Smith, Trojans Take the Fifth : USC: Mistakes costly as losing streak reaches five, 31-14. Crayton is the only bright spot with 185 yards rushing.

How the other half--USC--spent bowl pick ‘em day at Arizona Stadium:

--Freshman quarterback Rob Johnson, getting his first college start, accounted for three telling turnovers, including an interception that was returned 67 yards for a touchdown.

--Freshman Cole Ford, who has a hip injury, missed a 26-yard field goal late in the first half and did not return.

--Coach Larry Smith, the Arizona coach for seven seasons before coming to USC, spent much of the game complaining to officials and was the object of derisive chants of “Larry! Larry!” from Wildcat fans. At one point, Smith waved off the crowd in response.

The result was a 31-14 Arizona victory Saturday that will be another grim memory in the Trojans’ nightmarish season.

The loss, the Trojans’ fifth in a row, drops USC to 3-7 (2-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference). It marks the first time USC has lost five games in a season since 1957.

“It’s hard to believe,” linebacker Matt Gee said of the Trojans’ predicament with one game remaining, next Saturday against UCLA. “But this is a young team. Our emotions can be so up and so down.”

The up side of the latest loss was the play of junior tailback Estrus Crayton, who entered the game in the second quarter and rushed 27 times for 185 yards and a touchdown. He also caught four passes for 28 yards and a touchdown.

Still, the Trojans were victims of their growing pains.

Crayton, getting his first extended playing time of the season, couldn’t hold a pass that hit him in the numbers on the Arizona three-yard line.

And then there was Johnson, who at times looked every bit the freshman of 18 he is.

Johnson’s most glaring mistake came with 1:10 left before halftime, when he tried to force a throw to Curtis Conway on a sideline route to the wide side of the field. Arizona cornerback Darryl Morrison stepped in to intercept the ball and take it 67 yards for the score.

That allowed Arizona to take a 17-7 halftime lead.

Johnson also lost a fumble in the end zone when he carried the ball on a third-down play at the Arizona eight late in the third quarter, and he was intercepted again deep in the Trojans’ end of the field late in the fourth quarter.

“It seemed like we were right in the game at times,” Gee said. “But when you have the turnover ratio (Arizona) had, that’s hard to overcome.”

Johnson, the first true freshman to start at quarterback for USC in the post-World War II era, wound up completing 10 of 20 passes for 114 yards.

Asked to evaluate Johnson’s performance, Smith said tersely: “Well, we lost. It was a losing start.”

Smith said he will decide this week whether he will start Johnson or sophomore Reggie Perry, the Trojans’ starter in their nine previous games, against UCLA. Perry did not play against Arizona.

“We thought about using Reggie at the end,” Smith said. “But it was a longshot, and he was cold and a little banged up. Johnson needed the experience.”

Arizona (4-6, 3-4 in the Pac-10), had no such quarterback dilemma. Chuck Levy, a redshirt freshman from Lynwood High, worked the Wildcats’ option attack for 73 yards rushing and 89 yards passing. He ran for two touchdowns and passed for another.

The Wildcats drove 73 yards on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead.

Levy and tailback Ontiwaun Carter worked a shovel pass for the 19-yard scoring play that ended the drive.

Another Levy-to-Carter shovel pass, netting the Wildcats 31 yards, was the big play of Arizona’s second scoring drive, which ended with Steve McLaughlin’s 25-yard field goal 1:56 into the second quarter.

Trailing 10-0 and struggling offensively, Smith then benched tailback starter Deon Strother and turned to Crayton.

The first time Crayton touched the ball, a first-and-10 carry at the USC 42, he ran for 25 yards. On the next snap, he gained 23.

Three plays later, Crayton caught an eight-yard scoring pass from Johnson to make it a 10-7 game. It was Crayton’s first touchdown at USC.

The Trojans made it a 17-14 game on Crayton’s nine-yard touchdown run 1:37 into the third quarter. The scoring drive, three carries by Crayton, was set up by Carter’s fumble at the Arizona 29.

But Arizona and Levy came back with a long scoring drive--17 plays covering 73 yards 7:42--to go ahead, 24-14.

The Trojans appeared to have Levy stopped when he threw incomplete on third and 11 at the USC 42. But a roughing-the-passer call on David Webb on the play gave the Wildcats new life, and Levy was able to squirt into the end zone on a fourth-down keeper at the one.

With Crayton still hot, USC took the ensuing kickoff and moved to the Arizona eight, where Johnson fumbled the ball away in the end zone--Morrison again collecting the turnover for the Wildcats.

“I was trying to get extra yards and got hit from behind,” Johnson said. “My fault.”

It was all over but the shouting, much of which was aimed at Smith, who refused to comment.

“All of us feel frustration,” he said. “The team played hard. But we had a lot of turnovers. We lost scoring opportunities. When you do that, the other team can take advantage and win.”