DEFENSE IS NOT ENOUGH; TROJANS' UPSET BID FALLS SHORT : OREGON 17 USC 13.

Byline: Scott Wolf Daily News Staff Writer

There was disappointment, but not devastation. A USC team with a we've-been-here-too-many-times attitude couldn't be that stunned after losing another winnable game.

The Trojans came to noisy Autzen Stadium and held the nation's 12th-ranked team 30 points below its scoring average.

The Trojans became the first road team to hold a lead over Oregon this season.

USC did a lot of nice things Saturday, except win, and its 17-13 loss to the Ducks before 45,807 resurrected an all-too-familiar feeling inside the locker room.

``It seems like an everyday thing for me,'' USC wide receiver R. Jay Soward said. ``It's been happening for three years.''

Nobody was shocked by the result, but rather the method by which the Trojans experienced their latest downfall. Oregon (6-1, 3-1), looking ripe for upset after last week's overtime loss to UCLA, and without leading rusher Reuben Droughns, struggled offensively almost the entire game.

And even that wasn't enough for the Trojans (5-3, 3-2) to pull off the upset.

``When a team averages 50 points, and you hold them to 17, and you don't win, your offense was awful,'' USC right guard Travis Claridge said.

That might be a little strong, but the Trojans offense failed to convert on several major opportunities, and it cost USC the game and any chance of reaching the Rose Bowl.

Kicker Adam Abrams missed three field goals, including 28- and 36-yard attempts in the first quarter that robbed USC a chance to give Oregon something to worry about early.

``You're very disappointed when you miss two field goals early,'' USC coach Paul Hackett said. ``You like to think it won't matter, but it does. When we squandered those two field goals, there was an ominous feeling.''

Trailing 17-10 with less than six minutes left, quarterback Carson Palmer's 7-yard touchdown pass to Mike Bastianelli was nullified by a delay-of-game penalty.

It kept Palmer from a possible hero's role, after he played more than starter Mike Van Raaphorst for the first time this season when Van Raaphorst was healthy.

Three plays later, Hackett elected to kick a 25-yard field goal, instead of going for the touchdown. Hackett reasoned that with 4:18 remaining, the Trojans would get the ball back, but they never did as Oregon successfully ran out the clock.

``The (4:18) left made me think there was enough time,'' Hackett said. ``I don't know, maybe next time I'd do it differently.

``If it had been less than 8 yards, or 5 yards (from the end zone), we would have gone for it. (But) I thought we could kick the field goal and the defense could get jacked up from the field goal.''

Hackett's decision, reminiscent of his choice to kick a field goal from the 1-yard line in a 32-31 loss to Cal, was a judgment call that became magnified because USC lost.

But there wasn't much dissent about the call from the players.

``If coach Hackett wants me to run up in the stands and grab him a beer, and come back down and a do a pirouette, I'll do it,'' Soward said. ``He's the coach.''

``I have nothing to say about that. I'm not the coach,'' added Claridge.

More costly was the delay-of-game penalty.

Palmer never saw the 25-second clock expire, just before he threw a perfect pass to Bastianelli in the end zone.

He was hardly the scapegoat, however. Things had broken down earlier, when Palmer was forced to sprint to the huddle after waiting for the play to be delivered from the sideline.

``We need to get the play in faster and he needs to see the clock,'' Hackett said.

``I didn't know (about the clock),'' Palmer said. ``I got the play and ran in the huddle as fast as I could.''

Even after that miscue, Palmer was confident the Trojans defense would hold Oregon and allow him one more shot at a touchdown.

``I think there was plenty of time to get the ball back,'' Palmer said. ``Maybe we should have gone for it.''

While USC was coming up short in crunch time, Oregon merely turned to its star quarterback, Akili Smith, to pull off the play of the game.

With the score tied at 10 and the Ducks facing a third down, Smith rolled out on the option, kept the ball and raced right up the middle of the field for a 62-yard touchdown.

``It was just an option,'' linebacker David Gibson said. ``He turned it into a big play.''

The Trojans defense, which held Oregon under 400 yards for the first time this season, was robbed of any satisfaction from its effort and left to ponder how close it came to an upset.

``We left everything out there,'' Gibson said. ``They're a very good team. But the season's not over. There's other bowls out there. If we win the rest of our games, we can still salvage the rest of the season.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) The Trojans defense gang tackles Oregon running back Derien Latimer during USC's loss to the Ducks.

(2) Oregon tight end Jed Weaver is brought down by a pack of Trojans after a short gain. USC's defense held the Ducks to 17 points, but the Trojans fell short in the upset bid.

Jack Smith/Associated Press