Greatest Throw in USC History?

[PasadenaTrojan]

This? Or Matt Leinart on 4th and 19 against ND?

Prob Matt’s! No question tbh.

Carson had a FEW!! Remember the one to Kesey Colbert.
Heard the ball whistling against ND in the Coliseum that night he won the Heisman.

forgot Todd M to Johnnie Morton. That was prob #1.

But this is still up there. Great commentary by Kirk and Fowler.

https://x.com/usc_athletics/status/871909536889585664?s=46

 

• This topic was modified 1 week, 2 days ago by PasadenaTrojan.

[San Clemente]

I would stick with Marinovich to Morton. Sam’s throw only tied the game. both great. Affolter who should get his hair done in someone’s ADU was out of bounds. boo hoo bruins. sc

[San Clemente]

video

[LA Duck]

Fun question, Pasadena!

For us quacks, that’s a very easy question to answer.  Probably not many football programs can point to one throw which changed their fortunes so decidedly.

Except it wasn’t an Oregon QB who threw the ball that is considered the greatest throw in Oregon history….it was a guy named Huard. 🙂

Seriously, no catch by CB Kenny Wheaton means no win over Washington which means no Rose Bowl in 1995 (after going 37 years since the last RB) proving there was an actual pulse to the Oregon football program, which means no involvement by Phil Knight starting in 1996.

And that pretty much means without that throw Oregon would be where WSU and Oregon State find themselves right about now.

One throw….and here we quacks are 30 years later, working towards our first ever national championship following years of conference championships, Rose Bowl victories, top 10 seasons, two national championship appearances and even a Heisman – none of which was fathomable back in 1995.

All because of one throw….by a guy named Huard.

[PasadenaTrojan]

Wow. Good stuff. Love it!

what did Huard do here?

[Daystalker]

The knife into to the trashcan at the airport?

[PasadenaTrojan]

soooooooo good 😂 🖕

[Butkus51]

#1  Todd Marinovich to Johnnie Morton EZ TD, vs UCLA which won da game.  Amazing throw under pressure; hell Todd got creamed after his release.  But, Morton made an insane catch.

#2.  Yep, S. Darnold to Deonte Burnett TD vs Penn St is a close second.  Burnett made a Great catch. Burnett was an underrated Wr but made ALL PAC 12.  Deonte Burnett was in same class as Johnnie Morton and Eric Affholter.

#3.  M. Leinert to D. Jarrett vs Notre Dame.  4th down, closing minutes of the game, USC needs a TD.  Matt saw something and called an audible and threw a perfect pass to Jarrett with the DB all over him.  Dat pass play put the ball with seconds left in da RZ.  Matt did a QB sneak with the famous Bush Push for the winning TD.

#4.  Kedon Slovis to Drake London for an EZ TD with 2 DB’s all over him.  See Slovis HL tape.  Dang, Slovis had mucho great passes.  He had a Golden Arm; had every throw in da book.

 

• This reply was modified 1 week, 2 days ago by Butkus51.
• This reply was modified 1 week, 2 days ago by Butkus51.

[SC Gator]

Add to those

Carson Palmer to Mike Williams, just before halftime v. Notre Dame, 2002.  A bullet through a tight window.

Caleb Williams to Jordan Addison, game-winner at Oregon State, 2022.  Perfect throw.

Craig Fertig to Rod Sherman, game-winner v Notre Dame, 1964.  Easy throw but very significant.

I think the Marinovich and Darnold throws are 1-2.

[Observer1.]

I was just a kid, but 1969 watching Jimmy Jones to Sam Dickerson to beat ucla!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stSdT_hWiYg

• This reply was modified 1 week, 2 days ago by Observer1..

[Java]

I was waiting for this one.

[RWC]

For UCLA fans it wasn’t the throw as much as it was the controversial PI that made it all possible. With SC trailing 12-7 late in the 4th qtr and just a few minutes left Jones was down to his last play 4th and 10 and if UCLA makes the stop they take over on downs and just run out the clock.

Jones threw a wild pass over the head of Dickerson and Danny Graham assuming the ball might be complete came in and made the tackle. In those days even if a pass was ruled uncatchable any contact would draw a flag. They changed that rule later but it didn’t help Graham on that day. The rest is history of course.

Great game, both teams came in unbeaten playing for all the marbles and the defense dominated. UCLA had a tie with Stanford and needed to win outright so Prothro knowing it would be a close game went for the 2 pt conversion on both TD’s and failed.

Obviously Tommy P. was a smart dude and knew something because both teams scored two TD’s. That call affected Danny Graham so much he didn’t even return to school for sometime. UCLA certainly returned the favor the following year in Prothro’s final game as coach.

[SC Gator]

The 4th and 10 throw was indicative of how bad Jimmy Jones was in that game.  Before the game-winner to Dickerson, he was 4-20 for 26 yards.  Maybe the worst performance by a winning QB I’ve ever seen.  Not terribly out of character, however.  For the season, Jones completed barely 40% of his passes.

The first time I ever saw Jones play was the SC-UCLA freshman game in 1968.  It was on one of the intramural fields in Westwood.  Late in the game, with SC trailing and the clock running, Jones threw away a pass to stop the clock.  On fourth down.

 

[BigBalls]

Great thread and topic. Marinovich on The Drive at Wazzu was absolutely nails.
But this #11 to #8 throw deserves a video post. 4th and 9.

• This reply was modified 1 week, 1 day ago by BigBalls.

[SC Gator]

Thanks for that, Ballss.  Much better throw than I remembered.

 

[BigBalls]

Incredible throw. Stadium was super  loud and then stunned silence. My wife stayed in her seat praying, haha. I doubt God cared much but hey you never know, She couldn’t look. I held up the V and went bananas when Jarrett caught it. What a memory.

• This reply was modified 1 week, 1 day ago by BigBalls.

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