The unlikely hero has become such a common facet of the UCLA-USC
rivalry that he is no longer unlikely.Â
“There is always a player that emerges in a game like this
because of the emotion and excitement of the game. A guy ends up
being a star player who hasn’t played much,” UCLA head
coach Bob Toledo said.
So rather than bore yourself betting on the four-point spread,
start a pool on who will be this year’s Mr.
Out-Of-The-Woodwork.
Toledo loves the whole team’s poise, but here are the
contestants:
“¢bull;Â Redshirt freshman Tyler Ebell:
OK, so he does not qualify as unlikely anymore, but he was USC
tight end Alex Holmes’ bet.
Despite the fact that he has run for 858 yards this season, his
success might still surprise some, given USC’s strong run
defense. Ebell would be following in the footsteps of DeShaun
Foster, who scored all four touchdowns in UCLA’s 34-17
victory in 1998 as a true freshman.
“¢bull; True freshmen quarterbacks Drew Olson and Matt
Moore:
“A lot of people think that USC’s defense is going
to rattle those two guys because they are both true
freshmen,” senior defensive tackle Steve Morgan said.
But history is on their side.
In addition to quarterback John Barnes, the hero of the 1992
victory for UCLA, current radio and TV personality Matt Stevens
threw a Hail Mary pass to Karl Dorrell to seal the game at the half
31-0 in the 1986 game that UCLA won 45-25.
And in 1980, quarterback Jay Schroeder came into the game for
Tom Ramsey and went 9-for-11 passing to win the game 20-17. Freeman
McNeil grabbed a tipped Schroeder pass and completed the 58-yard
score with 2:07 left in the game.
Perhaps Olson and Moore could relate most to Gary Beban who, as
a first-year quarterback, threw a touchdown pass to Kurt Altenberg
late in the game for a 20-16 victory that sent UCLA to the Rose
Bowl to play No. 1 Michigan State.
On the million-to-one payoff would be third and fourth string
QBs John Sciarra and Brian Callahan.
“When we were at Cal, I had to start doing the signals and
that didn’t work out too well,” Callahan laughed.
“I just do the scout team. You could probably sit in the
meeting and regurgitate it and understand it but doing it is a
totally different thing.
“If that situation comes up, I would like someone to step
up to the plate for that one but the likelihood of that is very
slim.”
“¢bull; Senior wide receiver Jon Dubravac:
He was the pick of several players. (Although Monday’s
concussion might take him out of the running.)
“Sometimes you prepare for the big players, you got the
Tab Perrys and everybody is watching them, and maybe you sneak
someone in like Dubravac that they are not keying on,” safety
Jarrad Page said.
Dubravac could pull a Rodney Lee, mimicking the wide receiver
who in 1996, made a diving catch for 23 yards on third-and-long to
put the Bruins at the USC 11 with about a minute remaining.
The catch set up a Skip Hicks touchdown that tied the game at
38; it eventually went into double overtime, where the Bruins
prevailed 48-41 after being down by 17 with six minutes left.
“¢bull; Senior defensive lineman Steve Morgan:
It’s pretty unlikely that anyone on the defensive line
would find the end zone, in any game.
But at least one Bruin thinks it could happen this year.
“They run a screen, the ball gets tipped in the air and
Steve Morgan goes 45 yards for a touchdown ““ running a 5.8
40,” sophomore cornerback Matt Ware explained.
Morgan would be in good company with fellow defensive lineman
Karl Morgan, who sacked Scott Tinsley in 1982 on a two-point
conversion to win the game 20-19 and send UCLA to the 1983 Rose
Bowl.
“¢bull; Junior running back Akil Harris or redshirt freshman
running back Jason Harrison:
After getting buried in the back-heavy depth chart, these two
would certainly be unlikely.
Harris has looked excellent in practice and Harrison catches
well out of the backfield. They would follow a long history of
running backs shining in the rivalry game including, in 1995,
backup running back Ricky Davis who, playing for an injured Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, rushed for over 100 yards in a 24-20 win.
And little-used running back Marv Kendricks who had the best
game of his life, rushing for 186 yards in a 45-20 victory in
1970.
“¢bull; True freshman strong safety Jarrad Page:
Page has improved every week and, although he has only one
interception, he has come close to making several others. Saturday
might be the payoff.
He could pull a Marvin Goodwin, who intercepted a Trojan pass in
the end zone with 50 seconds remaining in the game to preserve the
win 27-21 and send the Bruins to the Rose Bowl as in 1993.
“¢bull; True freshman tight end Marcedes Lewis:
The “gem”, so nicknamed after being ranked the No. 1
tight end among the 2002 recruiting class, has been little-used as
a receiver this season, making him a perfect candidate for an
unlikely hero.
A fade pass to the end zone has failed to work for Lewis on
multiple occasions this season, and surprisingly he’s only
caught four balls all year. If the play works against USC tomorrow,
it could make for a climactic and unlikely game-breaker.
But in the end, an unlikely hero is, by definition, nearly
impossible to single out before they make the play.
“That is what is so special about this game,”
Skipper said. “You never know who is going to stand
out.”