In the Clutch, USC Didn’t Like Mike

Fans poured from the Memorial Stadium stands like tiny granules, thousands of them, spilling around stunned USC, dousing a myth while providing a metaphor.

A capsized Sugar Bowl.

The Trojans’ national championship hopes were virtually dashed Saturday by Cal focus, Cal fortitude and Cal faithful in what might be described as a Cal-lapse.

Three overtimes after they began the afternoon as the third-ranked team in the nation, the Trojans ended it as a victim of a Cal team that already had lost three games.

Threes weren’t the only things wild in this 34-31 defeat. So, too, was quarterback Matt Leinart’s arm, his secondary’s attention span, and his team’s play calling in the final moments of regulation.

Although the spirit was pure Trojan, the mechanics were not, and won’t they be talking about this one until the Chows come home.

“It’s hard,” said Trojan defensive tackle Shaun Cody after he escaped the swarm of folks who had rushed the field to dance and sing into the misty night. “It’s not supposed to happen.”

No, it’s not, not after a 51-week winning streak, not after three early blowouts gave hope that the Trojans could win their first national championship since Marcus Allen was a freshman.

And certainly, it wasn’t supposed to happen when they came back from a 21-7 halftime deficit Saturday to pull within three points in the final minute of regulation, holding the ball on the Cal 22-yard line, first down.

This is where the story of this loss begins, at the end, after Coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Norm Chow had utilized The Amazing Mike Williams on 24 yards’ worth of catches to move within victory distance.

But once there, inexplicably, the Trojans decided to run the ball.

Hershel Dennis, who had been stuffed most of the afternoon, was stopped three consecutive times.

That set up the game-tying field goal with 16 seconds remaining, sending the game into the nutty overtimes while setting off a flurry of postgame wondering.

“I really didn’t understand that,” said Bear defensive tackle Lorenzo Alexander. “We had their run in check all day. I thought they would utilize Mike Williams more. Maybe throw it up there and let him go get it.”

It was Williams, after all, who earlier leaped over two defenders on fourth down to keep the drive alive.

It was Williams who had twice caught screen passes and juked two defenders earlier in the game for big gains.

It is Williams who is, let’s face it, the Trojans’ best player and a potential NFL star.

Yet from the moment they reached that 22-yard line at the end of regulation, until the end of the third and final overtime, Williams wasn’t thrown another pass.

“If the game plan calls for me getting the ball, I get the ball,” Williams said. “If it doesn’t, I go do something else. I’d like to just leave it at that.”

Carroll said that he and Chow saw something that made them think the run would work.

“We thought they would think we’d be passing, and we had some real nice run calls ready,” Carroll said.

Although the play calling was a factor, it certainly wasn’t the biggest reason the Trojans sent Berkeley into a tie-dyed tizzy.

Coming off a bye week that should have been renamed a “goodbye” week, the Trojans simply walked out flat, and waited too long to find the urgency necessary to beat a furious opponent.

“I think they always take us lightly,” said Cal receiver Jonathan Makonnen. “They really don’t respect us. They’re a talented team, but they were lackadaisical out there.”

You could put that on the USC bulletin board except, well, the Trojans probably would agree.

“Anybody who watched this game could tell that USC beat ourselves,” said Williams.

“Anybody who wants to say anything different, they’re crazy. Toe to toe, we were a better team.”

But arm to arm, and foot to foot, they were not.

Regarding the arms, despite a strong finish, Leinart revived those nagging questions about whether he can lead this team to a championship.

At halftime, he was five of 15 with more interceptions (two) than touchdowns (one). He revived the offense late, but made too many errors early.

“I take the blame for some of this,” he said, ever the stand-up guy. “I made mistakes I shouldn’t have.”

Then there was the matter of feet, those belonging to a USC secondary that appeared exposed when the rest of the defense was forced to focus on the surprisingly strong Cal running attack.

From Will Poole to Darnell Bing, the defenders struggled to find twisting Cal receivers, who piled up 326 yards in catches.

“You think this can never happen,” said Carroll, pausing. “It can.”

There were certainly glimpses of the old Trojans, blocking consecutive field goals late, coming back to tie the game in the second overtime, never slowing down.

But as a chilly mist rolled through Strawberry Canyon late Saturday, a newer vision appeared, one of a life without Carson Palmer or Justin Fargas.

A vision that is painfully sugar-free.

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

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Over-Dramatic

How USC has fared in overtime games:

*--* Year Opponent Result OTs 1996 Arizona St. L, 48-35 2 1996 UCLA L, 48-41 2 1996 Notre Dame W, 27-20 1 1999 Oregon L, 33-30 3 2000 Arizona St. W, 44-38 2 2001 Oregon St. W, 16-13 1 2002 Washington St. L, 30-27 1 2003 California L, 34-31 3

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