USC Laugher Turns Scary

The chirping began late in the fourth quarter of a game that should have been causing sleep, not shock.

The chirping began in the hard plastic seats at the top sections of the Coliseum and swept down toward the slippery grass field, where the USC coach stood glaring behind tinted glasses, everybody wondering what he was seeing.

The chirping was indistinguishable except for one word, a word that explained everything.

“Hackett . . . murmurmurmurmurmur . . . Hackett . . . murmurmurmurmurmur . . . Hackett . . . “

The scabby-kneed USC footballers are the only team in town still in line for a Rose Bowl ticket after 37-29 victory over Oregon State on Saturday.

But their coach, Paul Hackett, is murmurmurmurmurmur.

The many fans who left early in the fourth quarter might be furious to learn that Hackett declined a chance to clinch the game with a 40-yard field goal attempt with 3:04 remaining.

We know this, because many of the fans who stayed spoke for them.

There were groans when Oregon State took over on downs and quickly moved downfield to score, pulling within a touchdown and a two-point conversion.

There were outright cries when Chad Morton fumbled the ball back to the Beavers with a little more than a minute remaining during a series in which, perhaps, quarterback Mike Van Raaphorst could have taken three knees.

And then, with Oregon State only 33 yards from potentially tying a game in a series where the Beavers have not won in 32 years, there was fear.

And this was only in the USC huddle.

“I’m just glad I didn’t have a heart attack,” safety David Gibson said.

The Trojans pulled it out, and now fly next weekend to Tucson for a showdown with Arizona that could be a giant step toward deciding the Rose Bowl representative in this Whack-10 Conference race.

But it’s the guy in the pilot’s seat that everyone seems worried about.

Already facing drips of criticism for everything from his team’s numerous silly penalties to late-game play calling, Hackett has stepped into a waterfall.

Some may choose to look at Saturday’s game like this: The USC kids took a 37-7 lead against a previously unbeaten team, then were guilty of nothing more than putting their feet on the couch.

But others may see it this way: For 12 minutes of a regular-season college fooball game, the Trojans were outscored, 22-0, by a team that had not beaten them in 25 previous meetings.

Oregon

Stinking

State

Any way you look it, Hackett had some explaining to do.

* About the decision to not kick the late field goal, instead sending Chad Morton into the line for a four-yard run on fourth and 13:

“I felt time was the biggest thing we had to get rid of,” he said. “What if the field goal got blocked? What if we missed it?

“I probably overthought it but . . . I thought I’d rather have time off the clock then the points.”

* About the decision to hand the ball to anybody on the ensuing possession, instead of protecting it with one man:

“They had three timeouts left, so our charts told us we needed to get a first down,” Hackett said. “Our plan was pretty well thought out, but it didn’t unfold because of the fumble.”

* About the 11 penalties for 99 yards, giving USC 33 penalties in two weeks, this time for everything from too many men on the field to Antoine Harris bouncing a football off an opponent’s rear end:

“We had a lot of penalties, but many of them were aggressive penalties, and I don’t have a problem with those,” he said.

* About what was nearly the most disturbing loss since, well, um, last year’s Sun Bowl:

“What happened when it was 37-7 was a mystery to me,” Hackett said.

What happens now is not.

The competition to be the Pac-10’s representative in the Rose Bowl is as wide open as Charles Barkley’s mouth.

Stanford is leading, but, seriously: Has anybody ever appeared in the Rose Bowl in the same year it lost to San Jose State?

Arizona State is still alive, but, seriously: Has anybody ever appeared in the Rose Bowl the same year it lost to New Mexico State?

(Come to think of it, has anybody else ever lost to New Mexico State, period?)

Oregon still has to win at Arizona and UCLA.

Washington still has to win with Rick Neuheisel.

And Arizona still has to win next week.

That would be against USC in what could be the last Rose Bowl-related game among this town’s teams this season.

It is no mystery that a lot of this depends on Hackett.

The Pac-10 race will be won not by the strong--nobody is really strong--but by the smart. And Hackett needs to show some of those legendary NFL smarts.

If Carson Palmer were not getting fitted for a redshirt, his coach probably would not be an issue.

Hackett had designed a workable offense for his work in progress. The defense was going to take care of the rest.

Coaching mistakes by a guy in only his second full year at a program of this magnitude could be hidden in sideline hugs.

But with the injury to Palmer, the rules have changed.

The Trojans have an injury-thin, sometimes overmatched offense. The defense is nearly collapsing while trying to hold that offense up.

Only 100 total yards in the second half? A total of minus-one yards on two of its three possessions in the fourth quarter?

Paul Hackett’s favorite toy has been taken away, and now the town is waiting to see how he reacts.

Is he more than just an accomplished offensive coordinator underneath a head coach’s cap? Can he be as effective on a sideline and in a locker room as he once was in a press box directing arguably the greatest quarterback in football history?

Murmurmurmurmurmur.

*

Bill Plaschke can be reached at his e-mail address: bill.plaschke@latimes.com.