Ashton Can Walk Off With Pride

By Gary Klein and Bill Plaschke

Nov. 16, 2003 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writers

TUCSON —

Collin Ashton made his first start a memorable one Saturday night in the second-ranked Trojans’ 45-0 victory over Arizona.

Ashton, a redshirt sophomore walk-on from Mission Viejo, started at weakside linebacker in place of injured team captain Melvin Simmons. He made eight tackles, second only to Trojan safety Jason Leach’s 12.

“I had big shoes to fill, but I did all right,” said Ashton, who had one tackle for a loss and also forced a fumble on kickoff coverage. “I was a little bit nervous, but I calmed down after the first series.

“I can’t wait to get back out there.”

Coach Pete Carroll praised Ashton for his play and said he was an inspiration to other walk-ons.

“That’s the kind of thing you hope happens, and it did tonight,” Carroll said.

If Gregg Guenther Jr. played for any other Pacific 10 Conference program, he would be more than a tight end, he could be a leading receiver.

On the Trojans, though, the quick and athletic basketball player has caught only 12 passes this sea- son.

Two, however, have been for touchdowns, including a one-armed grab around an Arizona defender Saturday for a 20-yard score at the end of the first half.

When told it was one of the best Trojans catches this season, Guenther said, “Really? I tried to look at it on the big screen, but couldn’t see much.”

He will surely look at it again and again this week. But he says he will not wonder what might have been.

“Yeah, with so many great players around, it’s hard to get the ball a lot,” he said. “But Coach Carroll tells us to be ready, and we all get a chance, and you have to do the most with it.”

Guenther says he plans to rejoin the basketball team at the end of football season, whenever that is.

“Everybody says Coach [Henry] Bibby is so tough, but I really like him, he’s my kind of coach,” he said. “He wants you to go to school and work hard. How bad is that?”

Sophomore fullback Brandon Hancock suffered a sprained left knee and will have an MRI exam on Monday.

Sophomore safety Mike Ross suffered a concussion.

Ryan Killeen kicked six extra points, giving him 49 for the season. That ties the season record shared by Mike Rae (1972) and Eric Hipp (1979).

USC Sports

Gary Klein

Gary Klein covers the Los Angeles Rams for the Los Angeles Times. Before that, he covered USC’s football program and athletic department. He began working for The Times in the San Fernando Valley edition and has reported on high school, college and pro sports. He grew up in Southern California and graduated from Cal State Northridge.

Bill Plaschke

Bill Plaschke, an L.A. Times sports columnist since 1996, is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame and California Sports Hall of Fame. He has been named national Sports Columnist of the Year nine times by the Associated Press, and twice by the Society of Professional Journalists and National Headliner Awards. He is the author of six books, including a collection of his columns entitled “Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoilsports, Foul Balls and Oddballs.” Plaschke is also a panelist on the popular ESPN daily talk show, “Around the Horn.” He is in the national Big Brothers/Big Sisters Alumni Hall of Fame and has been named Man of the Year by the Los Angeles Big Brothers/Big Sisters as well as receiving a Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth.

Ashton Can Walk Off With Pride

More From the Los Angeles Times