The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 61

GAMES EVENTS PEOPLE SECTION Cos Angeles Simce SATURDAY NOVEMBER 27, 1999 FCCt Good Friday for Ui Eft 4 LOLiEBE FOOTBALL College football: Trojans climb back to .500 mark with 45-19 victory over Rattay and Louisiana Tech. Arbet leads defense with fumble recovery, interception. If Iff? quarterback Ty Detmer (15,031 yards) has passed for more yards in a career. The cheering after the game, though, was for USC quarterback John Fox, who proposed to his girlfriend with a scoreboard video and took a knee on the field to put the ring on her finger. "She said OK," Fox said.

With that, USC ended a season in which the Trojans endured a five-game losing streak by winning the final three games to finish with a 6-6 record, snapping UCLA's eight-game winning streak in the rivalry and halting Louisiana Tech's eight-game winning streak as well. The exhausted heroes Friday were from a USC secondary that had to use three true freshmen for most of the game against Louisiana Tech's wide-open, five-receiver offense. No one delivered better than Please see USC, Page 8 By ROBYN NORWOOD TIMES STAFF WRITER One quarterback passed 68 times, threw for 405 yards and lost. The other quarterback took a knee at the end of the game and got engaged. With a celebratory finish to a season that once wasn't worth celebrating at all, USC ran all over 25th-ranked Louisiana Tech, 45-19, in a rare Friday game in front of 45,070 at the Coliseum.

Louisiana Tech quarterback Tim Rattay threw everything he had at USC and became the second-most prolific passer in NCAA history in the process, but also threw three interceptions. Rattay finished with 12,746 yards in three seasons, passing Louisville's Chris Redman. Only former Brigham Young Associated Press Brian Gamble of Texas cele-; brates after recovering a fumble late in the Aggies' victory. TEXAS 20, TEXAS 16 Aggies' Upset Caps Long Week i' Eight days after 12 current or former students died building the traditional bonfire leading'; up to the game, No. 24 Texas defeated No.

7 Texas, 20-16, to end an emotional week at College Station, Texas. Al, D7 4V 'V Big-Play Guy Left USC Wanting More sat motionless on a bench for 90 minutes. He was wrapped in a giant maroon parka, his head barely visible. He didn't look like a football player; he looked as if he was auditioning for the role of baby Jesus in swaddling clothes for thp crhnn! PhriatmaQ If you hadn't been playing close attention to R. Jay So-ward's career these past four seasons, just think of Friday's game against Louisiana Tech as one giant Cliff's Note.

He showed flashes of brilliance. He wasn't fit. He left you wanting more. r. 3 i It I Ill JA v- VIRGINIA TECH 38 BOSTON COLLEGE 14 Virginia Tech's first perfect regular season 81 years ended on a sweet note, but will an 11-0 record be enough to land the i second-ranked Hokies a Sugar Bowl berth -opposite top-ranked Florida State? Page 7 NEBRASKA 33 COLORADO (OT)30 Eric Crouch's one-yard touchdown run gave the Comhuskers the win, but not until after they had blown a 24-point lead in a nine-minute span of the fourth quarter that -could damage their title hopes.

Page 7 ROUNDUP Quarterback Chad Pennington threw for 378 yards and three touchdowns in a steady, cold rain at Huntington, W.Va., as 12th-ranked Marshall ran its winning streak to 15 games with a 34-3 victory over Ohio. Page 7 pageant. A 1 A11U lildl 11UW OU- ward spent the final 30 minutes of game time in his college career, on an afternoon so symbolic even he could recognize it. "The way I ended sums it up," Soward said. "I had the potential Please see ADANDE, Page 8 After a 53-yard touchdown catch, two other receptions, 47 yards on two reverse runs and a couple of punt returns, a virus got the best of him.

The man blessed with all that speed and those elusive moves GARY FRIEDMAN Los Angeles Times Ifeanyi Ohalete (31) and the Trojans came out on top against Louisiana Tech and quarterback Tim Rattay. Nets Have No Answer for O'Neal Selanne Shreds Dallas Defense Hockey: Right wing scores three goals in 4-2 win as Ducks end 0-12-1 skid at Reunion Arena. Pro basketball: Center has 31 points, 1 7 rebounds and seven assists as Lakers romp, 103-80, at Staples Center. ByTIMKAWAKAMI TIMES STAFF WRITER The monster was out riding again Friday night, and the New Jersey Nets heard his footsteps. They shuddered, put up a tiny fight, then went ahead and got dropped.

