Rolling Trojans Hand Reeling Bruins a Dominating Shutout

Not so long ago, this year’s version of the cross-town rivalry between USC and UCLA looked certain to be a mismatch.

And that’s exactly how it turned out.

But no one expected Saturday afternoon’s game to be a romp for the Trojans, who parlayed a smothering defense and a few big offensive plays into a 27-0 victory over UCLA at the Coliseum, their third consecutive victory in the rivalry and the first shutout since 1947.

The win capped the Trojans’ comeback from a 1-4 start, improving their record to 6-5 in Coach Pete Carroll’s first season. They are assured a postseason game, most likely in the Las Vegas Bowl on Christmas Day.

Meanwhile, the loss sent a reeling UCLA even deeper into a funk. The Bruins, who came into the game ranked No. 20, have now lost four consecutive games after racing to a 6-0 start.

“I love it,” USC quarterback Carson Palmer said. “We’re going in a good direction. They’re not.”

It has been a forgettable few weeks for the Bruins. Tailback DeShaun Foster was declared ineligible for the remainder of the season for borrowing a car--an “extra benefit” in NCAA terms--from a Hollywood actor/director.

More recently, it was discovered quarterback Cory Paus had been convicted of drunk driving before the season and must serve jail time. Asked if the distractions had caught up with his teammates and him, Paus said: “I think the team was as focused as we could be.”

His coach, Bob Toledo, seemed stunned.

“I’m kind of speechless right now,” Toledo said. “We were totally inept out there.”

USC, on the other had, looked like a team that has gained confidence from four consecutive victories.

Playing before a crowd of 88,588, the Trojans gave a hint of things to come on their first possession. Facing third and 13, Palmer threw what might have been a simple 10-yard pass to Kori Dickerson except the tight end broke a tackle and sprinted 66 yards up the sideline. Suddenly, the Trojans were out of a hole.

Palmer made good on it a few plays later, throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to Keary Colbert. All week long, Colbert stood on the sideline in practice with sore ankles. But when he stepped onto the field Saturday, he said, “I saw all those people and the pain just went away.”

On the scoring play, Colbert got one of his heavily taped feet--”The bad one ... they’re both bad”--just over the goal line for a 7-0 lead.

“You could tell early,” Carroll said. “We had a shot at playing a great ballgame.”

But if the offense got things started, it was defense that made the difference.

The Bruins were expected to come with the running game, even without Foster in the backfield. The Trojans weren’t buying it.

Early in the week, the coaching staff decided to let the defensive linemen go after Paus without worrying about their gaps. It was something of a gamble, putting an onus on the linebackers to clean up any running backs who might slip through. But the coaches simply did not believe reserve tailbacks Manuel White and Akil Harris could hurt them.

So the defense tried every trick in the book, from blitzes to stunts to a zone drop that had defensive end Omar Nazel covering receiver Craig Bragg on one play in the second quarter. “We called everything on the sheet about three times,” Carroll said.

There was a moment, however flickering, when this strategy threatened to backfire. UCLA looked to be mounting a drive late in the first quarter with White rushing three consecutive times for 17 yards. Then, unexpectedly, Paus dropped back and threw to Brian Poli-Dixon. What happened next was just as inexplicable.

The ball bounced off Poli-Dixon and hit cornerback Antuan Simmons in the leg. Simmons trapped it with one hand, brought it behind him and between his legs. Everyone else seemed frozen.

The senior--who came back from life-threatening surgery less than two years ago--ran 36 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead. That margin grew to 17-0 at halftime.

Gone was UCLA’s determination to establish the run. Gone was any semblance of patience. “We couldn’t generate anything,” Toledo said. “We were too far behind to keep running the football and we weren’t running well anyway.”

So Paus began dropping back on almost every play and the numbers began to pile up against UCLA.

By evening’s end, the Bruins totaled only 114 yards of offense, a mere 28 of those on the ground. They fumbled the ball away once and threw three interceptions and had a punt blocked.

Paus completed only seven of 15 passes for 45 yards, and two of those interceptions, before being replaced in the fourth quarter.

“It was a pretty tough game for the offense and for me,” the quarterback said. “USC was throwing a lot of heat at us.”

The Trojan offense all but finished things off in the third quarter. Palmer, who passed for an efficient 180 yards and a touchdown, ran the option and pitched to tailback Chris Howard. The Trojans had planned to use the freshman as a counterpoint to starter Sunny Byrd, a straight-ahead grinder, but had waited.

