USC Can Take the Heat

It was his first game at USC, with all those people watching and waiting to see how he’d do.

Paul Hackett?

He was OK.

Carson Palmer?

He was terrific.

Hackett became the first coach to win his debut at USC since Jess Hill in 1951 with the Trojans’ 27-17 victory over Purdue in the Pigskin Classic in front of 56,623 on a blazing Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum, where a thermometer recorded the temperature on the field at 118 degrees.

USC won largely because Palmer, a freshman who has only been practicing with the Trojans three weeks, ignited a quarterback controversy on the fourth play of his career when he took the field in the third quarter and threw a 42-yard bomb to Larry Parker, setting up the tying touchdown.

All told, Palmer guided USC to two touchdowns and a field goal, sharing time the rest of the game with Mike Van Raaphorst, the starter.

Until Palmer’s debut on the third series of the third quarter--a scripted plan that Hackett announced to the two quarterbacks shortly before the game--USC had scored only on Chad Morton’s 98-yard kickoff return and Adam Abrams’ 30-yard field goal.

So Palmer leads USC to victory, but Hackett puts Van Raaphorst back in the game and still calls him the starter?

“This is Mike’s team,” Hackett said. “By the same token, we’re going to get Carson Palmer in the games. He’s developing. . . . It is one position I know.”

It’s hard to imagine people weren’t witnessing the beginning of a long debate about who the quarterback should be. But Hackett--who made much of his reputation working with Joe Montana in the NFL--is trying to stem the controversy and perhaps protect Palmer’s future by sticking with Van Raaphorst for the moment.

Is that a decision he’ll be comfortable with, playing two quarterbacks? “I don’t know,” Hackett said, momentarily accepting the reality of the situation. “If the stock market crashes, I won’t be comfortable, either.”

The performance of Palmer, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound prototype quarterback from Santa Margarita High in Rancho Santa Margarita, helped bail out the Trojans.

Early on, the Paul Hackett era was looking a lot like the end of the John Robinson era.

A penalty against USC on a Purdue field-goal attempt on the first possession of the game helped turn a probable three points into seven when Purdue took advantage of the second chance and scored a touchdown on Drew Brees’ three-yard pass to Gabe Cox with 10:20 left in the first quarter.

USC’s defense, expected to be the backbone of the team, was riddled early by Brees, a sophomore making his first start in the Boilermaker wide-open offense. Brees finished with 248 yards passing, completing 30 of 52 passes with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

“That’s one thing coach has stressed greatly. Forget what has happened in the past here,” linebacker Chris Claiborne said. “I admit, at first, I was, ‘Uh-oh, not again.’ ”

There was more. USC had two men in motion on one offensive play, and 12 on the field on a defensive play.

And USC didn’t even run a play from scrimmage until halfway through the first quarter, and that turned out to be a busted play from their own two-yard line, with Van Raaphorst diving forward for a yard.

“Hackett’s first play, the offensive guru, and we fumble the snap from the offensive center,” Hackett said. “I thought, that’s interesting.”

Purdue led, 17-7, early in the second quarter after another touchdown pass by Brees, this one for nine yards to Cliff Jackson, and a 37-yard field goal by Travis Dorsch. The score at halftime was 17-10 after Abrams’ 30-yard field goal.

But USC’s Antuan Simmons had made a big special-teams play late in the first half, blocking a field-goal attempt. Simmons also had an interception late in the game and forced a fumble.

“I think the turning point of the game was the blocked field goal,” Purdue Coach Joe Tiller said. “I think it deflated our team. We had a faraway look in our eyes after that.”

And the USC defense steadied itself.

Purdue didn’t score in the second half--breaking a 13-quarter streak since last season. Two turnovers--a fumble recovery by linebacker David Gibson and an interception by Claiborne--helped turn the tide USC’s way.

“What can you say about our defense the second half, they were magnificent,” Hackett said, adding the difference was when USC quit trying to adjust to all the Boilermakers’ varied offensive sets.