Sometimes, all you have to do is show up with Shaquille O'Neal, play solidly around him, and let the heads roll. "I'm like the Pythagorean Theorem," O'Neal said after his 31-point, 17-rebound, seven-assist, four-blocked shots performance (all game highs) in a 103-80 Associated Press From where he sits, Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski sees a huge void on his team when it comes to experience. OI AMI in Defections to NBA Leave Duke's Krzyzewski With Fewer 'Teachers' to School His Freshman Class By ELLIOTT TEAFORD TIMES. STAFF WRITER DALLAS You didn't need to be 'inside the visitor's, dressing tooni Friday to hear the postgame whooping and hollering. You could hear the Mighty giddy Ducks bellowing from around the corner and down the hallway at Reunion Arena.

I For once in a very long time, the Ducks could laugh, cheer and feel good about themselves after a game at Dallas. Hey, it had been at least a week since the Ducks could say they played a good game anywhere. Contributions to the Ducks' 4-2 victory over the Dallas Stars certainly came from all around the dressing room. Some were expected, some were definitely not. Ri'gnt wing Teemu Selanne ended a five-game drought without a goal by scoring three, a natural hat trick that propelled (he Ducks from a 2-1 deficit to their' first victory at Dallas since 1993.

Enforcer Stu Grimson got the pucks going with a slick backhander to a streaking Tony Hrkac for a midway through the i Please see DUCKS, Page 15 Laker rout. "Not too many people know the answer to my game. Quote me on that." New Jersey, without Jayson Williams, Kerry Kittles and Kendall Gill, had no answer, and no chance. Inspiring fear and desperation with just about every move he made, O'Neal notched his sixth consecutive huge statistical game and generally rode down the Nets before 18,997 at Staples Center. The Nets didn't seem to even have the energy to try to foul him and force him to the line O'Neal shot only six free throws, making two.

O'Neal made 14 of 24 shots, many of the misses from close range, just rim ike Krzyzewski is not ashamed Ml to say it. SEATTLE 98 CUPPERS 93 Vin Baker scored 24 points to help SuperSonics to their ninth victory in a row over the Clippers. Page 4 He wishes that Elton Brand, basket or Burgess' rebounding help off the bench. What Krzyzewski misses most is the free coaching help. "We've got six freshmen in our top 10," Krzyzewski says, "so we've got lots more to teach and fewer teachers.

In my 20 years of coaching, I've found that the best teachers are the juniors and seniors. They know your system, they understand what has to be done and they pass that down to the underclassmen. "So what I'm missing now are my best Please see PUCIN, Page 10 William Avery, Corey Maggette and Chris Burgess were here in Southern California, part of the Duke basketball team that will play USC this afternoon at the Pond in the second game of the Wooden Classic. What Krzyzewski misses most isn't Brand's big hands and sweet jump shot or Avery's quick feet and court sense; not Maggette's rocket moves to the WOODEN CLASSIC Today, Arrowhead Pond: Stanford vs. Auburn Noon, Ch.

9 USC vs. Duke 2:30 p.m., Ch. 9 Trojans are in heady company. Page 10 Diane FiCISI ming out. Meanwhile, the Lakers (10-4) held the Nets to 34.6 shooting, forcing Stephon Marbury into a three-for-16 performance and Keith Van Horn into a five-for-14 outing.

In addition to O'Neal, the Lakers got 17 points from Please see LAKERS, Page 5 HIGHLIGHTS WILDCATS WIN: No. 8 Arizona defeats No. 11 Kentucky, 63-51 for Preseason NIT championship. Page 9 BRUIN FANS, YOU HAVE MAIL USC's 17-7 victory over UCLA gave Trojan fans bragging rights for a year. Page 3 LAST SPOTTED LEAVING ANAHEIM: Ram President John Shaw has no regrets over the team's relocation to St.

Louis. Page 6.