler in the end zone to end the game.

It was also the most exasperating.

“It was nightmarish,” USC Coach John Robinson said. “What happened to us?”

What happened was the Trojans held a 38-21 lead and were poised to break a five-game losing streak against UCLA and perhaps put some polish on what has been a lackluster season.

But USC (5-6, 3-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference) was victimized by the Bruin “clutch series,” only a few weeks ago the object of scorn after UCLA (5-6, 4-4) had stumbled around the Rose Bowl in the closing minute of a loss to Stanford.

It’s a two-minute drill that was employed with 11:06 to play Saturday, with most of the 80,644 in attendance staying around because they have seen some strange things in this series.

“We’ve grown up some since [the Stanford game],” said Al Borges, the Bruin offensive coordinator. “And we thought this was somebody we could beat.”

It was.

The Bruins cut the lead to 38-24 on a 47-yard field goal by Bjorn Merten, then to 38-31 on a one-yard run by Keith Brown.

But only 2:49 remained, and USC had the ball after Greg Andrasick’s on-side kick went out of bounds.

And then the Trojans didn’t have it, after Bruin linebacker Danjuan Magee, who played sparingly after his knee was drained to relieve swelling before the game, reached into LaVale Woods’ arms to relieve him of the football.

“All I know is that the fullback had the ball, and I just saw it in there and just kind of pushed,” said Magee, who had stayed on the sideline until the fourth quarter while UCLA tried a four-lineman defensive scheme that wasn’t working.

“I had only one tackle before that,” he said. “That wasn’t going to do it.”

On his second tackle, the ball rolled away, and UCLA’s Phillip Ward tried to pick it up and missed. Kusanti Abdul-Salaam, who rode an emotional roller coaster in his final game for UCLA, picked the ball up and headed to his left.

“I should have gone the other way. I would have scored,” Abdul-Salaam said. “It was a gift from Allah.”

Abdul-Salaam returned the gift 11 yards to the Bruin 44.

From there, McNown threw for 17 yards to Jim McElroy, five to Jamal Clark and 23 to a diving Rodney Lee to the USC 11.

Hicks took care of those 11 yards with a run up the middle and tied the game, 38-38, with 39 seconds to play.

It was the first time UCLA had been in a tie since the game’s opening series.

And even then, overtime was not assured.

On third down, with 21 seconds to play, Koffler--who was playing after UCLA’s Weldon Forde knocked Brad Otton out of the game with a shot to the ribs--threw to Chris Miller, who was blanketed by Abdul-Salaam.

“I think he pushed off me, but they called me with pass interference,” Abdul-Salaam said. “Then we caught the ball together and he ripped it from me.”

And USC set up shop on the UCLA 23, with 11 seconds to play.

An incompletion later, Adam Abrams lined up for a field goal try. The low kick was blocked by Travis Kirschke, and the overtime was on.

It was that kind of day for Abdul-Salaam, who had an interception and was victimized earlier by one of three R. Jay Soward touchdown catches and 19 of Soward’s 260 receiving yards, a USC record.

“I sure hope Soward goes to the NFL next season,” Toledo cracked, once he got his voice in gear and sense of humor back.

UCLA chose to let USC have the ball first in overtime, and Abrams was successful from 25 yards for a 41-38 lead.

Merten matched it with a 40-yarder to force the second overtime.

This time, UCLA had the ball first--for one play.

“We had a choice of two plays, and Cade saw them rolling up on the outside and called the inside play,” Hicks said. “The play opened up for me, and I think two people hit me.”

Said Toledo: “Hicks was inspiring on his last touchdown. He was not going to be denied. . . . He wanted the ball one more time to score.”

Said USC freshman linebacker Chris Claiborne: “I hit him and should have had him.”

The Trojans, who play host to Notre Dame next Saturday, couldn’t answer, after Soward dropped a third-down pass and Koffler threw the ball up for grabs, with Cobbs grabbing on fourth down.

It was the end of a totally unbelievable day and the continuation of a totally unbelievable winning streak for UCLA, its longest in the series.

“You look at it, we dominate the game all day long, and then look at the scoreboard,” USC defensive tackle Darrell Russell said. “I can’t understand it. I can’t explain it. It doesn’t make any sense.”

* FEELING GOOD

After all their basketball troubles in recent week, the Bruins really needed this one. C8

* FEELING BAD

The Trojans were too stunned to be angry. Six losses in a row to your archrival will do it. C8

* NOTES

As if this defeat wasn’t painful enough, USC must now get ready for Notre Dame. C8

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Records

USC school records set or tied in the UCLA-USC game:

* Most points scored in a loss: 41

(Old record: 37, vs. Notre Dame, 1986; UCLA, 1992)

* Most receiving yards: 260 by R. Jay Soward

(Old record: 229, Johnnie Morton vs. Washington St., 1993)

* Most touchdown receptions: Three by Soward

(Ties record held by seven others)