USC pulls off the biggest win of the Lane Kiffin era by ending the longest active home winning streak in college football.
Click here for a game recap and the stats.
The six (+2) highlight stories on a memorable night...
Two-point conversion...
Click here for a game recap and the stats.
The six (+2) highlight stories on a memorable night...
- Signature Win... USC football is back. Under Lane Kiffin, the Trojans have been close to slaying giants before, but tonight, they finished the job. "We finally pulled out a big win," Matt Barkley said. "We needed this. It was about time it happened too. This was a defining game for us." Kiffin agreed that this was the biggest win of his USC head coaching career. "To break the longest home winning streak in the country says a lot about this team and how far they've come," said Kiffin.
#Barkley4Heisman... Trojan Family, take to Twitter and let the world know Matt Barkley is a legitimate Heisman contender. The junior QB completed 26 of 34 passes for 323 yards and 4 TDs to 1 INT in the toughest road atmosphere in the Pac-12. "I can't imagine there's other guys out there putting up his numbers with a bunch of young guys around him," said Kiffin, who compared Barkley's night in Eugene to Carson Palmer's performance at Oregon in 2002, which galvanized his Heisman campaign.
- Freshman of the Year... Barkley is not doing it alone. Tonight, freshman WR Marqise Lee was the central offensive focus with 187 yards receiving on 8 catches including a TD. "It's fun to know that you can just throw the ball up and he'll come down with it," Barkley said about Lee, who made several contested catches. Kiffin felt Lee made a national statement with his 325 all-purpose yards: "He's playing as well as anyone in the country and he's just a kid. He had to read and hear about De'Anthony [Thomas] every day, so it was big for him to show up and throw his hat in there as a pretty big player."
- Pullard and Tackling... With Hayes Pullard as the standout performer, the USC defense held up against one of the top offenses in the country. Starting three freshmen linebackers, the Trojans maintained gap discipline, tackled extremely well and limited big plays. "We've improved as our second year in the system," said Kiffin, who explained that they used the same scheme as last season but the personnel and execution were the difference. Pullard stuffed the box score with 14 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.
- Trojan Warriors... WR Robert Woods (video interview below) could barely get dressed after the game because he was in so much pain, but still managed two TD catches. LB Dion Bailey waived off the injury cart to return for the final series and is now in a walking boot. TE/FB Rhett Ellison, FB Ross Cumming and LB Lamar Dawson were three more Trojans who gutted it out. "Thank God we didn't go to overtime," Kiffin joked. "We were running out of people. Guys just kept trying to step up."
Never Easy... The Trojans could have won this game by two or three touchdowns. They were that dominant for large stretches, but the final two offensive possessions ended in killer turnovers, which made USC sweat it out to the final kick. "It wasn't fun at all," said Kiffin about watching the lead dissipate. "It just kept going in the wrong direction." On Barkley's interception, it looked like Woods was held, and the fumbled exchange between the QB and Marc Tyler was inexplicable to the head coach. "Those things usually don't happen," said a relieved Lane Kiffin. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
Two-point conversion...
- The Trojans believed Oregon would miss the final kick. "I had faith in my 'Regulators,'" said Lee about the field goal block team. "They were scared of Matt [Kalil]," Barkley said. "They knew of our presence on field goal blocks."
- Beat the Bruins! Crosstown rivalry week has officially begun. "We're going to enjoy it, but we do have to finish this race that we've been running," said captain Barkley.
What a thrill!!
I am so happy for the team.