“I was getting jittery,” Howard said. “I wanted to get in the game and make my mark.”

His 34-yard touchdown run up the sideline did nicely. Kicker David Davis made his second short field goal in the fourth quarter and, for the Trojans, there was only one thing left.

The defense had come into the game ranked second in the conference behind UCLA and had taken the whole thing personally. As the minutes wound down, middle linebacker Mike Pollard was screaming at his teammates: “Let’s get the goose egg.”

It was an unforeseen conclusion to a game that, only a few weeks ago, looked like a possible rout for the Bruins.

“To come back from where we were,” USC fullback Charlie Landrigan said walking off the field. “Who would believe it?”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BY THE NUMBERS

6 Victories for USC, which makes the Trojans bowl eligible. It looks like a good bet that they will be invited to the Las Vegas Bowl.

4 Losses in a row for UCLA after a 6-0 start. Also, wins in a row for USC after a 2-5 start. The heat is off Pete Carroll and on Bob Toledo.

3 Consecutive victories in the series for USC, after UCLA had reeled off eight victories in a row. The series record is 37-27-7 in favor of USC.

114 Total offense for the Bruins. Think they missed running back DeShaun Foster? He averaged 138.6 yards in the first eight games.

Turnarounds

USC and UCLA have had a reversal of fortune the last few weeks. A look at some statistics:

USC’S OFFENSE(During 1-4 start)

Rushing yards per game: 93.4

Avg yards per carry: 2.9

Passing yards per game: 242.6

Points per game: 17.8

Turnover margin: Plus-1

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USC’S OFFENSE(Last six games, 5-1)

Rushing yards per game: 97.3

Avg. yards per carry: 2.6

Passing yards per game: 226.5

Points per game: 33.8

Turnover margin: Plus-11

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UCLA’S DEFENSE(During 6-0 start):

Rushing yards allowed per game: 104.3

Avg. yards allowed per carry: 3.0

Passing yards allowed per game: 187.2

Points allowed per game: 12.8

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UCLA’s DEFENSE(Last four games, 0-4)

Rushing yards allowed per game: 139

Avg. yards allowed per carry: 3.5

Passing yards allowed per game: 203.8

Points allowed per game: 26.5

Researched by Houston Mitchell

The Rivalry

Bob Toledo 3-3

Pete Carroll 1-0V

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USC leads the series, 37-27-7 (* Double overtime)

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YEAR WINNER SCORE 1929 USC 76-0 1930 USC 52-0 1936 Tied 7-7 1937 USC 19-13 1938 USC 42-7 1939 Tied 0-0 1940 USC 28-12 1941 Tied 7-7 1942 UCLA 14-7 1943 USC 20-0 1943 USC 26-13 1944 Tied 13-13 1944 USC 40-13 1945 USC 13-6 1945 USC 26-15 1946 UCLA 13-6 1947 USC 6-0 1948 USC 20-13 1949 USC 21-7 1950 UCLA 39-0 1951 UCLA 21-7 1952 USC 14-12 1953 UCLA 13-0 1954 UCLA 34-0 1955 UCLA 17-7 1956 USC 10-7 1957 UCLA 20-9 1958 Tied 15-15 1959 UCLA 10-3 1960 USC 17-6 1961 UCLA 10-7 1962 USC 14-3 1963 USC 26-6 1964 USC 34-13 1965 UCLA 20-16 1966 UCLA 14-7 1967 USC 21-20 1968 USC 28-16 1969 USC 14-12 1970 UCLA 45-20 1971 Tied 7-7 1972 USC 24-7 1973 USC 23-13 1974 USC 34-9 1975 UCLA 25-22 1976 USC 24-14 1977 USC 29-27 1978 USC 17-10 1979 USC 49-14 1980 UCLA 20-17 1981 USC 22-21 1982 UCLA 20-19 1983 UCLA 27-17 1984 UCLA 29-10 1985 USC 17-13 1986 UCLA 45-25 1987 USC 17-13 1988 USC 31-22 1989 Tied 10-10 1990 USC 45-42 1991 UCLA 24-21 1992 UCLA 38-37 1993 UCLA 27-21 1994 UCLA 31-19 1995 UCLA 24-20 1996 UCLA 48-41* 1997 UCLA 31-24 1998 UCLA 34-17 1999 USC 17-7 2000 USC 38-35 2001 USC 27-0

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