Huskies Must Catch Up To Keyshawn Washington, Usc Square Off With Some Serious Rose Bowl Ramifications At Stake

If Keith Poole was able to catch nine passes for 162 yards against Washington, what’s Keyshawn Johnson going to do?

Scott Harris caught nine for 163. Derrick Mayes caught seven for 132.

None of those guys have ever been confused with Keyshawn Johnson, who is considered the best, most complete receiver in college football.

And now that the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Keyshawn (nobody ever calls him Johnson) is visiting Husky Stadium today with his USC Trojans teammates, who knows what kind of day he’ll have?

“Every time I talk to Lawyer, he reminds me,” Johnson said of his friend, UW safety Lawyer Milloy. “He says, ‘Remember, one catch, 5 yards.’ “

That was Johnson’s complete output last year in the Trojans’ 24-17 season-opening victory over the Huskies in Los Angeles. That he played only sparingly because of a bruised thigh is not part of the conversation.

“No matter how much I played or was hurt or whatever, I did have only one catch for 5 yards,” he said.

The Trojans’ newest horse cannot be expected to be held to one catch for 5 yards today.

Washington and USC square off at 12:30 p.m. (ABC) with some serious Rose Bowl ramifications at stake, and 75,000 folks in person and a regional television audience. Both teams are 4-0, although a tie today would favor USC in the race to Pasadena.

It’s the kind of matchup that these teams have traditionally played, but rather than gearing up to stop the USC tailback, the Huskies might have to pay most of their attention to Johnson.

“He’s their workhorse - he’s like their tailback,” said cornerback Reggie Reser.

What Washington’s defense is able to do with Johnson figures to have a lot to do with how the game goes. Johnson has 14 100-yard games in 17 career starts.

Already with 58 receptions covering 847 yards, Johnson has accounted for about 30 percent of the Trojans’ offense this season, and coach John Robinson hints that the team’s quarterbacks have not gotten the most out of him.

Coming off the 38-10 debacle at Notre Dame, USC will either go to its bread and butter even more often today or offer the Huskies one heck of a decoy.

“He’s the same kind of guy as J.J. Stokes,” Washington defensive coordinator Randy Hart said, “but he may be a step faster.”

Ouch. The Huskies remember Stokes all too well. Two years ago, the tall, strong UCLA receiver beat them for 190 yards and four touchdowns on 10 receptions to carry the Bruins to a 39-25 come-from-behind victory. “The thing is, you’ve got to respect the other things they can do - their other receivers and, of course, they’ll run the ball at you,” Hart said.

Reser knows what’s ahead of him. Having started 30 games in his career, he said he recognizes that preventing the big play - usually after the catch - is the key to his job.

“Keyshawn has proven he can beat teams by himself,” Reser said. “He catches short passes and goes long.

“He hurts you when he scampers 40 or 50 yards. That’s what his strength is, not going deep. He’s not really a speed guy. That’s what they have No. 2 and No. 80 for.”

That would be Larry Parker and Chris Miller, who have a combined 28 catches for 230 yards.

The UW secondary has been susceptible to monumental performances by receivers. Washington’s pass defense ranks ninth in the Pac-10, with nobody giving up more than its 11 touchdowns through the air.

In the past two weeks, though, the Huskies have intercepted five passes.

With Reser and Greenlaw playing virtually every snap, the Huskies don’t get much use out of a third cornerback, instead pulling outside linebacker Ikaika Malloe back into coverage to go with the corners and safeties Milloy and Tony Parrish.

That secondary is well-respected - especially Milloy and linebacker-safety Malloe - for its run defense and its ability to come up and whack receivers after the catch.

Chances are, they’ll be hitting Johnson often today.

Hart and the players coyly suggest they’ll be mixing up coverages to try to keep USC quarterbacks Brad Otton and Kyle Wachholtz off balance, but one thing they’re almost certain to do is keep two people in the neighborhood of Johnson at all times - whether in a variety of zones or man-with-help coverage.

“I’ve always loved watching the Washington secondary,” Johnson said. “They look so intimidating.”

He said he has been watching the Huskies for years, “going to the Rose Bowl and putting those Big Ten teams to sleep.

“Washington has had great safeties - Tommie Smith, (Shane) Pahukoa and other guys,” he said. “But Lawyer has got to be the best, hands down.

“When he hits you, you feel it.”

That won’t keep him from slashing across the middle on his signature crossing route: “I said you feel it. I didn’t say I was scared.”