It wasn't Hollywood magic that propelled the top-ranked Trojans past Nebraska before a stunned crowd at Memorial Stadium.
RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Saturday, September 15, 2007 7:00 pm
Several times during USC’s dismantling of Nebraska, it might have seemed as if the Trojans used smoke and mirrors.
But it wasn’t Hollywood magic that propelled the top-ranked Trojans to a 49-31 win against Nebraska before a stunned crowd at Memorial Stadium.
It was the athleticism and instincts of outstanding athletes that allowed USC to avoid impending disaster and turn the plays into big gains.
Time and time again, Stafon Johnson, Stanley Havili and C.J. Gable sidestepped Huskers when it appeared they would be wrapped up for little or no gain.
Johnson shimmied and bulled his way to 144 yards on 11 carries, Gable had 69 yards on four carries and Havili had 52 yards in two carries.
“Coach has put in our heads that it’s the finish,” Johnson said. “When you feel you’re going down, you have to keep pushing and do things that people don’t think you could do. You finish through everything.”
Johnson may have moved to the front of the logjam of USC running backs.
And what flipped that switch?
“Standing on the sidelines and being cold. I didn’t like that too much,” he said. “When you go to a school like USC, you want to show what you can do and I wasn’t showing the coaches I was ready. I wanted to show them I’m a great role player and I want to do anything I can to help the team.”
The ability to elude tacklers was most apparent after the Huskers took a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
Vincent Joseph took the ensuing kickoff and returned it 18 yards before he was hit and the ball popped out. But teammate Malcolm Smith scooped up the ball and raced 31 yards to the Nebraska 45-yard line. Five plays later, USC took the lead for good.
“Malcolm Smith is a heck of an all-around football player and he just reacted,” said USC coach Pete Carroll. “That’s guys making great decisions in the flash of a moment and that was a huge play for us.”
Carroll paused to talk about Joseph, who was taken from the field on a stretcher after a lengthy delay. He will stay overnight at a local hospital with a bruised larynx.
“At the time Vincent was on the field, we had a chance to talk to the guys and we told them we were going to run the ball every play until something changes.
“That was a tremendous response by them. It’s great fun for the O-line. They don’t love anything more than that. We were hootin’ and hollerin’ in the locker room about the O-line and 300 yards rushing.”
On the drive following Joseph’s injury, Gable ripped off runs of 14 and 11 yards before Johnson bulled his way up the middle for 16 and then 2 yards. Havili finished off the drive with a 2-yard blast up the middle.
“We made it difficult on ourselves early in the game. Once we got going, though, we just took control up front,” Carroll said. “I thought Stafon Johnson really jumped out. He averaged 13 yards a carry and C.J. averaged 17 yards a carry, which is crazy numbers. We really felt good about what we were doing and we didn’t have to throw the football at all.”
Because the running game was so successful, quarterback John David Booty had plenty of time to find receivers when the Trojans took to the air.
Never was that more evident than when Booty rolled out on a bootleg and had two open receivers from which to choose. He fired to tight end Anthony McCoy for a score in the third quarter.
That touchdown was the first of two set up by interceptions. Terrell Thomas returned his 19 yards to set up the bootleg pass and Kyle Moore returned his interception 24 yards to the NU 1-yard line. It took the Trojans three tries before Chauncey Washington scored for a 35-10 lead.
“The defense rose up and made a couple of huge plays to take over the game,” Carroll said. “It was easy for John David tonight. We dropped a couple of balls, but I thought other than that, we did what we needed to do.”
After the Trojan defense forced a three-and-out, the USC offense picked up where it left off. Johnson ran for 14 yards on two carries and after Booty mixed in a pass, Johnson rambled 32 yards. Booty sandwiched two passes around another run by Johnson and then handed off to the sophomore again and this time he raced 7 yards, bursting through virtually untouched.
While the Trojan offense was running for 313 yards, the the USC defense stymied the Nebraska running game, holding the Huskers to 31 yards on the ground.
“We knew they were a well-coached team. First of all, we wanted to stop the run to make them one-dimensional and make them pass the ball,” said defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis. “Then we could get to the quarterback a little bit.”
Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambleton@journalstar.com.