University Southern California Trojans
No. 1 USC Football Team Travels To Oregon State
October 31, 2004 | Football
Oct. 31, 2004
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It's with a wary eye that the top-ranked, defending national champion USC football goes to on-a-roll Oregon State this week. Trojans with recent memories recall Troy's last visit to Corvallis: a loss in 2000 that snapped USC's 26-game winning streak over OSU. However, longtime Trojan fans remember 1967 when O.J. Simpson and No. 1 USC lost, 3-0, in the November rain and mud of then-Parker Stadium, the only blemish on Troy's national championship season. This year's game, after 3 consecutive Coliseum meetings between the teams, is sold out. For the second week in a row, the Trojans are in the Pacific Northwest playing a game on turf and with inclement weather lurking. It's Troy's final road trip of the regular season (the final 3 contests are in Southern California). USC enters the always-important stretch of November contests, a month when USC head coach Pete Carroll has never lost a game. USC has a better winning percentage against Oregon State than any other Pac-10 school. USC--enjoying its best start since 1988--is coming off an easy win at Washington State. Troy possesses some impressive win streaks: 17 overall games (second longest in school history), 12 Pac-10 games and 9 road games. As high-powered as USC's offense has been, it's the Trojan defense that is really making an impact. USC is in the nation's Top 6 in every defensive statistical category (including first in turnover margin, third in scoring defense and fourth in total defense)! Opponents have been able to average only 10 points and 250 yards of total offense against Troy's defense. The Trojans are doing so behind the relentless play of such All-American candidates as DTs Shaun Cody (a Lombardi semifinalist) and Mike Patterson and LBs Matt Grootegoed (a Butkus semifinalist) and Lofa Tatupu. USC's offense, which averages 5 touchdowns and more than 400 yards per outing, features Heisman Trophy candidate QB Matt Leinart and the "Thunder and Lightning" tailback duo of LenDale White and multifaced Reggie Bush, who also is receiving Heisman notice. Oregon State--coached by former USC assistant Mike Riley--is hot, having won its last 3 games (including at Arizona last week). Record-setting QB Derek Anderson and productive, league-leading SE Mike Hass lead the pass-oriented Beaver offense, which sports the Pac-10's top passing numbers. OSU's aggressive defense has done a nice job controlling the pass. After almost beating one of last year's national champs (LSU) in the 2004 opener, now they'll try to do so against the other titlist. The game will be shown live nationally on FSN cable.
RANKINGS
USC is ranked first by AP and USA Today/ESPN. Oregon State is not ranked.
SERIES
USC leads its series with Oregon State, 56-8-4, dating back to 1914. USC's 85.3% winning percentage against OSU is its best against any Pac-10 team. The Trojans had won a Pac-10 record 26 consecutive games over the Beavers before losing in 2000. USC has posted 17 shutouts in the series (including 2 scoreless ties). In games against the Beavers in the state of Oregon, USC is 17-4-1 (11-2 in Corvallis and 6-2-1 in Portland) with 11 straight victories before losing in 2000 in their last visit there (the other Corvallis loss was 3-0 in the mud at Corvallis in 1967, although USC still went on to win the national title that season).
In last year's meeting in the Coliseum, QB Matt Leinart threw a school record-tying 5 touchdowns--including 2 each to WR Mike Williams and TB Reggie Bush--and CB Will Poole returned 1 of his 2 interceptions for a TD as No. 2 USC staked its claim for a possible berth into the BCS' national championship game in the Sugar Bowl with an overwhelming 52-28 win over Oregon State. The victory gave USC the outright Pac-10 title.
After Oregon State scored on the game's opening series (a 1-yard run by TB Steven Jackson which followed a 90-yard pass from QB Derek Anderson to FL Mike Hass), USC scored 28 unanswered points. First, Troy responded to the Beavers' score as Leinart hit Williams on a 14-yard TD pass. Then, 1 play after LB Melvin Simmons recovered a fumble on OSU's next play from scrimmage, Leinart hit TB Reggie Bush for a 30-yard TD. Late in the second quarter, Poole intercepted his second pass, this time racing 67 yards for a score. After LB Dallas Sartz blocked a Beaver punt, Leinart and Williams hooked up again, this time with Williams making a spectacular one-handed grab for a 9-yard TD late in the half.