“I think what our defense did the second half was set their jaw and said, ‘Let’s go play our base defense.’ ”

When Palmer came in, USC started to play some offense, too.

Van Raaphorst finished the day 11 for 22 for 89 yards with one interception.

Palmer was three for six for 79 yards.

Now Hackett, the renowned quarterback coach, has to try to juggle two of them.

Van Raaphorst insisted he felt no mixed emotions at Palmer’s success.

“None. That was good for the team, and that’s that,” he said. “I’d like to stay in the game if I can. I’m excited. I’m going to go out and battle.

“Would I like a quarterback controversy? Do I like being pulled out? I don’t think any player should like being yanked.”

Palmer admitted he was surprised when Hackett told him not only that he would play, but exactly when.

“It definitely helps a lot. You can get prepared, the series before you go in, you get to see the defense, what they’re doing, and warm up,” he said. “I expected to be really nervous. I wasn’t nervous at all. I had so much to think about. I remember being nervous in high school. I wasn’t half as nervous as I was in high school.”

“I just thought, ‘Don’t mess up the first play.’ I kind of did, though, I overthrew the guy.”

After that incompletion, Palmer passed to Mike Bastianelli for nine yards, and handed off to Morton for another nine.

And then, with a blitzer coming at him, he unloaded the pass to Parker, who came down with the ball at the eight-yard line.

“That was a beautiful, beautiful play,” Hackett said.

“He saw what was coming right away, and with his poise, he stepped up.”

Another Morton carry, and a couple of carries by Petros Papadakis later, the score was tied, 17-17, with 1:57 left in the third.

Claiborne intercepted Brees on Purdue’s next possession, and with Palmer still in, USC took a 20-17 lead on Abrams’ 45-yard field goal.

Van Raaphorst returned on the next possession, but USC’s only other points came after Morton’s 13-yard touchdown run with 3:02 left in the game. Palmer directed that drive.

Quarterback controversy?

How about a 1-0 record?

“Honestly, if they’re putting points on the board, I don’t care who’s back there,” cornerback Daylon McCutcheon said.

“We’re a family and whoever does it, does it.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

USC BY THE NUMBERS

9: USC coaches who have won their first game (of 16 coaches since 1903).

1951: The last time a USC coach won his first game.

17: Points scored by Trojan offense under the direction of freshman quarterback Carson Palmer.

3: Points for USC with sophomore Mike Van Raaphorst at quarterback.

4: Number of USC band members and cheerleaders who had to leave the field because of the extreme heat.

1995: the last season USC won its opening game.

1995: The last season USC played in the Rose Bowl game.

4-4-1: USC’s opening-game record in the 90s.

For Openers

Th e opening games for USC coaches since 1903, and record for that season: *--*

Year Coach Result (Record) 1903 John Walker d. Cal Tech, 5-0 (4-2) 1904 Harvey Holmes d. Los Angeles HS, 42-0 (6-1) 1908 Bill Traeger lost to Los Angeles HS, 12-0 (3-1-1) 1909 Dean Cromwell d. Cal Poly SLO, 51-0 (3-1-2) 1914 Ralph Glaze d. Los Angeles AC, 20-0 (4-3) 1919 Elmer Henderson d. Pomona, 6-0 (4-1) 1925 Howard Jones d. Whittier, 74-0 (11-2) 1941 Sam Barry d. Oregon State, 13-7 (2-6-1) 1942 Jeff Cravath lost to Tulane, 27-13 (5-5-1) 1951 Jess Hill d. Washington State, 31-21 (7-3) 1957 Don Clark lost to Oregon State, 20-0 (1-9) 1960 John McKay lost to Oregon State, 14-0 (4-6) 1976 John Robinson lost to Missouri, 46-25 (11-1) 1983 Ted Tollner tied Florida, 19-19 (4-6-1) 1987 Larry Smith lost to Michigan St., 27-13 (8-4) 1998 Paul Hackett d. Purdue, 27-17

*--*

Note--Both Cromwell (1916) and Robinson (1993) returned to coach a second stint at USC.