Palmer’s Legacy Hangs in Balance

He was supposed to go long. Instead, he went short.

With the giant end zone clock flickering and the wind whipping and the plains roaring late Saturday night, Keary Colbert was supposed to turn Carson Palmer into a hero.

Instead, he made him look like a bum.

Throwing a fourth-down pass on the last drive of what could have been a glorious USC comeback, Palmer fired a perfect pass inside the Kansas State 20-yard line.

Colbert was standing back on the 30.

The football bounced on the hard grass, the purple-filled stadium shook like a dancing Barney, Kansas State won, the Trojans sank, thousands waved and chanted and jeered.

Then Palmer did what he always does.

He took the blame.

“There was a miscommunication,” he said. “If it was anybody’s fault, it was my fault.”

Miscommunication? Colbert was told to run a post route and he ran something else entirely. The kid admitted it. Others confirmed it.

“I ran it wrong,” Colbert said. “I screwed up our quarterback. I wasn’t on the same page. It was my fault.”

Yet Palmer did what he always does.

He asked for the heat.

“You’re the quarterback, you’re expected to win, and you didn’t win,” he said. “It’s on me.”

This is why, after Saturday’s 27-20 loss, Coach Pete Carroll ran off the field gesturing and consoling Palmer.

This is why, if things don’t change in the next couple of months, Palmer will leave USC with a legacy as mixed as it is long.

A terrific leader. A stand-up guy. But a quarterback with a burden.

He has yet to lift himself or his team to a consistent next level.

And now, perhaps the best showcase of his career has become the most red-faced frustration.

Palmer brought the Trojans to this isolated burg with hopes of awakening the football nation. He had two great games on his 2002 resume, one of the top passer ratings in the country, and some folks even starting to hype him for Heisman.

He left town on his back. He had the worst completion percentage since he became a starter--18 for 47--and his team lost its unbeaten season and national shine.

During the game, Palmer became USC’s career leader in passing yards and completions and total plays.

Yet it took nearly two dozen paragraphs to mention it.

“I had an opportunity to win this game, and that’s what you want....” he said later, his voice trailing. “You want the ball.”

He had the ball during drives that were stalled with five overthrown or misdirected passes.

Yet he also endured six Trojan drops, including four by freshman Mike Williams.

“That’s part of the game, every quarterback has drops,” Palmer said.

He had the ball during drives that stalled because of shaky decision making, including four third-down passes that were completed to receivers short of the first down.

Yet he also had the ball during a last drive that, after three consecutive completions, was strangely slowed when USC called a running play up the middle, giving the ball to Malaefou MacKenzie for no gain.

“We popped one on the series before,” said Norm Chow, offensive coordinator, referring to Sultan McCullough’s 25-yard touchdown run on the previous series. “We thought we had a chance to do it again.”

Sometimes when you’re Carson Palmer, it seems as if everything works against you, including yourself.

He threw a perfect jump-ball pass for Williams in the end zone ... and Williams jumped at the wrong time.

Yet earlier, he brought the team slowly out of the huddle, leading to a delay-of-game penalty that led to a punt that led to Kansas State’s game-breaking touchdown.

Despite a terrific Kansas State pass rush, he avoided all but two sacks.

Yet he was also assessed an important intentional-grounding penalty that virtually ended one of USC’s comeback drives.

It has been that way for Palmer for five years here.

It seems that for every great victory over UCLA, there awaits a loss to Utah.

For every great game-winning drive against Auburn, there is a Saturday night against Kansas State.

Palmer will probably not remember his records set here as much as he will remember that USC is the first ranked nonconference visitor that Kansas State has ever defeated.

How will USC remember him?

The next nine games will decide.

With a raucous defense and emerging young position players, USC is a team that Palmer could certainly lead to his first and only Rose Bowl.

Or not.

“He’s a good quarterback and he did a nice job for his team,” said Wildcat linebacker Josh Buhl.

Good? Nice?

That describes Carson Palmer exactly, on a night when stronger adjectives were required.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com.