Wellman Still Believes He Toed Line for USC

Asked minutes after the game about his controversial touchdown catch in Saturday’s 10-10 tie between UCLA and USC, Trojan receiver Gary Wellman said he thought his leg was in bounds.

Asked again Monday after watching the tape, Wellman was down to his toe.

“I really had no clue when I caught it,” he said. “I thought I was in, but I didn’t realize how close it was. I thought I got my toe in before rest of my leg went out and that’s what counts. It doesn’t matter what happens next.

“The way the end zone was painted made it really confusing.”

The Coliseum end zones were painted red and white for Saturday’s game, the red part being fair territory, the white part out of bounds. Bruin Coach Terry Donahue thinks that may have been the problem.

“I think that may have confused the official,” Donahue said. “If it didn’t, then he just made a bad call. It’s real close, but his knee hit out of bounds and then his leg hit in bounds. Most neutral observers would say it was out of bounds. I guess it doesn’t matter now.”

It did Saturday. On the opening drive of the game, the Trojans moved down to the UCLA 13-yard line, where quarterback Todd Marinovich, spotting a streaking Wellman barely ahead of defender Carlton Gray, threw a high spiral just beyond Wellman’s fingertips. The receiver left his feet, arms outstretched, caught up to the ball and crashed down at the right edge of the end zone.

In or out? USC Coach Larry Smith, after viewing the game film, says he still isn’t sure.

“From our angle,” he said, “you can’t see his feet. You can’t tell at all.”

Since the Trojans didn’t score another touchdown, the decision was crucial.

So were several others Donahue made in the closing minute of the game, decisions that caused some to resurrect the old charges that he coaches too conservatively.

Here was the situation: The Bruins recovered the ball on a Leroy Holt fumble deep in their own territory. On the first play, quarterback Bret Johnson hit Scott Miller with a 52-yard pass.

That set UCLA up at the USC 36. Three running plays netted the Bruins minus one yard, forcing kicker Alfredo Velasco to attempt a field goal from 54 yards. The ball hit the crossbar and bounced back into the end zone on the final play of the game, leaving the score tied.

“We did call a pass on the second play,” Donahue said, “and anybody who says we didn’t doesn’t know what they are talking about.

“The first play (a pitchout to Shawn Wills) got us a yard. The second play was designed to hit Mel Farr on a pass, but Bret felt like the strong safety got underneath and so he decided to scramble.”

Johnson gained one yard.

“So anybody who claims we didn’t try to pass was not very informed,” Donahue said. “SC did a good job of being there on the play. It looked like Bret had a chance of getting the ball in there, but the quarterback is the only one who can make that decision.”

On third down, Wills tried to go around the right side and was thrown for a three-yard loss by Cleveland Colter, taking Velasco just out of range, as it turned out.

“The play was designed to go inside,” Donahue said. “It was never designed to go anywhere close to where it wound up. But Shawn saw the defender and thought he could outrun him.”

Donahue also doesn’t buy the argument of those who say the tie was a moral victory for the 3-7-1 Bruins against the 8-2-1 Trojans.

“I’m not sure there are any moral victories in athletics,” Donahue said. “You play to win, and either you win or you don’t. Being in a situation where you have a shot to win and then not being able to make it just leaves you disappointed. I’m not into moral victories.

“I sure wish it hadn’t gotten away. One more revolution of ball and we’d have won. But still, it was a monumental effort by a team that played really hard and competed although we were probably overmatched.”