But what the Trojans defense did best yesterday was limit the Warriors' run-and-shoot offense into horizontal and shallow pass routes. With the secondary playing deep, the Warriors' vertical game was pretty much negated.

"We were focusing on that all week," USC free safety Jason Leach said. "We know they're a deep-ball threat, so we were playing back a little bit."

Although UH actually outgained the Trojans 462-418, the Warriors amassed the bulk of the yardage late in the game against USC's backups. At the half, UH was held to 183 yards, 161 passing.

"They were deep," said UH quarterback Tim Chang of USC's secondary "The safeties did a great job of getting deep and not letting anybody get on top of them."

It was Leach who latched on to one of Chang's passes, returning it 25 yards for a touchdown that increased the Trojans' lead to 45-6 with 5:28 left in the third quarter.

"I was reading No. 2 (Chad Owens) and I was kind of baiting the quarterback a little bit," Leach said. "I was just waiting, waiting. He threw and I just took off and grabbed it. I didn't think he was going to throw it because I was on top of his man. He threw it, I cut underneath and took it to the house."

UH wide receiver Britton Komine had mixed feelings about USC's deep coverage.

"It's frustrating knowing we can't go deep," he said. "But they were respecting us by dropping back because they know the power we bring."

The Trojans credited their coaches for developing a game plan to contain UH's run-and-shoot offense.

"We were getting a feeling of what they were going to do scheme-wise," said USC linebacker Lofa Tatupu, whose father, Mosi Tatupu, played fullback for the Trojans out of Punahou School ('74). "Our coaches did a great job of adjusting us and we took care of business."

But the USC defense got a break that might have turned the game around. With the score tied at 3 early in the second quarter, UH faced a second-and-10 at its 34. Chang hit slotback Gerald Welch on an out-route to the right. Welch appeared to be bobbling the ball as he fell after a four-yard gain. But cornerback Ronald Nunn picked up the free ball and raced 38 yards to the end zone, giving USC a lead it would not relinquish.

"I wasn't too sure if he caught it or not," Nunn said. "He just fell and I picked it up and ran."

Welch said he never had possession of the ball and that it should have been ruled incomplete. "The momentum went from our side to their side after that," Welch said. "It's probably why we lost the game."

UH coach June Jones said the officials gave him no explanation of the call. Jones thought the play should have been ruled incomplete or Welch should have been down by contact when he fell.

Besides the two direct touchdowns by the defense, the Trojans set up an easy score when 6-foot-4, 240-pound defensive end Frostee Rucker deflected a Chang pass and caught it for a 2-yard return to the UH 4. Two plays later, tailback LenDale White scored on a five-yard run that made it 52-6 with 4:45 left in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter — one play after USC made it 59-20 on a 20-yard TD run by White — Chang was sacked by lineman Travis Tofi for a 21-yard loss for a safety on first down on UH's ensuing possession to make it 61-20.

Komine said he was impressed with USC's discipline on defense.

"Athletically, I don't think we're inferior, but they were fundamentally sound," Komine said. "Their corner, Marcell Allmond, told me 'I would love to play you close, but I gotta listen to my coaches.' They're a disciplined team, fundamentally sound and they got the job done."

And that is what UH must do quickly because it has one less day to prepare for UNLV, which upset No. 14 Wisconsin yesterday.

"We've got to learn from our mistakes and come back because there'll be another game on Friday," Chang said.