USC Sets Rose Bowl Record in 38-24 Win

My initial thoughts watching the two teams take the field at the Rose Bowl led me to expect a quick start by USC. Penn State looked like they were running onto a practice field while the Trojans looked ready and roaring to go.

That proved to be the case as the Trojans struck first with Mark Sanchez hitting Damian Williams on a 27-yard skinny post route for the score to cap the 87-yard, 11-play drive.

Penn State, however, did come back with an 80-yard, 9-play drive with quarterback Daryl Clark running up the middle for the score to tie the game.

But the 24-0 second quarter proved that USC was indeed ready. While many expected the USC defense to dominate, I have been reporting all week that the offense has looked sharper than I have seen it all season.

And such was the case.

Mark Sanchez was on fire, mixing short passes with longer ones, checking down, drilling the ball when he had to, feathering it when he had to, and amassed a career-record 413 yards with 4 TD passes and one rushing TD and no interceptions.

Many were concerned that Steve Sarkisian’s leaving to take over the Washington Huskies would be a distraction. But again, after watching the Trojans practice all week, I could see that Sarkisian was intent and really locked in on a game plan.

That game plan dominated the second quarter and put the game out of reach for Penn State. Sarkisian planned perfectly for the offense’s speed on the edge and their vertical passing game. He called runs to set up passes. When the coverage was playing deep, he had Sanchez go short. When the coverage tightened, he had Sanchez go long.

Damian Williams was an integral part of that game plan. He showed at practice that he was 100 percent and proved in the game that he was the best receiver on the field.

Willimas caught 10 passes for 162 yards and 1 TD. Ronald Johnson was a distant second with 4 catches for 82 yards and 2 TDs. Patrick Turner also caught 4 passes for 74 yards. C.J. Gable caught a TD pass, his only catch of the day.

To start off that explosive second quarter, after spreading the ball around to three different receivers on an 80-yard drive, Sanchez called his own number to cover the final 6 yards to put USC up 14-7.

The next time they had the ball, Sanchez hit Turner, Williams, Anthony McCoy and David Ausberry to set up a David Buehler 30-yard field goal and a 17-7 lead.

On the next drive it was all underneath passes to Williams until Sanchez hit Ronald Johnson on a 20-yard skinny post to up the score to 24-7.

After Penn State recovered a C. J. Gable fumble, the USC defense stifled the Nittany Lions and returned the ball to Sanchez and the offense.

It took USC 5 plays to go 58 yards with Sarkisian calling a middle screen to C. J. Gable that completely caught Penn State unprepared. That 20-yard score put USC up 31-7 at halftime.

Obviously all those worries over the abscence of Stanley Havili were unfounded as I mentioned earlier this week. Rhett Ellison’s able hands and capable blocking along with backup Adam Goodman’s experience proved more than sufficient.

In the second half, Penn State finally found their legs and got some momentum, but it was much too late.

Daryl Clark hit Derrick Williams for a 2-yard score to finish off a 10-play, 80-yard drive to cut the lead to 31-14.

But Sanchez came right back, engineering a quick 3-play, 82-yard drive, the last 45 yards to a wide-open Ronald Johnson as McCoy got the Penn State corner to bite on a crossing route, and USC went up 38-14.

The fourth quarter saw Penn State put up two more scores. The USC defense stiffened after Penn State drove 75 yards on 11 plays and the Lions had to settle for a Kevin Kelly 25-yard field goal to make the score 38-17.

With 4:24 left Clark hit Jordan Norwood for a 9-yard score to cap a 56-yard drive to narrow USC’s lead to 38-24.

Penn State had two more chances to score, but Will Harris intercepted to end one drive. Then with the game well in hand, a high snap sent USC’s punter, Greg Woidneck, back to his 15-yard line to recover.

With just seconds left and USC bringing pressure, Clark threw high into the end zone and Cary Harris intercepted to end the game. The final score: USC 38 – Penn State 24.

And so ends another successful season for Pete Carroll and his USC Trojan with everything coming up SEVENS.

It’s their seventh straight 11-win or better season, their seventh straight BCS Bowl game, their seventh straight Pac-10 title, and their seventh straight Top 5 finish.

They have now won more Rose Bowls than any other team in the nation. They also set a record doing it, winning their third consecutive Rose Bowl. They have also tied the record for the most bowl victories of all time.

And, surprising as it may be for the so-called “soft” Pac-10, but with today’s Rose Bowl victory, the conference is a perfect 5-0 in post season bowl appearances this year.