University Southern California Trojans
Despite Loss, Papadakis Comes Up Big Against California
June 21, 1999 | Football
October 10, 1998
LOS ANGELES- Petros Papadakis is not a household name. And because of a freak penalty and deflating loss, he may never be.
But Petros, his football-playing family and Trojan fans will long remember the game he had against Cal -- his old school, for goodness sakes.
"This was special to me," he said is an subdued tone afterwards.
First, let's start with that traditional (and tounge-twisting) Greek name. Here's how the USC Sports Information office prints it phoenetically: PET-roze pah-pah-DAH-kiss.
Of course, long-time Trojan fans already know how to pronounce it.
That's because Petros'es older brother, Taso, was a talented linebacker whose SC career was halted two years ago by two knee surgeries. And their father, John, who played linebacker at USC in the 60s, is an institution at University gatherings.
That said, how in the world did Petros wind up at Berkeley as a recruit three years ago? Soon thereafter, he had a change of heart and transfered to SC.
And then guess against which team Petros chose to have the best game of his career? Yep, Cal.
On the Trojans' first posession, Papadakis busted through a huge hole and sprinted 65-yards untouched for the touchdown. Until that snap, the longest gain of his career had been 14 yards. It also matched his previous career TD total.
He wasn't done.
Late in the third period on an identical play, Petros busted through the middle and set sail 58 yards for what a appeared to be another score. It would have put SC up 38-18.
But a questionable penalty for a teammate's hit at about the 25-yard line and away from the play nullified the gain.
Papadakis said he did not see the infraction and did not hear about it until the referee expalied it over the Coliseum P.A. system. But Head Coach Paul Hackett could speak for the biggest crowd of the year, 65,678, whe he said he "was absolutely stunned" by the call.
Still, Petros finished with a robust 13 carries for 124 yards, both career highs.
But it came on a night when a freak penalty nullified his game-breaking second big play and triggered a Cal come-from-behind victory 32-31.
"Today was a real confidence builder. It was surprising." Pertos said in summation. "The loss makes it hard to swallow."
