It’s Good Friday for USC

One quarterback passed 68 times, threw for 405 yards and lost.

The other quarterback took a knee at the end of the game--and got engaged.

With a celebratory finish to a season that once wasn’t worth celebrating at all, USC ran all over 25th-ranked Louisiana Tech, 45-19, in a rare Friday game in front of 45,070 at the Coliseum.

Louisiana Tech quarterback Tim Rattay threw everything he had at USC and became the second-most prolific passer in NCAA history in the process, but also threw three interceptions.

Rattay finished with 12,746 yards in three seasons, passing Louisville’s Chris Redman.

Only former Brigham Young quarterback Ty Detmer (15,031 yards) has passed for more yards in a career.

The cheering after the game, though, was for USC quarterback John Fox, who proposed to his girlfriend with a scoreboard video and took a knee on the field to put the ring on her finger.

“She said OK,” Fox said.

With that, USC ended a season in which the Trojans endured a five-game losing streak by winning the final three games to finish with a 6-6 record, snapping UCLA’s eight-game winning streak in the rivalry and halting Louisiana Tech’s eight-game winning streak as well.

The exhausted heroes Friday were from a USC secondary that had to use three true freshmen for most of the game against Louisiana Tech’s wide-open, five-receiver offense.

No one delivered better than freshman cornerback Kevin Arbet, who arrived at USC in August as a walk-on and won a scholarship in training camp.

He shut the door on Louisiana Tech in the second half Friday with a fumble recovery at USC’s 22-yard line and an interception at the 25 that he turned into a spectacular 75-yard touchdown return for a 35-13 third-quarter lead.

Could he have even dreamed of such a performance?

“I want to say no, but I kind of did always picture myself taking one back to ‘the house,’ ” Arbet said.

“I knew exactly what they were going to do on that play. We went over it so many times. I took the ball, and then my running back skills took over.”

Arbet was one of two freshman corners who started the game, with Antuan Simmons out because of back surgery and USC in a nickel defense. (Darrell Rideaux was the other freshman, with Kris Richard the other regular starter.)

“I had two puppies out there,” secondary coach Dennis Thurman said. “They grew up a lot.”

They had no choice against Rattay.

Louisiana Tech (8-3) ran the ball only 13 times--not even attempting a rush until 2:20 remained in the first quarter.

“I think their quarterback benefited from the runs--so he could rest his arm,” safety David Gibson said. “He must have thrown about 100 times.”

Actually only 68--the most ever by a quarterback against USC. Rattay completed 35 with three interceptions and three touchdowns, putting him second on the NCAA list for touchdown passes with 115 behind Detmer’s 121.

“This week in practice, instead of a running drill, we ran extra passing drills,” Thurman said. “We tried to throw 70 balls, but our quarterback’s arm was about to fall off.

“This guy can flat-out throw the football. Tim Rattay is big-time. . . . Overall, we’re happy. He threw for 405 yards and we’re happy.”

Reports of Rattay’s accurate passing seemed inaccurate in the first quarter, when he and his receivers struggled.

By the time he found his rhythm, USC led, 21-0, with 6:41 still to play in the first quarter.

That’s cause for concern at USC, since the Trojans twice this season took a 21-point lead and lost, against Notre Dame and Stanford.

Not this time--although USC allowed Louisiana Tech to get as close as 21-13.

R. Jay Soward started things with a 53-yard touchdown pass from Fox less than four minutes into the game--the 25th and final play of 40 yards or longer of Soward’s career, which ended with him on the bench because of illness after catching three passes for 74 yards and gaining an additional 47 yards on two reverses.

Tailback Chad Morton rushed for 84 yards and three touchdowns in his final game, including a 17-yard scramble. Backup Sultan McCullough ran for 79 yards and Malaefou MacKenzie added 71 as USC ran for a season-high 309 yards.

But the challenge was for the defense.

“The key to the game was defense,” USC Coach Paul Hackett said. “I thought we rattled [Rattay] early. He looked a little out of sorts until he found his rhythm.

“You’re playing two freshman corners, and our best corner is not on the field against an absolutely premier passer.

“We played 10 defensive linemen, rushed him constantly. We didn’t feel we needed sacks--but Florida State got only one and we got four. We felt the key was to put pressure on him and force him to react.”

He did, by throwing three interceptions--one to Ifeanyi Ohalete, the one to Arbet, and another that Richard picked off at the USC one-yard line, his sixth interception of the season.

Four times in the third quarter, Louisiana Tech got inside USC’s 30 but didn’t score.

One drive ended when Arbet recovered a fumble by running back Bobby Ray Tell, two ended with interceptions, and the fourth on downs.

USC wasn’t perfect--for one thing, Hackett yanked kicker David Newbury after a missed 46-yard field-goal attempt, replacing him with David Bell, who made a 38-yarder.

But that’s a problem for next year.

“I think the story of today is that the seniors found a way to win three in a row after a tough season,” Hackett said. “It gives us great momentum going into the off-season.”