Trojans Leave Generation Gaps In Wazzu Lore

Know why the glow from winning an Apple Cup - any Apple Cup - is invariably so radiant? Because there’s always glow galore left unburned from the USC game which Washington State never wins.

Wait. Never is a long time. Amend that to once a generation on the average, though of course the Cougar generations of the ‘40s, ‘60s and ‘70s had to forgo the thrill.

As for Generation X, the never-ending story will have to wait.

When it’s told, it will be as a musical and it will probably be titled “Damned Trojans.” Because it looks as if Mike Price is going to have to sell his soul to the devil before his Cougars are ever going to beat USC.

The latest epitaph: USC 29, Washington State 24.

The Drive? The Drive was heartbreak. This was cardiac surgery with a can opener and no anesthetic, unless you count all the hootch they won’t let you sneak into Martin Stadium anymore (wink, wink).

All The Drive was, you’ll recall, was Todd Marinovich taking USC 91 yards for the game-winning touchdown and two-point conversion with 4 seconds remaining in 1989.

Never mind that those Cougars were undefeated or that they had led all the way. Never mind that the Trojans twice faced fourth downs. There was still an inevitability about it, especially when two certain interceptions slipped through the hands of WSU defenders.

There was nothing inevitable about this one.

Not with the lead having been swapped three times in the fourth quarter. Not with the Cougars having answered every Trojan cannonade starting with the 78-yard kickoff return by USC’s R. Jay Soward which opened the second half.

You want The Drive? This game gave you droves. Seventy-four yards by the Trojans for a 23-17 lead a minute into the fourth quarter. Seventy yards by the Cougs in response, with a nervy fourth-down slant pass that Kevin McKenzie snagged to keep it alive. And then 83 yards by the Trojans, with running backs Shawn Walters and Delon Washington getting all they wanted on the ground and quarterback Brad Otton - Twinkie the Kid to Marinovich’s Mr. Natural - completing all four of his passes.

And yet all of those were merely ho-hum set-ups for the final absurdity.

Only the Cougars can produce a climactic series that goes in two directions. Starting on their own 34-yard line, the Cougs parlayed a holding penalty and a sack and retreated - strategically, no doubt - to the 5, where they found a rabbit in Ryan Leaf’s helmet.

Back to pass in his own end zone, Leaf launched a rocket downfield to Nian Taylor, who tipped it toward USC’s tiny Prentice Hill, who tipped it into the hands of McKenzie - who slithered over midfield with a 50cc hypodermic of adrenaline for whatever remained of the 33,111 who showed up for this prime-time party.

“We just seemed determined,” sighed USC coach John Robinson, “to make it weird.”

Two plays later, the Cougars were on the Trojan 11 and over at College Hall, one of the Intercollegiate Knights had an overlapping grip on the rope of the victory bell.

Too bad Leaf didn’t have the same handle. Trojan defensive tackle Matt Keneley put him in a vise, linebacker Lawrence (Don’t Call Him Larry) Larry applied the hit that separated Leaf from the ball and Sammy Knight smothered it - and WSU’s celebration with it.

Somewhere in Berkeley, Pat Barnes’ backpack feels 100 pounds lighter.

“I’m supposed to be their leader and I’m the one who fumbled the ball and loses it for them,” said Leaf. “I feel terrible for it. I’m sorry for the seniors. I’ve got two years left. I wasn’t strong enough to hold onto the ball.”

Hmm. Guess that redefinition of “to Coug” we heard so much about last week can be put on hold for awhile.

“This is a really tough game for us to lose,” said Cougar receiver Chad Carpenter. “The seniors really wanted to beat USC we haven’t beaten them in the five years we’ve been here and this was our last chance. And we let it slip away.”

What is it about Wazzu and SC?

Robinson may be starting to wonder, the way Larry Smith and Ted Tollner used to, though you can tell he seems downright insulted that this should be anything but a mail-in win.

“We kept trying to hope we’d make plays instead of making them,” he sniffed, “and we came in at halftime and said that we didn’t care if we won another game, we were going to learn how to run the ball.”

Which the Trojans did, and which won them the game - because no matter how steady Otton was, he wasn’t going to win it.

But what is it about SC and Wazzu?

These are not Trojans who inspire much awe anymore, coming in here unranked and 4-3 and, well, ordinary. And these are Cougars who are no longer awe-ful - nor awful - and who can, for a half or three quarters or even four, outgain and outplay USC. They just can’t win.

“I don’t feel they had more athletes,” said Cougar linebacker Brendan Moore. “But in the fourth quarter, when it’s time to make plays, we’ve got to make them.”

Actually, they did.

But this time, that didn’t work, either.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Blanchete The Spokesman-Review