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USC plays like No. 1, routs Penn St. in Rose Bowl
By JOHN NADEL – 7 hours ago
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Who's No. 1? How about USC. A week before Florida and Oklahoma meet in the BCS title game, No. 5 Southern California played like a champion in the 95th Rose Bowl, defeating No. 6 Penn State 38-24 on Thursday in a game not nearly as close as the final score might indicate.
Mark Sanchez passed for a career-high 413 yards and four touchdowns, and the Trojans raced to a 31-7 lead by scoring four TDs and a field goal on their final five possessions of the first half against a defense that allowed an average of 12.4 points during the regular season.
"We executed well and we knew we were going to have to play well in a big-time game," Sanchez said. "I think we really maximized our potential. It was something special to be a part of."
The Nittany Lions scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to make the final score respectable.
One loss was all it took to bounce the Trojans out of the BCS championship race — a 27-21 setback Sept. 25 at Oregon State. The Beavers lost at Penn State 45-14 three weeks earlier.
USC (12-1) can only wonder what might have been had it gotten to play next Thursday night in Miami. The Trojans finished the regular season ranked fifth behind four one-loss teams — Florida, Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama.
The Trojans won 10 straight after losing to Oregon State, outscoring the opposition 380-80. That wasn't enough to sway the voters.
"With all due respect, those are two great programs," USC coach Pete Carroll said of Florida and Oklahoma. "I don't think anybody can beat the Trojans. I just think we can beat anyone we played. That's happened a lot to us late in the season. This is a terrific finishing program. There are so many things we can do. We're just hard to beat right now."
What was believed to be a weak Pac-10 hurt the Trojans' chances to reach the title game. But with wins by USC, Oregon, Oregon State, California and Arizona, the conference went 5-0 in bowl games.
"I just wish we could keep playing," Carroll said. "Unfortunately, we don't get to. Maybe someday there will be a chance, but not now."
And not anytime soon, either. There's no playoff system in sight for major college football.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno watched from the press box, where he's been for most of the season because of hip problems. He didn't like what he saw.
"I thought that we were playing against the best and I thought we had to play our best to be competitive," Paterno said. "In the first half, we just did the dumb things that we have not done all year. We didn't play our game in the first half, but we came back and we hung in there. So we have nothing to be ashamed of.
"I don't want to take anything away from Southern Cal, because they played a heck of a football game and their quarterback played a great game. They certainly deserved to win it, but I'm a little disappointed that we weren't a little bit more competitive. And a lot of that was because we made so many mistakes in the first half."
Even before the game, the 82-year-old coach said several times he thought USC was at least as good as any team in the country, perhaps better.
"It would take a heck of a football team to beat Southern Cal the way they played today," Paterno said.
The Trojans' 31 first-half points were the most they've scored in any of their record 33 Rose Bowl games. With the No. 1 defense in the nation, there was no way they would blow that kind of lead. USC spent most of the second half working the clock while its defense held Penn State in check until the final period, but the outcome was never in jeopardy.
"We were ready for everything they threw at us," said Penn State's Daryll Clark, who completed 21 of 36 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. "We knew how fast they were. I think coach (Paterno) said it best in the locker room, that we just got going a little too late."
USC had 19 of its 27 first downs and gained 341 of its 474 yards before halftime. Penn State finished with 19 first downs and 410 yards.
"The offense was on fire in the first half," Carroll said. "I thought Mark just set the tempo, (wide receiver) Damian Williams came through and the whole line really protected well so we had a chance to really get moving on these guys. We just kept firing on all cylinders, the defense kept giving them the ball back, and the guys just took advantage of it."
Carroll's Trojans have won seven straight conference championships and played in seven consecutive BCS bowls — both records. They're 6-1 in big games — 5-0 against Big Ten teams such as Penn State — and 82-9 since 2002, Carroll's second year on the job.
They've also won 11 or more games in seven straight seasons — another record.
The Trojans have played in a record-tying four straight Rose Bowls, winning three straight since losing to Texas 41-38 with the national title on the line. They became the first team ever to win three consecutive Rose Bowls.
Sanchez, who completed 28 of 35 passes without being intercepted and finished the season with 3,207 passing yards and 34 touchdown throws, might have played his final game for USC. The strong-armed junior has said he will consider making himself available for the NFL draft. The deadline is Jan. 15.
He became the third player to pass for more than 400 yards in the Rose Bowl.
Afterward, many in the crowd of 93,293 chanted "one more year, one more year" to Sanchez.
"That was special," he said. "I'm going to celebrate this victory first and worry about it somewhere down the line. I'm excited that I have a great coach to talk about it with. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to this place. I don't think I can do it."
Said Carroll: "We'll go through it and really take our time doing it. This should not be an emotional decision."
Williams caught a career-high 10 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown and Ronald Johnson caught two TD passes for the Trojans, including a 45-yarder early in the fourth quarter that put the game out of reach.
"A lot of things happened in this game that weren't typical, but you can't put the blame on anybody but yourself," Penn State defensive end Aaron Maybin said. "We did kind of shoot ourselves in the foot with a lot of dumb penalties and a lot of mental mistakes."
The Nittany Lions committed three turnovers and nine penalties for 72 yards. And they lost Evan Royster in the first quarter after their leading rusher had gained 34 yards on six carries.
Kaluka Maiava was the top defensive player, becoming the third straight USC linebacker to win that award, joining Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga.
"It's a great win tonight, and Brian and Rey are just ridiculous," Maiava said. "Those guys are beasts. It's crazy, we all came in together and can't ask for anything more."
