Troubled Soward Gets Shut Out Too

Normally, sophomore R. Jay Soward is chatty and outgoing, as vibrant a presence in USC’s locker room as he is on the field.

But Saturday was not a normal day for Soward or the Trojans.

Soward, the big-play wide receiver who leads the Trojans with seven touchdowns, failed to catch a pass Saturday in USC’s 27-0 loss to seventh-ranked Washington at Husky Stadium. Twice in the first quarter he let passes squirt out of his grip; in the second quarter, he was the intended receiver of a pass from Mike Van Raaphorst but was knocked out of bounds to set up an interception by the Huskies.

The victim of a mild concussion on a crunching hit in the third quarter, Soward’s day ended when he was helped off the field. He was dazed and unable to crystallize his thoughts after the game, sitting quietly at his locker while his teammates noisily showered and dressed.

But even before the game, Soward had plenty on his mind. He had been questioned recently in a continuing university investigation into tutoring improprieties and wasn’t sure of his status.

“He’s had to deal with some of that stuff and it might have taken his mind off things,” linebacker Mark Cusano said. “Hey, Keyshawn [Johnson] dropped a lot of passes my freshman year.”

But not since a 31-0 loss to Washington in 1990 had the Trojans been shut out. Soward’s struggles were part of the problem Saturday, but his problems were not the only reason for the Trojans’ offensive nightmares.

“I’m at a loss,” offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said, “but it wasn’t just R. Jay.”

Said Coach John Robinson: “When you play against a man-to-man defense, you’ve got to make some catches, and we didn’t. . . . I don’t think we got anything from our wide receivers. They did not make the plays. We knew all week that’s what we had to do. You can attribute it to the coverage or attribute it to the fact we dropped the ball, but that was what happened.”

The Trojan receivers, as a group, caught 10 of 26 passes for only 86 yards, although they acknowledged Washington’s defense did nothing to surprise or outwit them. The longest pass play was an 18-yard reception by Daylon McCutcheon in the first quarter. Van Raaphorst was intercepted twice.

“I’m not one to start pinpointing things about other people because I made some mistakes. I’ve got to look within myself, and I know I didn’t come through for the team. That’s all I can talk about,” said Mike Bastianelli, who caught two passes for 18 yards.

“I’m sure a lot of people feel like this was a combined team effort. We expected them to play like this. They didn’t do anything different. We just didn’t execute.”

Billy Miller, who caught five passes for 29 yards--the longest a 10-yard reception--and also dropped one, said the game symbolized the Trojans’ season-long offensive failings.

“It’s not just all of a sudden in this game we got blown out, 27-0,” he said. “Every game it’s been either we can’t get going in the first half or something happens. . . .

“I definitely think it’s not the coaches’ fault. I don’t care if it’s fourth and a thousand and they call run, we can get it. We’re just not executing. Everyone’s coming down on Coach Robinson, and it makes me feel terrible. I feel like I’m letting him down. Nothing’s going to get going on offense if our receivers can’t catch.”