Cougs down Trojans, Bruins for first time in a season.

September 13, 1997

LOS ANGELES - With less than six minutes remaining, Kevin McKenzie marched Washington State 80 yards on two receptions to a touchdown and a historic victory at USC, 28-21.

The victory marked the first time a Cougar football team defeated both UCLA and USC in the same season and propelled the Cougs to 2-0 in Pac-10 play, dropping USC to 0-2 on the season, and 0-1 in the Pac-10. A crowd of 51,655 watched WSU win on USC's turf for the first time since 1957. Ryan Leaf's passing attack racked up 355 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions.

But it was WSU's defense that earned the victory for the Cougars, giving up only 137 total yards in the first half and 275 for the game. Washington State jumped on the Trojans with 4:14 left to play in the first quarter when Leaf found Shawn McWashington in the endzone to cap off a 56 yard scoring drive.

On their next possession the Cougs traveled 80 yards to go up 14-0 after a Michael Black 16-yard touchdown scamper and a Rian Lindell extra-point.

USC would answer with a 13 play drive that pushed WSU's defense 84 yards and put the Trojans on the board after a one yard run by Malaefou MacKenzie. Gary Holmes blocked Adam Abrams' point-after-try to keep the Cougs ahead by 8 with just over seven minutes remaining.

Five possessions later, after Todd Nelson recovered USC quaterback John Fox's fumble, the Cougs found themselves with the ball and 1:48 remaining in the half. WSU managed 28 yards on the ground while Leaf completed 3 of 4 passes for 26 yards and a Love Jefferson touchdown in only 58 seconds.

Washington State headed to the locker room with a 21-6 lead and control of the game. The tide shifted on the opening play of the second half as Jay R. Soward returned Lindell's kick 95 yards for a touchdown. The return marked the only scoring for either team in the third quarter, leaving USC trailing 21-13 at the opening of the fourth quarter.

Soward returned a Jeff Banks punt six yards to the USC 46 yard-line with less than two minutes gone by in the fourth. On first down, Fox found Billy Miller on a 39 yard pass reception that brought USC to the WSU 15 yard line. On the next play, LaVale Woods completed a halfback pass to Mike Bastianelli for a touchdown. Fox followed with a pass to Miller for the two-point conversion, knotting the score at 21-21 and putting pressure on WSU for the first time since the first quarter.

With WSU's seven second-half possessions gaining only 49 total yards, the Cougars began their eighth second-half possession with 5:42 left to play. A first-down fumble and recovery by Leaf dropped the Cougs back to their 18 yard line. Leaf then fired incomplete to Shawn McWashington and faced third down and 12 to go. Then Leaf completed a 31-yard strike to Kevin McKenzie, bringing the Cougars to the 49 yard line.

On the following play Leaf threw to McKenzie again, and after snaring the ball with one hand and receiving a key block from McWashington, McKenzie sprinted for the 51-yard touchdown.

Taking the lead 28-21, it was up to the Cougar defense, which held a USC team without timeouts remaining to seven yards on its final two possessions.

Leaf finished the game with 355 yards on 21 for 40 passing. McKenzie's heroics on the final scoring drive left him with 107 yards receiving. Brandon Moore anchored the defense which gave up only 31 yards on the ground. Moore had nine tackles, including three for losses. Dorion Boose and Leon Bender each recorded one sack.

WASHINGTON STATE	7	14	0	7	28
OPP			0	6	7	8	21


TEAM	QTR	TIME	SCORING PLAY (Yards/Plays/Drive Time/How Gained Possession)
WSU	1	4:14	McWashington 3 pass from Leaf (Lindell kick) (6/56/2:18/punt)
WSU	2	13:27	Black 16 run (Lindell kick) (8/80/2:53/punt)
USC	2	7:12	MacKenzie 1 run (Abrams kick blocked) (13/84/6:15/kickoff)
WSU	2	0:50	Love 6 pass from Leaf (Lindell kick) (6/54/0:58/fumble)
USC	3	14:44	Soward 95 kick return (Abrams kick) (0/95/0:24/kickoff)
USC	4	12:44	Bastianelle 15 pass from Woods (Miller pass from Fox) (2/54/0:23/punt)
WSU	4	4:18	McKenzie 51 pass from Leaf (Lindell kick) (4/80/1:24/punt)


TOTAL OFFENSE  -  WSU 74/398/5.4.  USC 71/275/3.9.
RUSHING  -  WSU  34/103/60/43/1/18:  Black 20/74, Gilmore 3/12, Leaf 11/17.  USC:  28/54/23/31/1/8:  Washington 8/20, MacKenzie 11/17, Soward 1/8, Sermons 5/9, Fox 3/0.
PASSING  -  WSU  40/21/2/355/3/51:  Leaf 40/21/2/355/3/51.  USC  43/24/0/244/1/41:  Fox 42/23/0/229/0/41, Woods 1/1/0/15/1/15
RECEIVING  -  WSU:  McKenzie 5/107, Black 4/53. McWashington 3/56. Tims 3/44, Jefferson 3/28, Jackson 2/53. Taylor 1/14.  USC:  Miller 10/38, Bastianelli 6/75, Soward 4/37, Washington 3/7, Fox 1/-13.
INTERCEPTIONS  -  WSU:  None.  USC:  Brian 2/32.
PUNTING  -  WSU: Banks 8/314/39.3/44.  USC: Wren 9/404/44.9/51
PUNT RETURNS  Tims 2/17.  USC:  Morton 5/43, Soward 2/7
KICKOFF RETURNS  - WSU:  McKenzie 2/44.  USC:  Soward 3/136, Washington 1/18
SCORING  -  WSU:  McWashington 6, Black 6, Love 6, McKenzie 6, Lindell 4  USC:  MacKenzie 6, Soward 6, Bastianelle 6, Miller 2, Abrams 1.
FIRST DOWNS  -  WSU: 20/6/13/1.  USC  15/2/9/4.
FUMBLES/LOST  -  WSU: 2/1.  USC  2/1
PENALTIES/YARDS  -  WSU:  7/75.  USC 10/92.
POSSESSION TIME  -  WSU:  30:15.  29:45.
THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS  -  WSU:  7/17.  USC  5/17
ATTENDANCE  -   51,655
WSU TACKLERS (T-P-A)  --  Moore 9/9/0, Gleason 8/8/0, Gibbons 7/6/1,  Moronkola 5/5/0, Boose 4/4/0, Nelson, 4/4/0, R. Jackson 4/3/1, Bender 3/3/0, C. Jackson 3/3/0, Doyle 3/2/1, Price 3/1/2, McKenzie 2/2/0, Philley 2/1/1, Stewart 2/0/2. Hollimon 1/1/0, Meier 1/1/0, Hawkins 1/1/0,  Leaf 1/1/0, Emmerson 1/0/1, Nance 1/0/1.
WSU SACKS  --  Bender 1/-8, Boose 1/-6.
WSU TFL  -  .Moore 3/-16, Boose 2/-8, Bender, 1/-8, Nelson 1/-2.

Cougar Football

Printer-friendly format	Email this article

• 
  Take a look around and purchase some Cougar Spirit today!
• 
  Click to learn more about The Cougar Football Project.
• 
  Listen to the latest chats with Athletic Department Personnel.
• 
  More information about all the latest podcasts.
• 
  Your generous support helps student-athletes on the field and in the classroom.
• 
  Visit here for news, information and various sport camps.
• 
  ZZU CRU a student organization for the die hard fan.
• 
  Why Washington State University? Visit here for more information.