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Playoff??????????????????????
By JOHN NADEL – 7 hours ago
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Who's No. 1? How about USC. A week before Florida and Oklahoma meet in the BCS title game, No. 5 Southern California played like a champion in the 95th Rose Bowl, defeating No. 6 Penn State 38-24 on Thursday in a game not nearly as close as the final score might indicate.
Mark Sanchez passed for a career-high 413 yards and four touchdowns, and the Trojans raced to a 31-7 lead by scoring four TDs and a field goal on their final five possessions of the first half against a defense that allowed an average of 12.4 points during the regular season.
"We executed well and we knew we were going to have to play well in a big-time game," Sanchez said. "I think we really maximized our potential. It was something special to be a part of."
The Nittany Lions scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to make the final score respectable.
One loss was all it took to bounce the Trojans out of the BCS championship race — a 27-21 setback Sept. 25 at Oregon State. The Beavers lost at Penn State 45-14 three weeks earlier.
USC (12-1) can only wonder what might have been had it gotten to play next Thursday night in Miami. The Trojans finished the regular season ranked fifth behind four one-loss teams — Florida, Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama.
The Trojans won 10 straight after losing to Oregon State, outscoring the opposition 380-80. That wasn't enough to sway the voters.
"With all due respect, those are two great programs," USC coach Pete Carroll said of Florida and Oklahoma. "I don't think anybody can beat the Trojans. I just think we can beat anyone we played. That's happened a lot to us late in the season. This is a terrific finishing program. There are so many things we can do. We're just hard to beat right now."
What was believed to be a weak Pac-10 hurt the Trojans' chances to reach the title game. But with wins by USC, Oregon, Oregon State, California and Arizona, the conference went 5-0 in bowl games.
"I just wish we could keep playing," Carroll said. "Unfortunately, we don't get to. Maybe someday there will be a chance, but not now."
And not anytime soon, either. There's no playoff system in sight for major college football.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno watched from the press box, where he's been for most of the season because of hip problems. He didn't like what he saw.
"I thought that we were playing against the best and I thought we had to play our best to be competitive," Paterno said. "In the first half, we just did the dumb things that we have not done all year. We didn't play our game in the first half, but we came back and we hung in there. So we have nothing to be ashamed of.
"I don't want to take anything away from Southern Cal, because they played a heck of a football game and their quarterback played a great game. They certainly deserved to win it, but I'm a little disappointed that we weren't a little bit more competitive. And a lot of that was because we made so many mistakes in the first half."
Even before the game, the 82-year-old coach said several times he thought USC was at least as good as any team in the country, perhaps better.
"It would take a heck of a football team to beat Southern Cal the way they played today," Paterno said.
The Trojans' 31 first-half points were the most they've scored in any of their record 33 Rose Bowl games. With the No. 1 defense in the nation, there was no way they would blow that kind of lead. USC spent most of the second half working the clock while its defense held Penn State in check until the final period, but the outcome was never in jeopardy.
"We were ready for everything they threw at us," said Penn State's Daryll Clark, who completed 21 of 36 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. "We knew how fast they were. I think coach (Paterno) said it best in the locker room, that we just got going a little too late."
USC had 19 of its 27 first downs and gained 341 of its 474 yards before halftime. Penn State finished with 19 first downs and 410 yards.
"The offense was on fire in the first half," Carroll said. "I thought Mark just set the tempo, (wide receiver) Damian Williams came through and the whole line really protected well so we had a chance to really get moving on these guys. We just kept firing on all cylinders, the defense kept giving them the ball back, and the guys just took advantage of it."
Carroll's Trojans have won seven straight conference championships and played in seven consecutive BCS bowls — both records. They're 6-1 in big games — 5-0 against Big Ten teams such as Penn State — and 82-9 since 2002, Carroll's second year on the job.
They've also won 11 or more games in seven straight seasons — another record.
The Trojans have played in a record-tying four straight Rose Bowls, winning three straight since losing to Texas 41-38 with the national title on the line. They became the first team ever to win three consecutive Rose Bowls.
Sanchez, who completed 28 of 35 passes without being intercepted and finished the season with 3,207 passing yards and 34 touchdown throws, might have played his final game for USC. The strong-armed junior has said he will consider making himself available for the NFL draft. The deadline is Jan. 15.
He became the third player to pass for more than 400 yards in the Rose Bowl.
Afterward, many in the crowd of 93,293 chanted "one more year, one more year" to Sanchez.
"That was special," he said. "I'm going to celebrate this victory first and worry about it somewhere down the line. I'm excited that I have a great coach to talk about it with. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to this place. I don't think I can do it."
Said Carroll: "We'll go through it and really take our time doing it. This should not be an emotional decision."
Williams caught a career-high 10 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown and Ronald Johnson caught two TD passes for the Trojans, including a 45-yarder early in the fourth quarter that put the game out of reach.
"A lot of things happened in this game that weren't typical, but you can't put the blame on anybody but yourself," Penn State defensive end Aaron Maybin said. "We did kind of shoot ourselves in the foot with a lot of dumb penalties and a lot of mental mistakes."
The Nittany Lions committed three turnovers and nine penalties for 72 yards. And they lost Evan Royster in the first quarter after their leading rusher had gained 34 yards on six carries.
Kaluka Maiava was the top defensive player, becoming the third straight USC linebacker to win that award, joining Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga.
"It's a great win tonight, and Brian and Rey are just ridiculous," Maiava said. "Those guys are beasts. It's crazy, we all came in together and can't ask for anything more."
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Playoff??????????????????????