But OSU responded quickly as Anderson hit TE Tim Euhus with a 22-yard scoring pass with 6 seconds left in the half to cut USC's lead to 28- 14. The Trojans scored on their first possession of the second half, as Bush took Leinart's swing pass 3 yards into the end zone. On USC's next possession, Beaver CB Brandon Browner intercepted a Leinart toss and returned it 31 yards for a TD.
But 3 plays later, WR Steve Smith took a Leinart slant pass 73 yards for a score (USC's longest offensive play of 2003). LB Lofa Tatupu then intercepted Anderson twice to set up Trojan scores, first on OSU's next series to lead to to a 1-yard TD run by LenDale White late in the third quarter and then midway through the final quarter to position PK Ryan Killeen for a 29-yard field goal to put USC up, 52-21. Anderson found SE James Newson for a 3-yard touchdown with 1:31 to play.
Leinart, who was 22-of-38 for 278 yards, set Pac-10 season records for touchdown passes (35) and consecutive passes without an interception (212 before being picked off late in the first quarter). Williams, who caught 7 passes for 59 yards, established the USC season TD reception mark (16). He also blocked a field goal and had a crushing blindsided block to help spring Bush on a 32-yard run. Smith had 5 catches for 136 yards. Bush had 173 all-purpose yards: he ran for 71 yards on 6 carries, caught 3 passes for 48 yards and returned 2 kickoff for 54 yards. Killeen set a Pac-10 season record for PATs (61) and tied USC's season field goal mark (19). P Tom Malone averaged 54.0 yards on 3 punts. Tatupu had a game-high 14 tackles with his 2 interceptions, Poole had 11 tackles (2.5 for losses)--including 9 stops in the first half--to go with his 2 thefts and Sartz had 10 tackles (with a sack). USC blocked 3 kicks (DT Shaun Cody blocked a field goal in addition to Sartz's blocked punt and Williams' blocked field goal). Oregon State had the statistical edge, getting more first downs (26-17), total yards (543-388), plays (93-64) and possession time (35:25-24:35). OSU's 485 passing yards was the second most ever against USC (behind only Notre Dame's 526 in 1970). It also was the most total yards allowed by USC since Arizona had 550 in 1999 and the most plays against USC since Stanford had 96 in 2000. Anderson hit on 34-of-60 passes for 485 yards (the second most passing yards against USC behind the 526 of Notre Dame's Joe Theismann in 1970), but he threw 4 picks. Newson caught a game-best 10 passes for 104 yards, Hass had 8 grabs for 208 yards and Euhus had 7 for 97. USC limited Jackson, who was 10th nationally in rushing (a Pac-10 leading 121.3), to just 62 yards on 22 carries.
In 2000 in the last meeting in Corvallis, Oregon State--behind the running of TB Ken Simonton and an opportunistic defense that forced 4 turnovers--ended 33 years of frustration when it upset No. 8 USC, 31-21. The loss snapped USC's Pac-10 record 26-game winning streak over the Beavers (OSU's last win over Troy was in 1967). Simonton, Oregon State's career rushing and scoring leader who entered the game as the nation's No. 5 rusher (158.3), ran for 234 yards (the second most ever against USC and the second most by a Beaver) on 37 carries (tied for the third most ever against Troy) and scored 3 times. And the Beaver defense, which was ranked in the national Top 20 in every category, picked off 3 passes by QB Carson Palmer, recovered a fumble (on the USC 6), and limited the Trojans to 63 rushing yards and 4-of-14 on third down conversions.
