Bea-lieve it! Rodgers and Rodgers show leads Oregon State past top-ranked USC
So much for USC being the undisputed best team in the country, eh?
For the second straight time, USC went into Corvallis, fell behind big, rallied, and came up short as the top-ranked Trojans fell 27-21 to Oregon St., a repeat of their 33-31 loss two years ago.
In 2006, USC fell behind 33-10 in the third quarter before drawing with 33-31 and then missing on a two-point conversion that would’ve sent it overtime.
This time around, the Trojans fell behind 21-0 at halftime and rallied within 21-14 before things got wild in the final couple of minutes.
A lot of people could point at Oregon State’s 1-2 record and the way they got throttled by Penn State as reason to think that USC was going to run away with it, but that was far from the case.
I felt good about the Beavers’ chances to move the ball and put up points on USC, with a bevy of weapons on offense, and they did just that. QB Lyle Moevao was sharp (18 of 27, 167 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT), which was huge, but the story was true freshman back Jacquizz Rodgers, who they gave the ball to time and time again and made USC try to stop him. They didn’t do much of it, as Rodgers ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns on 37 carries.
Rodgers may be 5’7 (that might be a little generous), but he’s fast, and he does have the strength to withstand hits and break away from tacklers, and USC got to see all of that tonight, from him breaking off some gain after gain in the first half, to his final run of the game, a two-yard touchdown that made it 27-14 with 2:39 left.
It looked to be over then, but it wasn’t, as USC got a long kickoff return and made it 27-21 with 1:19 left on a touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez to Patrick Turner. But, OSU recovered the onside kick and ran the clock out to wrap up the upset.
Not only did Oregon St. do a number on USC offensively, but when USC had the ball, their defense put a lot of pressure on Sanchez (which forced Greg Laybourn’s interception that set up the Beavers’ last score) and didn’t allow any real home-run plays on the ground.
In the end, you can look back on a big swing sequence late in the second quarter as being pivotal in the final outcome. USC had moved to go the Oregon St. 36 on a long completion to Damian Williams, and on first down, Stafon Johnson broke off a run for another first down, but the Trojans were called for a holding penalty that negated the first down. A couple of plays later, on 3rd and 7 from the 33, Joe McKnight not only lost five yards, but he also lost the football, and Oregon St. recovered.
The Beavers promptly drove down the field, and though they could‘ve taken three points and been fine with a 17-0 lead, they went for six, and with a little help from USC, first a roughing the passer penalty on 3rd and goal at the 7, then a tip that went right into James Rodgers’ hands in the corner of the end zone, the Beavers went into the half with a 21-0 lead.
When it comes down to it, all you can say is for USC is ‘what the…?’ Following up a dismantling of one OSU with a loss to another, in which they made a lot of silly mistakes and didn’t play much like the team that throttled Ohio State two weeks ago. Still, you couldn’t but at least half-expect them to come back in the second half, and they did, but ultimately, they got too far behind, and couldn’t do quite enough to get the job done.
While the loss is going to drop them quite a bit, definitely out of the top five and quite possibly out of the top ten, depending on how things shake out in a few other games.
But, if there’s a time to lose and still have a way back in the national championship race, it’s now. In 2006, they lost to the Beavers in late October, and a month later, they were at #2 in the BCS before losing their shot at the national title game in their regular-season finale at UCLA. And then last season, Ohio State dropped from #1 to #7 in the BCS after losing to Illinois on Nov. 10. Three weeks later, they were in the national title game.
So, it’s not all over for USC, though their margin for error is wiped off now, and all of that talk of their greatness and such comes to a screeching halt. More troubling for them than the loss though, is a late injury to star linebacker Rey Maualuga that didn’t look too good. With Oregon and Arizona State coming up, if he has to miss some time, it’d be a big blow to a USC defense that got its pride hurt just a little by a pint-sized back who’s making a lot of top schools regret not going after him (and his brother too).
Speaking of the Rodgers brothers, the rest of the Pac-10 needs to take notice, because Jacquizz, who now has 449 yards and six touchdowns in his first five games, and James (a sophomore), who had two touchdown catches against the Trojans, are going to be terrorizing your defenses for the next few years, so hit those tackling dummies a little harder, start playing a little opener, and make sure your guys don’t just look straight ahead, but down and around too.
Related posts on The Red Zone Report
