Trojans look sweet against OSU to make case for Sugar Bowl
They are not the national champions yet, not even in the national championship
game. Yet.
But on a warm, hazy Saturday, before a Coliseum crowd of nearly 74,000 and
a national television audience, the Trojans did their best to make a 52-28 undoing
of Oregon State wield enough influence to plant USC in the Sugar Bowl on Jan.
4 for all of college football's marbles...Bob
Rodman, Register Guard
Not to sweet
Oregon State couldn't crash USC's party Saturday, and today the Trojans could
learn that they're headed for the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and the Jan. 4 national
championship game.
The Trojans parlayed their own considerable talent, five Beaver turnovers and
some grievous special-team mistakes into a 52-28 victory before a jovial crowd
of 73,864 that spent much of the fourth quarter dumping sugar granules on each
other's heads like so much confectionary confetti and lobbing sugar cubes onto
the close-cropped Memorial Coliseum turf...Brooks
Hatch, Gazette Times
Anderson has record day, but No. 2 USC throttles OSU 52-28
Oregon State needed a near-perfect performance if it hoped to shock the world
with an upset over second-ranked Southern California Saturday. That didn't
happen. Not even close.
The Beavers were game and their pass offense even potent, but the old bugaboo
- mistakes -- were too much to overcome as the Trojans ran away with a 52-28
victory before a crowd of 73,864 at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
USC quarterback Matt Leinart tied Carson Palmer's school record with five touchdown
passes and the Trojans (11-1 overall, 7-1 in Pac-10 play) benefited from five
Oregon State turnovers...Kerry
Eggers, Portland Tribune
Beavers no match for Trojans
Having made their points on the field, the USC Trojans stated their case for
a trip to New Orleans and a shot at the national title.
“We deserve to go. We’re 11-1 and we’ve been playing well
the last couple of months. I think we’ve done as much as we can do. But
it’s not in our hands,” Matt Leinart said Saturday after throwing
for five touchdowns in the second-ranked Trojans’ 52-28 victory over Oregon
State...Ken Peters,
Associated Press
Beavers still have a lot of confidence in their quarterback
He took a lot of hits in the Oregon game and he took a beating in the USC game
but there was no question Oregon State quarterback Derek Anderson could have
taken even more Saturday at the Coliseum. He was disappointed with a 52-28 loss
to the second-ranked Trojans, a game in which he threw for a school-record 485
yards and two touchdowns, but proud of his effort and his teammates' effort.
"I'm getting better, I think," Anderson said. "We made some
bad mistakes. There were a couple of throws I wish I had back. . . . But (mistakes)
are going to happen in a game like this. We had to work for every yard we got
and I think we had them on their heels for a while."...Paul
Buker and Ken Goe, Oregonian
Trojans make their case
Oregon State had the athletes to hang with No. 2 USC for a long time Saturday
afternoon in front of 73,864 at the Coliseum, but the Trojans took advantage
of five turnovers and the Beavers' horrible special teams play to take a 52-28
victory -- a win they hope vaults them into the national championship game.
Oregon State (7-5, 4-4 Pacific-10 Conference ) stunned USC (11-1, 7-1) with
a 90-yard pass to Mike Hass on the second play of the game and Beavers quarterback
Derek Anderson knew his offense was poised for a big day...Paul
Buker, Oregonian
USC doesn't see anything on defense it can't fix
With sugar cubes still littering the Los Angeles Coliseum field, only a spoilsport
would question whether USC actually belongs in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4, playing
for the national championship.
The Trojans' 52-28 victory over Oregon State on Saturday passes the scoreboard
test, but the game raised some troubling questions about USC's defense...Ken
Goe, Oregonian
USC blows out Oregon State
USC will probably be ranked No. 1 in both top 25 polls today and still might
find itself shut out of the Sugar Bowl.
That's the unexpected scenario facing the Trojans, who instead face the possibility
of going to the Rose Bowl with a chance to win part of the national championship...Scott
Wolf, Press Telegram