PASADENA – The stars have rolled away from Hollywood Boulevard in their Stutz Bearcat Heisman models. Carson Palmer is gone. So is Matt Leinart. So is Reggie Bush. USC's offense once was “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Wild. Nuts. Unstoppable. Booby-trapped. Harrison Ford chugging gallons of Red Bull.
But yesterday, here, where dreams can be made and broken, UCLA, of all football teams, turned that offense into “Coma.” It's over now. So wake me. Please. Anybody know the San Diego State-Colorado State score?
What we had going up here was to be spills and thrills. It had implications far beyond the Championship of Los Angeles. A win, and USC was going to play for the national championship, mythical or otherwise, depending on point of view.
What happened? The Trojans went into wardrobe and came out wearing suits of armor. They were clods with the ball in their hands – or, better, not in them.
So what? The Trojans won't be playing Ohio State in the BCS title game, that's what. Michigan no doubt will be there for a rematch, which, I'm sure, thrills OSU folk. But the Wolverines deserve it now. USC doesn't, not after its putrid offensive exhibition in the Rose Bowl against a defense hardly remindful of the '85 Chicago Bears.
USC, which had scored 20 points or better on 63 consecutive opponents – a collegiate record – yesterday managed all of nine in the Rose Bowl against a defense – albeit inspired – that hadn't hinted of brilliance. Meanwhile, UCLA mustered 13, in one of the more boring dramas played out between these crosstown rivals.
Even the most optimistic of Bruins fans – and I know one – never would have thought UCLA could beat USC with a touchdown and two field goals. Why would they?
Listen up. The Bruins, now 7-5 (USC is 10-2), were Pac-10 footwipes. Washington scored 29 on them. Oregon 30. Washington 29. Oregon 30. Cal 38. The Trojans scored 20 on Arizona, which stinks, for its lowest total of the season.
Granted, they aren't what they have been offensively in recent years, which is hard for history, as good as it is, to comprehend. And they're young. They start three seniors on offense, one on defense (really good yesterday), and but five on their two-deep. They're going to be good forever, as long as master recruiter Pete Carroll hangs around.
I'm sure Carroll expected to win this one, as he does every game, but I'm not buying their having to close out with wins over Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame and UCLA to get to the prom weighed in on their dismal offensive performance.
There's no question Notre Dame is USC greatest rival – and USC is UCLA's – but that's trash. I can't believe USC let down after whacking the Irish last Saturday. UCLA is important, was doubly important this week. The Trojans did not fall for the wooden-horse trick here. They just couldn't find the saddle.
“I don't know,” said Carroll, who apparently thought he could spot his players feelings on film. “We'll see if we can sense something.”
Please, Pete. Your offense stunk. Quarterback John David Booty – one of those plural names – spent half the afternoon as if he were trying to escape from the one-armed man. There was no sense of anything. They couldn't run – a real problem – and their passing game was out of joint. Dwayne Jarrett may be the best receiver in America. He may as well have been at Magic Mountain.
Carroll afterward spent most of his time praising UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, who had allowed Washington, Oregon, Washington State and Cal 134 collective points.
“They made it a difficult day for us,” Carroll said. “Their defense played great. We had no rhythm (offensively) today. All our third-down (and short) stuff we couldn't convert gave them a chance.”
USC was awful on third-and-short and fourth-and-short.
“It's been a long time since somebody stepped up like that,” said Carroll, whose Trojans now have lost three times in the last four seasons. “The third-and-shorts tell the story. We weren't able to knock them off the ball, and we've been doing that.”
Booty had his moments, but hardly enough of them. The key to this whole thing was the running game, or USC's lack of it (55 yards). UCLA ran for 121, but 55 of those came on the Bruins' first and only touchdown drive, when quarterback Pat Cowan, hardly Steve Young, ran for those on scrambles, as USC overplayed its defensive hand.
UCLA brains spotted something on film, that the Trojans defense liked to come hard early. Cowan simply waited until the all-clear sounded and took off.
“We saw it last week on film,” said Cowan, who led UCLA to 235 total yards. “If it opens up (which it did on one possession), take it. I was able to make some plays.”
And USC, try as it might, could not.
“Obviously, this is extremely disappointing to us,” Carroll said. “We had a great opportunity, and we let it get away.”
For the first time ever, the Rose Bowl, The Granddaddy, is consolation prize to USC. What a world we live in.
Nick Canepa: (619) 293-1397; nick.canepa@uniontrib.com
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