USC alone in second after win

USC alone in second after win

By Kevin Clerici
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 29, 1996

Nicholas Valenzuela
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Brad Otton led Southern Cal to a win over Washington State in Pullman, Wash., to put the Trojans in sole possession of third place in the Pac-10.

Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf promised Cougar head coach Mike Price a victory over Southern Cal before he graduated.
Leaf now has only two tries left.
Southern Cal scored a touchdown late to take a five-point lead and the Cougars self-destructed in the final minute to ensure the 29-25 defeat.
It was the fourth time in a row that the Trojans have won in Pullman and the ninth overall over WSU.
With a tie for second place in the Pacific 10 Conference on the line for the Cougars, the loss now conceivably ends the team's hopes for the Rose Bowl.
USC coach John Robinson saw the sophomore Leaf nearly make his statement true, racking up 314 yards and two touchdowns.
"He is a bright young quarterback," Robinson said.
However, the Trojans had the last laugh, and with the win took sole position of third place in the Pac-10.

Washington's Corey Dillon never liked being the backup. At the start of the season, the Husky tailback was second on the depth chart to Rashan Shehee. Deservedly so, as Shehee was only an All-Pac-10 selection last season, so Dillon returned all kicks and played backup.
Then Shehee was sidelined with an injury, and Dillon got his first start in the Huskies' fourth game. Since then, Dillon has been nearly untouchable. Against Oregon Saturday, Dillon had 259 yards on 32 carries and three touchdowns. The 259 yards was the second most in Husky history, trailing only Hugh McElhenny's 296 in 1950. It was also the 14th best in Pac-10 history. Dillon received the Pac-10 offensive player of the week award for the second straight week.
"I just say that it is all in a day's work," Dillon said.
Dillon's numbers for the last two weeks: 65 carries for 404 yards and eight touchdowns. Arizona has eight rushing touchdowns all season.
Dillon is the leading rusher in the Pac-10 with a 129.6 average, as well as the all-purpose yardage leader with 208 per game.

California's dream season is not yet a nightmare, but with two straight losses, the Golden Bears are resting anything but easy. Starting the year 5-0 and winning in Los Angeles over USC, the Golden Bears were well on their way to a shot at the Rose Bowl. Since then, the team has been sick with the fumble bug, giving away four to UCLA in the Bruins' 38-29 win.
"It seemed like when we were driving we would have a fumble or something," Cal's Pat Barnes said. "It's hard to win a game like that."
UCLA overcame Barnes' school record 435-yard passing effort, sacking him seven times. The school's previous high was 421 by Rich Campbell against Florida in 1980.
"Stats are nice and dandy, but nobody remembers losers," Barnes said.
The loss knocked Cal out of both polls.
California hosts Arizona Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Southern Cal's Sammy Knight and R. Jay Soward picked up the Pac-10 defensive and special teams players of the week awards, respectively.
Soward returned the second-half kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown, the second in two weeks for the freshman. He returned one 98 yards against ASU. The NCAA record for kickoffs returned for a touchdown is three, shared by several players.
Knight had an interception and recovered a WSU fumble with 70 seconds to play to preserve the Trojan victory. Knight recorded 11 tackles, one for a loss, in the game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.