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 The
loose balls? Southern California came up with them. Those crazy plays?
They all went USC's way, too.
The Trojans were every bit as good as advertised and the Rose Bowl was
even more lopsided than expected. Freshman tailback Joe McKnight
finished with 170 of USC's 633 yards in a record-setting romp Tuesday,
49-17 over outmatched Illinois.
Sixth-ranked USC (11-2) tied a Rose Bowl record with the 49 points and
the total offense was a record, too. The blowout gave the Trojans 11
wins for an unprecedented sixth straight season and made them 5-1 in
their last six bowl games, all of them BCS affairs.
The game featured 1,078 yards of offense. Despite the margin, things
were truly competitive for a brief moment. Illinois' Rashard Mendenhall
broke a 79-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter to trim what
had been a three-touchdown deficit to 21-10 (video).
Minutes later, Mendenhall scooted 55 yards with a screen pass from Juice
Williams, and Ron Zook's 13th-ranked Illini (9-4) were looking as if
they might really complete the impossible dream, from 2-19 over the last
two years to Rose Bowl champions.
But two plays later, Kaluka Maiava popped the ball out of receiver Jacob
Willis' hands and USC's Brian Cushing won a scramble in the end zone.
Then came the play of the game, when John David Booty threw a sloppy
lateral to McKnight, who didn't catch it, but was able to scoop it up on
the bounce and run 65 yards. McKnight was chased down by defensive back
Vontae Davis -- yes Zook is recruiting some speed to Champaign -- but
four plays later, Booty hit Fred Davis with a 2-yard touchdown pass and
the rout was on (video).
Booty threw for 255 yards and three scores to set a Rose Bowl career
record with seven TDs.
USC linebacker Rey Maualuga had three sacks and an interception for a
defense that allowed only 79 yards in the first half.
McKnight, hyped as USC's next Reggie Bush, finished with 125 yards
rushing and 45 yards receiving, and his broken play in the third quarter
wasn't the only time the Trojans made something crazy and unexpected
happen.
It started in the first quarter, when Booty lateraled to Garrett Green,
who is listed as a receiver-quarterback, and Green threw crossfield to
Desmond Reed for a 34-yard touchdown strike and a 14-0 lead (video).
Reed was so open, he could've walked into the end zone, but instead did
a leaping front tuck. Stuck the landing, too, but got six points instead
of a perfect 10.0, and also was docked a 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct
penalty.
That made no difference, and in the end, Illinois' nice little stretch
of competitiveness in the third quarter was only a blip, as well.
Mendenhall finished with 214 total yards in what could be the last
college game for the junior. Williams had 245 yards passing for the
Illini, whose last Rose Bowl trip came 24 years ago and ended in a 45-9
loss to quarterback Rick Neuheisel and UCLA.
The score this time was similar, and not totally unexpected.
The Illini were 13 1/2-point underdogs -- biggest of any of this
season's 32 bowl games -- and the final score only added fuel to the
fire of those who criticized the Rose Bowl for passing on other
available teams, maybe Georgia or Hawaii, and insisting on a Pac-10-Big
Ten matchup.
Meanwhile, USC was said to be playing the best football of anyone when
the regular season ended, and didn't do anything to debunk that theory.
Coach Pete Carroll, a proponent of a playoff, lobbied for the Trojans to
have LSU's spot in next week's national title game, the first to include
a team with two losses. But a 24-23 loss to 41-point underdog Stanford
in October was USC's undoing.
On this day at the sunsplashed Rose Bowl, it was hard to imagine the
Trojans losing to Stanford.
Not that they were perfect.
Early in the game, a snap sailed over punter Greg Woidneck's head and he
had to scramble to get off a 20-yard punt. Later, Justin Harrison picked
off Booty's pass and returned it to the USC 20, but Illinois couldn't
score off that. Also in the first half, Harrison pulverized receiver
Vidal Hazelton and sent the ball flying out, only to redirect into the
waiting hands of McKnight.
The common denominator in all was that was that Illinois gave itself
chances to make big plays but couldn't cash in on any.
And the Trojans, like any championship team, were in the right place at
the right time for all of it.
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Attendance: 93,923
Scoring Summary
First
Quarter
USC-
Washington 8 yard pass from Booty (Buehler kick)
USC-
Reed 34 yard pass from Green (Buehler kick)
Second
Quarter
USC-
Washington 3 run (Buehler kick)
ILL- FG
Reda 28
Third
Quarter
ILL-
Mendenhall 79 run (Reda kick)
USC-
Davis 2 yard pass from Booty (Buehler kick)
USC-
McKnight 6 run (David Buehler Kick)
Fourth
Quarter
USC-
Ausberry 15 yard pass from Booty (Buehler kick)
USC-
Dennis 3 run (Buehler kick)
ILL-
Benn 56 yard pass from McGee (Reda kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
USC-
Mendenhall 17-155
USC-
McKnight 10-125, Johnson 9-104, Washington 12-75, Dennis 6-30, Adewale
1-17
Passing
ILL-
Williams 21-35-245, McGee 1-1-56
USC-
Booty 25-37-255, Green 1-1-34
Receiving
ILL-
Benn 5-80, Willis 4-74, Mendenhall 5-59, Cumberland 3-37, Gamble 2-26,
Warren 3-25
USC-
Davis 7-87, Havili 4-63, McKnight 6-45, Reed 1-34, Ausberry 2-28,
Johnson 2-15, Washington 3-12
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