Morton Gets New Job Done in Hurry

Chad Morton is small, a little bit fragile . . . and very, very fast.

USC gave him the ball for the first time this season on a pitch in the first quarter Saturday.

Morton headed around the right end, and he was off.

Sixty-nine yards later, he was hauled down at Stanford’s 11-yard line by the last man who had a prayer, cornerback Frank Primus.

“It’s amazing what speed does,” USC Coach John Robinson said. “Chad has the ability to go from zero to full speed in just a few steps as well as any player I’ve ever seen.”

The Trojans scored three plays later, and before USC’s fans finished celebrating, you could almost hear them wondering: This is great, but why didn’t USC give Morton the ball before the ninth game of the season?

Morton’s run was the longest of USC’s season--and the second-longest was a 23-yard scramble by quarterback John Fox.

Why did it take so long to try Morton, the 5-foot-8, 175-pound little brother of former USC receiver Johnnie Morton?

He ran for 143 yards last season as a freshman in emergency duty against Oregon State, and had a 73-yard run in that game. But he started this season as USC’s starting free safety before missing time with injuries and being bumped out of the lineup by the play of Rashard Cook and David Gibson.

While USC tried Delon Washington, LaVale Woods and Malaefou MacKenzie and watched them all suffer injuries of one type or another, Morton waited on defense.

But with his role diminished and the USC offense growing desperate, he moved to tailback last week.

The real drawback to using Morton on offense is the potential for injuries--and that showed Saturday when he sat out much of the second half because of hamstring problems.

He also struggled because he was sick all week, but he persevered. “I didn’t really eat anything this morning,” Morton said. “All I had was one Power Bar. It was just one of those things you have to fight through.”

Robinson said the beating Morton’s small body takes is a factor in his durability on offense.

“He got hurt in the second quarter and didn’t really play in the second half,” Robinson said. “He’s such a dynamic player. If we can get him to sustain from an injury standpoint, then we’ve got a big-time player.”

His effect on a game is obvious.

“It’s so evident,” quarterback Mike Van Raaphorst said. “I mean, anyone could see it when he came in the game.”

And his effect on his teammates?

“Everybody was energized by that run,” Van Raaphorst said.

USC’s whole game was energized.

“It was a really good game,” Morton said. “A lot of people didn’t think we could put up that many points.”

And his big run?

“It was a sweep play,” Morton said. “I saw the hole and at first I didn’t think I’d get to it fast enough because of my legs. The line did a good job blocking. It was a huge hole. Unfortunately, I got caught at the end.”

As for USC, the Trojans have finally caught on at the end of the season: Get Morton the ball.

“Any time you can put the ball in a guy’s hands who’s a threat to get to the end zone, that makes a difference,” offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said. “It takes a lot of pressure off R. Jay [Soward]. With Chad and Daylon [McCutcheon], there are a lot of people to worry about.

“It’s easy to say, ‘Why didn’t we do it before?’ It’s the ninth game. We’ll take it.”

Not only will the offense take Morton--it will keep him, for this season at the very least.

“They told me I wasn’t going back on defense,” Morton said. “I guess I’ll probably stay at tailback.”