BOOTY SHOWS HIS POISE UNDER PRESSURE QB TRIES TO PUT LOSS BEHIND HIM.

Byline: MATTHEW KREDELL Staff Writer

John David Booty squeezed through a throng of media in the tight Rose Bowl locker room, dressed silently and turned to face the spotlight.

Questions began coming in about what went wrong with Booty having his worst game of the season at the most inopportune time -- against rival UCLA with a shot at the national title on the line.

Booty looked his judges in the eye and answered every query in a manner that seemed down but not dejected, beat up but not beaten.

Camera lights turned off, second waves came in and Booty answered similar questions, never changing his low but firm tone of voice. It wasn't until a USC representative came over and said to wrap it up that Booty picked up his bag and walked away.

If anything can be gleaned from Booty's first season as starting quarterback for the Trojans, it's that he's unflappable and resilient.

There's no better sign for the Trojans as they prepare to put the UCLA loss in the past and finish the season against Michigan in the Rose Bowl on Monday.

``He was heartbroken that he couldn't get things done against UCLA,'' said Johnny Booty, John David's father and former coach at Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, La.

``But after a couple of days of just being sort of quiet, he was ready to bounce back and knew he had a job to do in preparing for the Rose Bowl. He's always had a tendency to bounce back and get right back to work.''

Though tainted by the last game, the season Booty has had is better than any first-year starting quarterback in USC history other than Matt Leinart in 2003.

Booty has passed for 2,956yards and 25 touchdowns with nine interceptions, completing 61.9 percent of his passes.

``I thought he did a wonderful job for his first year,'' said Josh Booty, who was a third-string quarterback in the NFL for three seasons. ``You look at the numbers and they're pretty darn solid. He went through the whole season with nine picks without as good a running game as USC has had in the past.''

Trojans fans have been spoiled in recent years with Leinart and Carson Palmer.

``The expectations are there,'' John David Booty said. ``Two Heisman winning quarterbacks went before me. I don't worry about that. I try to do the best I can.''

If he took the Trojans to the national championship game, his season would have been an inarguable success. That's how close he came to fitting in the company of Leinart and Palmer -- one tipped pass.

A fairer barometer is Brock Berlin, Brent Rawls and Josh Booty -- all quarterbacks who preceded him at Evangel Christian. They were each disappointments in college.

Josh Booty went 6-10 as a starter at LSU and was benched in the second half of his final game -- the Peach Bowl -- before leaving early for the NFL. He never took a snap as a professional.

Rawls signed with Oklahoma but never played a down with the Sooners.

Berlin transferred from Florida to Miami after being unable to beat out Rex Grossman, then never met expectations in an inconsistent couple of years with the Hurricanes.

John David learned a lot from watching his brother on how to deal with the pressures of being a college quarterback.

``He's been around,'' Josh Booty said. ``He understands the situation of a high-profile job. He knows not everything is going to be peaches and roses and a perfect world. He understands the big picture. Although he hates losing, he understands that you're going to go through a bad series of downs or a bad quarter.''

When fans were calling for backup Mark Sanchez after poor performances in close wins over Washington and Arizona State, John David could recall when his brother was benched at LSU for Rohan Davey but got his starting job back and rolled off four consecutive victories.

After the loss to Oregon State, John David responded with two of his best performances in beating Cal and Notre Dame.

``This year, I really feel I've made a lot of strides,'' Booty said. ``There's been ups and downs. There's been times we didn't have our full receivers corps or our running backs were injured, and that's sometimes caused the ups and downs. The important thing is we're fighting through all that and still having a great season.''

The UCLA defeat gave Booty plenty to work on for the Rose Bowl.

``On offense, we all learned something from (the UCLA) game,'' Booty said. ``I need to take more chances. We're all going to try to come out next game and be more physical. And there will be a couple of things we do differently that you'll just have to wait and see.''

As the most prominent returning player on a high-profile team, Booty could set himself up for a Heisman candidacy with a great bowl performance.

``Last year, Leinart and Vince Young played for the national championship but Troy Smith and Brady Quinn played in the second biggest game of the season (the 2006 Fiesta Bowl), and look how that set them up for this year. The winner of this game will probably be the preseason No. 1, so I know John David wants to come to play.''

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CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) USC quarterback John David Booty, center, calls a play in the huddle during practice Tuesday.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

(2) John David Booty

Ric Francis/Associated Press

(3) Matt Leinart

Chris Trotman/Getty Images

(4) Carson Palmer

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Box:

ROSE BOWL: USC (10-2) vs. MICHIGAN (11-1)