NCAA Football Recap (Washington St-USC)
Posted: Sun September 14, 1997 at 12:55 a.m EDT
WASHINGTON ST 28, (22) USC 21
Ryan McKenzie made a one-handed grab on a pass from Ryan Leaf
and took it 51 yards for the go-ahead score with 4:18 remaining
to give Washington State its first road victory over
Southern California in 40 years, 28-21.
The Trojans (0-2) were unable to get a first down on either of
their final two possessions and lost to the Cougars at the
Coliseum for the first time since 1957, a span of 16 games.
Washington State (2-0), which ended an overall nine-game slide
to USC, beat the Trojans and UCLA in the same season for the
first time in the school's 103-year history. The Cougars, who
squeaked out a 37-34 victory over the Bruins two weeks ago, are
still just 7-48-4 all-time against Southern Cal.
"This is really great. I'm particularly happy for the players,
especially the seniors," Cougars coach Mike Price said. "To go
out like this and make history as the first team to beat both
Southern California schools, it's great for the seniors,
especially all the guys from California."
The Cougars faced a 3rd-and-12 on their own 18 midway through
the fourth quarter with the game knotted, 21-21, and Leaf hit
McKenzie for a 31-yard completion. On the next play, Leaf
lofted a pass over the middle to McKenzie, who pulled it in with
one hand and took off for the end zone. He received a key block
from Shawn McWashington and went the distance for a 28-21 lead.
"I was supposed to go outside but the way they were playing me
forced me inside," McKenzie said. "I found the seam and I went
into the hole. The throw was a little high so I had to go out
and make the grab. Shawn McWashington made a great block and
sprang me for the TD."
"I'm glad to see Kevin McKenzie make that play because he didn't
play that well in our last game. Shawn McWashington's block was
just key," Price added.
Leaf threw for 355 yards and three scores on 21-of-40 passing
and hooked up with McKenzie five times for 107 yards.
USC rebounded from a 21-6 halftime deficit with a pair of big
plays. The first came when R. Jay Soward took the second-half
kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.
Early in the fourth quarter, John Fox hit Billy Miller on a
39-yard completion to put the Trojans at the 15. From there,
tailback Lavalle Woods took a handoff, ran right but threw to
Mike Bastianelli in the end zone. Fox and Miller hooked up for
the tying two-point conversion.
Despite the comeback, USC's offense struggled for the most part,
gaining 275 yards to 398 for Washington State.
"It's very frustrating. We had very high expectations for this
season," said Miller, who set career highs with 10 catches for
138 yards. "We should have won this game. Offensively, we have
to dig deep and find out what's going on because we are the
reason we're losing games."
"We are extremely disappointed. We choked in a thousand areas,"
Trojans coach John Robinson said. "We botched lots of things,
people seemed to be confused. It was a disappointing
performance."
Leaf found Washington for a three-yard TD and the early lead.
Michael Black's 16-yard touchdown run 93 seconds into the second
quarter bumped the lead to 14-0.
USC's Malaefou Mackenzie answered with a one-yard plunge, but
the extra-point was no good.
Leaf hit Love Jefferson with a six-yard scoring strike 50
seconds before halftime to stretch Washington State's lead to
21-6.
"Ryan was on target all day long," Price said. "There weren't
too many bad throws."
"This is very sweet. It's a great feeling," added Black, who
gained 62 yards on 20 carries. "We accomplished something that
hasn't been done in a hundred years, to have two big wins like
this."
Fox completed 23-of-42 passes for 229 yards and Bastianelli set
career highs with six catches and 75 yards. Brian Kelly had a
pair of interceptions for the Trojans, who have started the
season 0-2 for the first time since 1960 and just the fifth time
ever.
"We couldn't take advantage of anything. It was one of the most
disappointing run performances I've been involved with,"
Robinson said. "We need to put something together on offense
and not shoot ourselves in the foot."
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