|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- After flailing around most of the game,
ninth-ranked Southern Cal finally roared to life.
|  | | Southern Cal's Darrell Rideaux forced this fumble, but the Spartans recovered and made the Trojans work until the end. |
The Trojans scored three touchdowns in the final 8:07 to rally
past San Jose State 34-24 on Saturday.
Carson Palmer led a pair of long scoring drives, and the Trojans
(3-0) turned an interception into another touchdown as they
overcame a 12-point deficit.
"We were not sharp in the first half," Trojans coach Paul
Hackett said. "As I said at the half, we were embarrassing on
special teams, we were embarrassing on defense, we were
embarrassing on offense. The best thing is that it was a team
embarrassment.
"I can see how they beat Stanford. They almost beat us."
In the fourth quarter, the Trojans overpowered the Spartans
(2-2).
"We knew we weren't going to be denied," said Palmer, who
completed 22 of 38 for 338 yards and two scores. "We lost
intensity as the game went on the first half, but the intensity
came at the end."
The turnaround began when Palmer directed an 80-yard scoring
march that culminated in Petros Papadakis' 5-yard run with 8:07
remaining. Palmer threw to Matt Nickels for the 2-point conversion
and a three-point pad.
Papadakis added an insurance touchdown -- his third TD of the
game -- on a 3-yard run with 57 seconds left after teammate Chris
Cash intercepted a pass at the Spartans' 30 and returned it to the
21.
"We were pretty shocked about the first half," Papadakis said.
"We made some terrible mistakes and we heard about it."
San Jose State coach Dave Baldwin realized it would be difficult
for the Spartans to hold onto their lead.
"We felt we had a pretty good chance in the third quarter, but
we knew that we needed to run and control the clock. But the
ability to run just wasn't there because there weren't any holes,"
Baldwin said.
"In the fourth quarter, we didn't dominate the line of
scrimmage at all. USC was a more physical team than we were."
Said Spartans defensive captain Josh Perry: "It was tough to
swallow, being up 24-12 in the fourth quarter. I take it personally
that we lost. We came into the game expecting to win."
Kareem Kelly had seven catches for 106 yards for the Trojans,
and Sultan McCullough rushed for 136 yards on 21 carries as USC
overcame four lost fumbles.
The Trojans held San Jose State tailback Deonce Whitaker, who
entered the game as the nation's third-leading rusher, to 49 yards
on 13 carries.
Whitaker, who scored twice, was used sparingly in the second
half because he felt numbness in his fingers after a
helmet-to-helmet collision.
Marcus Arroyo completed 20 of 41 for 256 yards, and Rashied
Davis had six catches for 121 yards in the Spartans' loss.
After the Spartans' Nick Gilliam missed a 35-yard field goal
early in the fourth, Palmer capped the 80-yard drive with an 8-yard
scoring pass to tight end Antoine Harris, who was wide open across
the middle in the back of the end zone.
USC then went ahead with the 67-yard march that ended when
Papadakis dragged three San Jose State defenders into the end zone
with him.
The Spartans had gone up 24-12 after Chris Tandy sacked Palmer,
the quarterback fumbled and Brandon Miles recovered at the San Jose
State 38. Arroyo hooked up with Davis on a 38-yard pass on the next
play, down to the USC 24.
A 10-yard completion to Davis put the ball at the USC 14, then
Whitaker scooted up the middle to score on the next play, 46
seconds before halftime.
San Jose State came back from a 12-10 deficit when Arroyo
connected with Davis on a 42-yard pass down to the Trojans' 2, then
Whitaker scored on a 1-yard run two plays later to give the
Spartans a 17-12 lead.
USC had gone in front earlier in the second quarter, scoring
their second touchdown but failing for the second time to make the
PAT kick. Kelly scored on a 61-yard pass from Palmer, then David
Newbury's kick hit the right upright.
Trailing 10-0, the Trojans scored their first touchdown on
Papadakis' 1-yard dive 1:17 into the second quarter, but the snap
on the PAT attempt was bad.
San Jose State turned a blocked punt and a USC fumble into 10
points in the first quarter.
The Spartans' Casey LeBlanc broke up the middle to block Mike
MacGillivray's punt, and Jamar Julien caught the ball on the hop at
the 10-yard line and scored just 2:28 into the game. San Jose State
added a 35-yard field goal by Gilliam later in the quarter.
San Jose State, which had beaten Stanford 40-27 two weeks
earlier, was a 23-point underdog against USC in just the second
football meeting between the schools.
|
|
ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
San Jose State Clubhouse
USC Clubhouse
|
