Saturday October 27, 2001

After second-half comeback, USC stifles UA with late defensive TD

It was a great comeback. The problem was, Arizona lost.

The UA football team will have to wait another week for a shot at its first Pacific 10 Conference victory of the season.

Mike Meisinger

UA junior quarterback Jason Johnson eludes a USC tackler in his own end zone last night in Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats lost the game 41-34, their 10th-straight loss to a Pac-10 opponent.

Southern California (3-5, 2-3 Pac-10) beat UA 41-34 last night in Arizona Stadium, marking the 10th-straight conference loss for the Wildcats dating back to last season. Arizona (3-5, 0-5 Pac-10) was hurt all night by the Trojans' big-play defense and an inability to score when it counted most.

With 1:50 left in the game, USC cornerback Kris Richard picked off a third-down pass from UA junior quarterback Jason Johnson and raced 65 yards down the sideline to put the Trojans up 41-34.

Johnson's fourth interception of the night proved to be the most costly.

On the ensuing drive, the Wildcats drove to the USC 38-yard line, only to allow sacks on third and fourth down, sealing the victory for the Trojans.

"You have to make the plays down the stretch," a clearly emotional Johnson said after the game. "I felt like I played my heart out, but I made the critical error."

Two plays before the game-winning interception, it appeared junior wide receiver Bobby Wade had returned a punt for a touchdown with 2:38 left in the game.

Replays showed that Wade stayed in bounds for the run, but the officials ruled he stepped out at the UA 48-yard line. Two plays after that, Johnson gave up the pick that lost the game.

The loss was a heartbreaker for the Wildcats, who had fought-back from a 31-13 halftime deficit to even the score at 34 late in the final frame.

"It was a hard game for us to lose," UA head coach John Mackovic said after the game. "We were behind quite a bit, caught up, then lost it in the end."

After trading field goals in the first half, UA scored the first touchdown of the game with a 60-yard interception return by sophomore cornerback Michael Jolivette, who added a third-quarter pick to bring his season total to five interceptions.

USC would respond with a interception of its own in the second quarter when cornerback Kevin Arbet jumped in front of a screen pass intended for Clarence Farmer and ran it back 70 yards for the score.

Penalties would hurt the Wildcats the entire night, none more than a personal foul on Young Thompson after the defense had held the Trojans on the two-yard line with a little over four minutes left in the first half. After the automatic first down, USC quarterback Carson Palmer threw a pass to tight end Alex Holmes for a touchdown.

USC would outscore the Wildcats 14-3 for the rest of the half, and entered the locker room with a 31-13 lead.

In the third quarter, a thinned-out home crowd watched UA storm back into the game with two-straight touchdowns, capped by a 24-yard catch by senior wide receiver Brandon Marshall in the end zone on a tipped ball.

After a 47-yard field goal for USC, Clarence Farmer made one of the most exciting runs of the night, dragging a USC defender more than 10 yards before being brought down for a 24-yard gain. Shortly thereafter, Johnson scrambled for a 9-yard touchdown run, tying the game.

Johnson threw for 311 yards on the night, but also gave up four interceptions - both career high. He was also regularly pounded by a blitz-heavy USC defense.