Monday, November 25, 1996
FOOTBALL:
Talented wide receiver drops the ball at game’s crucial momentBy
Rob Kariakin
Daily Bruin Contributor
Perhaps if they could have found a way to line up 11 R. Jay
Sowards, something would have come of USC’s preseason talk of
national championships. Who knows, maybe then they would have even
beaten the Bruins Saturday.
Regardless, the single Soward the Trojans had on Saturday proved
to be a real handful for UCLA.
On the afternoon, the true freshman receiver from Fontana caught
only six passes, but nevertheless managed 261 yards, shattering
several school and NCAA receiving yardage records in the
process.
Soward’s yardage not only set a new USC record, bettering
Johnnie Morton’s 229 yards against Washington State in 1993, but
broke a 31-year-old Bruin record as well. His were the most yards
ever by a UCLA opponent, edging out the 257 yards gained by
Washington State’s Dave Williams in 1965.
However, Soward’s were not the most yards receiving in the
series. In 1992, UCLA’s J.J. Stokes had 263 yards through the air,
a mere three yards more than Soward.
Still, the mileage was enough to break the NCAA freshman record
for receiving yards in a game, bettering the 243 yards of San Diego
State’s Darnay Scott against BYU in 1991.
Such company bodes well for Soward’s future; Scott is now a star
receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, and Stokes is the heir
apparent to Jerry Rice in San Francisco. For some, that future
can’t come too soon.
"I hope Soward goes to the NFL next year," UCLA head coach Bob
Toledo joked after the game. "I know he’s only a freshman, but
maybe he can take precedence, OK?"
Toledo’s hopes to see Soward leave were likely augmented by the
fact that the wide receiver also tied another Trojan record with
three touchdown receptions. In other words, one of every two
receptions he made.
It got so bad for a while on Saturday, it seemed as if passes
thrown his way were simply destined for the endzone. He had
touchdown catches of 19, 60 and 78 yards and would have added
another from 78 yards were it not for a great play by UCLA’s
Kusanti Abdul-Salaam.
Five plays into the first series of the game, Soward caught an
8-yard screen pass from USC quarterback Brad Otton to the near
side, cut back across the middle of the field and proceeded to
accelerate past everyone in the Bruin secondary.
With only open field before him, Soward was suddenly yanked
backwards to the turf by Abdul-Salaam, who had come from all the
way across the field for the tackle. The 5-foot-8-inch, 167-pound
Abdul-Salaam brought down the taller, heavier Soward one handed,
grabbing him by the neck of his shoulder pads and throwing him to
the ground, limiting him to a 66-yard reception.
Soward was so dominant over the first two quarters that he
seemed capable of taking on the Bruins by himself.
Total offense at half time: UCLA 163 yards, Soward 175.
The score at that point: Bruins 7, Soward 14.
He didn’t even seem to care which quarterback delivered him the
ball; the results stayed the same regardless. When Otton was
knocked from the game in the fourth quarter with sore ribs, back-up
quarterback Matt Koffler hit Soward for the 78-yard touchdown, his
longest catch of the day, on Koffler’s first pass attempt.
"Soward had a great football game," Trojan head coach John
Robinson said. "He’s a great young football player. It’s just a
shame he couldn’t come up with that last catch."
Oh, yeah. That.
With the Bruins leading 48-41 in the second overtime and USC
facing a crucial third-and-four on the 19-yard line, Koffler dumped
the ball off to him on the flat just past the first down
marker.
Turning upfield as it arrived, Soward never took the time to
catch the ball before starting his dash for the endzone. After
bobbling it once, twice, perhaps even three times, he dropped it to
the turf, a sure first down lost in his haste for touchdown number
four.
One play later, the game, like that pass, was history.
And there was nothing any number of Sowards could do then.
Click here for a color photoessay of the game at the
Sportszone