You knew it was USC's day when even the Hail Mary pass worked.
The Trojans used that play to help shift momentum and all the good that followed helped exorcise demons from the debacle at Boston College two weeks ago.
Cody Kessler scrambled and scooted and worked his way around the Oregon State pass rush before heaving the pass toward the end zone, and Darreus Rogers caught the pass, turned and stepped in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown as time expired in the first half.
The Trojans' rout over Oregon State was on and USC delivered a much-needed 35-10 victory.
Did the Trojans ever need that pick-me-up.
The euphoria from the win will be tempered when the Trojans watch several mistakes and look to fix the false start and defensive holding penalties that led to an unacceptable 124 yards in penalties.
"Coming off a loss like that and then you have to sit on that for two weeks," USC coach Steve Sarkisian said. "I'm so proud of our defense with what they had to hear the last two weeks."
Much of the criticism was deserved, given that the heavily favorite Trojans lost 37-31 in Boston and were dominated up front.
Then USC dominated Oregon State, in time of possession, offensive production, in the turnover department and just about every which way. Su'a Cravens, playing at linebacker this week, returned an interception for a touchdown, had a sack and a tackle for loss.
The Hail Mary pass was gravy.
"We wanted to run the clock down and it was either going to be an interception or a touchdown," Kessler said. "Like Sark said, we do practice it two or three times a week in case we get in one of those scenarios. Darreus made a great play. I think that sparked us for the second half and got the crowd pumped."
And USC further removed from Boston.
The Hail Mary worked to perfection, and USC turned a four-point halftime lead into an 11 points and got back to its winning ways.
Relive all the glory from tonight's victory including the Hail Mary that ended the 1st half with these highlights: http://t.co/fRHAoiwd2w
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) September 28, 2014
Oregon State, which was undefeated before Saturday, hasn't won in the Coliseum since 1960. Saturday was going to be no different.
In addition to Cravens' outstanding performance, Leon McQuay intercepted a pass and Kessler threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns. The Trojans have their swagger back.
That outing was plenty good enough to cleanse themselves from that debacle in Boston College. USC is 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-12 Conference. USC is alone in first in the Pac-12 South standings. Everything seems right with USC again, when everything had gone so wrong just two weeks ago.
USC had a bye week following that unexpected loss, then used its aggressive defense to frustrate Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion, a 6-foot-5, 227-pound NFL prospect, into throwing two interceptions and never feeling comfortable in the pocket. Mannion, who could break Matt Barkley's conference passing record, threw for just 123 yards.
USC's Su'a Cravens 'liking' new position after big game vs. Oregon State
USC had just 18 rushing yards in the first half, but the Trojans ran the ball better in the second half, to the tune of 182 yards, when they outscored the Beavers 14-0.
USC is still trying to channel its "Tailback U" roots, and it's a work in progress.
"(We need) to keep running the ball," Sarkisian said. "We're not just going to abandon that thing. We're going to keep finding a way to run it. We have to. It's who we are. It helps our defense. We're still learning. But we are gaining an attitude about it.
"It's been a hard two weeks on those guys up front. I love the fact we were able to do it in the second half in the fashion we did. I thought it really showed our conditioning. Guys are in great shape, physically and mentally."
And no longer fatigued by that alarming loss in Boston. USC put that in the rear-view mirror with this win over Oregon State.
