A Great Start, a Painful End

First came the good part.

Late in the first quarter against Washington, USC defensive back Ronald Nunn was patrolling the left side of the secondary when he saw Husky quarterback Cody Pickett under a heavy rush.

“He threw kind of a duck,” Nunn said. “I don’t think he saw me.”

Nunn intercepted the pass and ran 57 yards down the sideline for a touchdown in USC’s 43-23 victory. A few minutes later, he also recovered a fumble.

But his day soon took a turn for the worse.

In the second quarter, Washington tight end Joe Toledo caught a short pass and Nunn dived to tackle him low. Nunn’s helmet slid down across the bridge of his nose and, when Toledo landed on top of him, he suffered a broken bone in his eye socket.

“It was pretty painful,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what was going on.”

Nunn’s vision blurred initially but soon cleared. However, after the game, his right eye was swollen shut. He was scheduled for further examination when he returned to Los Angeles.

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The Trojans weren’t the only ones with injury problems. Washington played without leading rusher Rich Alexis and lost receiver Charles Frederick, who leads the team in all-purpose yards, to a chest injury in the first quarter.

The Huskies were left with Reggie Williams and three freshmen. Williams was forced to return the first kickoffs and punts of his career in Frederick’s absence.

“His injury changed a lot of factors in the game,” Coach Keith Gilbertson said. “When you lose a guy that is as valuable as Charles, then it really takes a lot out of our offense.”

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USC defensive lineman Kenechi Udeze recalls rushing around the left end and knocking the ball out of the quarterback’s hand. After that, things got a little strange.

“I couldn’t really see” the ball, he said. “I saw everyone running away and I started chasing them.”

The fumble had turned into a “Keystone Cops” routine, the ball getting kicked and pushed across midfield. By the time Washington lineman Khalid Barnes fell on it, the Huskies were facing third and 50. Udeze was credited with a 15-yard sack, the highlight of a day in which he had five tackles, including two others for losses.

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USC posted impressive statistics on offense and defense, but the Trojans’ kicking game was shaky.

Ryan Killeen missed a 35-yard field-goal attempt in the first quarter when the ball hit the right upright. Killeen also had an extra-point kicked blocked and missed wide left on a 20-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter.

“There are some issues there that we’ve got to get cleaned up,” Coach Pete Carroll said. “I’m not making an excuse, but this is uncharacteristic of how we’ve been doing, so we have to do something about that.”

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Redshirt sophomore Frostee Rucker started at defensive end and made eight tackles in place of senior Omar Nazel, who played limited snaps because of a thumb injury suffered against Notre Dame.

“It felt good to really contribute for the first time,” Rucker said. “Usually, after games, I’m not even tired, but I worked so hard, I’m tired for the first time.”

Sophomore linebacker Dallas Sartz, who played in place of the injured Matt Grootegoed, made six tackles.