USC squandered several scoring opportunities, including missing a field goal (after a touchdown was erased because of a penalty) at the start of the second half and throwing an interception at the OSU 9 late in the fourth quarter. Oregon State jumped off to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a 15-yard TD pass from QB Jonathan Smith to SE Chad Johnson (after picking off a Palmer pass) and then on a 20-yard Simonton TD burst. But USC tied it up quickly as Palmer hit WR Matt Nickels on a 12-yard TD pass and then LB Zeke Moreno scooped up a fumble and raced 80 yards for a score early in the second quarter. After a scoreless third quarter, OSU took a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter on a 2-yard Simonton TD run (after USC's fumble near the goal line) and a 41-yard field goal by PK Ryan Cesca. Despite throwing interceptions on its next 2 drives, USC pulled within 24-21 with 2:16 to play on a 1-yard Palmer TD pass to FB Chad Pierson (following a botched OSU punt attempt). But USC couldn't recover the ensuing onside kick and Simonton soon ran 36 yards for the final score. The Beavers were particularly dominant in the first half, outgaining Troy 276-150. Palmer was 19-of- 38 for 282 yards. USC played most of the second half without TB Sultan McCullough (33 yards on 10 carries), who slightly sprained his knee on the opening drive of the half. The win gave Oregon State its first 4-0 start since 1957.
REMEMBER 1967
In 1967, coach John McKay's top-ranked USC team took its 8-0 record to Corvallis to face Dee Andros' 5-2-1 Oregon State squad. The game was played on a field muddy from the day's constant rain. In perhaps the biggest upset in the series (and "the greatest day in the state of Oregon's athletics," according to some), the Beavers came away with a 3-0 victory on a 30-yard field goal by Mike Haggard in the second quarter following a Trojan fumble. USC star TB O.J. Simpson--despite an injured foot--ran for 188 yards on 33 carries, but the inclement weather affected QB Steve Sogge's passing (he completed just 4-of-10 passes for 6 yards). OSU FB Bill "Earthquake" Enyart nearly matched Simpson's output, getting 135 yards on 24 rushes. Beaver P Gary Houser's 8 punts kept USC in poor field position most of the game and the Beaver defense did its job. Rikki Aldridge missed a 26- yard field goal on USC's opening drive (Haggard missed 2 others for OSU). Despite the disheartening loss, USC recovered to beat UCLA, 21-20, the following week and then defeated Indiana in the Rose Bowl to capture the national championship.
ARTIFICIAL TURF
USC is 16-10-1 in its last 27 games on artificial turf.
WIN STREAKS
The Trojans have captured their last 19 home games (with 4 shutouts). That's USC's longest Coliseum win streak since also getting 19 in a row during the 1931 through 1933 campaigns (the school record is 20, both in 1919-23 and 1927-29). Besides that Pac-10 leading 19- game home winning streak, USC also has the longest current Pac-10 win streaks for overall games (17), Pac-10 games (12) and road games (9). Troy's 17-game winning streak is the second longest in the nation (behind Boise State's 19) and is USC's longest since a schoolrecord 25 consecutive from 1931 to 1933. The 12-game Pac-10 win streak is USC's longest since a school-record 19 consecutive in 1987- 89. The 9-game road winning streak is the Trojans' longest since a school-record 14 in a row in 1978-80.
HIGH RANKING
USC has been ranked in the AP Top 10 for its past 27 games, its longest string since 34 in a row in 1978-80. The Trojans have been in the AP Top 5 in 23 of the last 27 polls. USC has been AP's No. 1 team in the last 12 polls.
RECORD WHEN NO. 1
USC has a 44-4-2 (.900) record in games when it is ranked No. 1 by AP. When a No. 1-ranked Trojan team faced a ranked opponent, it has gone 16-2-1 (.868), with the losses versus Oklahoma in 1963 and Alabama in 1977 and the tie with Oklahoma in 1973. When a No. 1 USC squad played an unranked opponent, it went 28-2-1 (.919), with the losses at Oregon State in 1967 and versus Arizona in 1981 and the tie with Stanford in 1979.
BEST START
At 8-0, USC is off to its best start since the 1988 squad began 10-0.
IN NOVEMBER
USC has a 219-121-20 (.636) all-time record while playing in the month of November. USC head coach Pete Carroll is 10-0 in November.
CARROLL'S SECOND HALF SHOWING
Fourth-year head coach Pete Carroll's USC teams have been nearly unbeatable during the second half of the regular season. Indeed, his teams are 17-7 in the first half of the regular season and then 18-1 in the second half (not counting 2-1 in the bowls).
