By GREG BEACHAM, AP
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Most
of Oregon State's punt-coverage team was to his left, so Damian
Williams went right. When he dodged the final tackler and slipped into
the end zone early in the fourth quarter, he thought Southern
California finally had shaken the Beavers as well.
"And then they went down and scored again like it was nothing,"
Williams recalled. "I said, 'I guess it's still going to be a fight
here.'"
The No. 4 Trojans won that fight
with one final drive by their revitalized offense, which relished a
rare chance to bail out their usually formidable defense in a 42-36
victory Saturday night.
Allen Bradford
rushed for a career-high 147 yards and two touchdowns as USC avenged
its only loss of last season -- a 27-21 defeat last September that
prevented the Trojans (6-1, 3-1 Pac-10) from playing for the national
title.
USC's defense looked nowhere near
title shape against Sean Canfield, Jacquizz Rodgers and the Beavers
(4-3, 2-2), who shredded it for 482 total yards -- including James
Rodgers' 7-yard TD catch less than two minutes after Williams' 63-yard
punt return put the Trojans up 42-23.
Jacquizz Rodgers' 1-yard TD plunge with 5:41 to play cut USC's lead to
42-36, but the Trojans converted two third downs while running out the
clock, with Bradford picking up one last with a stiff-arm in the final
minute.
"It was the moment you dream
about," said Bradford, who has spent most of his USC career stuck
behind Chauncey Washington and Joe McKnight, who missed much of this
game with injured hands. "We knew we had to keep scoring and being
consistent to beat these guys. It's good to pick up the defense,
because they've been picking us up all year."
Canfield passed for 329 yards and a career-best three touchdowns for
the Beavers, while Jacquizz Rodgers rushed for 113 yards and a score
and also caught a TD pass on an injured ankle. Jacquizz Rodgers was the
star of Oregon State's win over then-No. 1 USC last season, but the
Trojans still haven't lost consecutive games to the same opponent since
2002, in the second year of coach Pete Carroll's tenure.
"I'm very proud of our team for their fight," said Oregon State coach
Mike Riley, whose team hit season highs of nine penalties for 85 yards.
"We will regret many opportunities. There's a million things. I just
don't want to sell our team short. ... Nobody blinked. Everybody stayed
in it and made plays, and I do love that about our team."
Although the Trojans never trailed, they never got comfortable. Matt
Barkley rushed for a score and passed for 202 yards with two TDs and
two interceptions in another inconsistent freshman performance.
Bradford's breakout game included a 43-yard scoring run late in the
third quarter.
"This was a different game
than we hoped to have," Carroll said. "We were scrambling, trying to
slow them down. Our offense just carried us, which I love. You saw the
way we ran out the clock?"
Ronald Johnson
caught six passes for 99 yards, including a full-stretch dive for a
22-yard TD, in his second game back from a broken collarbone. Anthony
McCoy had an early TD catch before spraining his ankle.
Jacquizz Rodgers, who had 186 yards and two scores last year against
USC, talked trash to the Trojans defense from the opening snap, but sat
out the second quarter with an injured right ankle. He briefly went to
the locker room before returning to the sideline and starting the
second half.
His older brother, James, had seven catches for 56 yards and a score while playing on a bruised knee.
"Both were a little banged up, but those guys give it all for the
Beavers," Canfield said. "We were really confident with what was in the
game plan. In the second half, we really got it going and hit the
things we liked on film."
But James also
was responsible for losing Oregon State's first fumble of the season in
the first quarter when Josh Pinkard alertly stripped him to set up the
Trojans' first score. The Beavers had won their last seven games after
byes, but they haven't won in Los Angeles since 1960.
Joe Halahuni had career highs of nine catches for 127 yards, and Justin
Kahut kicked three first-half field goals for Oregon State, but also
missed a 22-yard attempt.
"It's a little
disappointing, and there are some things we're going to have to look
at," USC linebacker Chris Galippo said. "Really, it was just a bunch of
little rinky-dink things."
Stafon Johnson,
the USC tailback whose throat was crushed in a weightlifting accident
last month, made an emotional return to the Coliseum in the Trojans'
pregame meeting before watching the game from the press box. Johnson is
recovering swiftly from the near-fatal injury, but isn't expected to
play again this season.
Johnson got a standing ovation when he appeared on the Coliseum scoreboard between the first two quarters.
