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Old 01-01-2006, 08:36 PM   #82
hoopsguy
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Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Chicago
It's a sell-out - Trojans fans smell blood in the water.

We get the ball first, starting at our 41 after a weak kickoff. That is perhaps the ugliest wart on the Trojans - only an average kicker.
Brown runs for 7 on his first carry.
We have a 30 yard pass called back on a holding call. Brutal, as Jackson made one heck of a play on that ball.
But our guys are not deterred. Burford again hits Jackson, this time for 29 yards!
Crap, Burford goes down on his next attempt. We are again stuck with scrubs at the QB position (remember, I banished our 2nd stringer) and in dire straights.
Anderson completes back-to-back screen passes, moving us to the 13.
And Brewer run it in after a short pass! 7-0, 11:42 left in quarter.

Unreal! Their #2 QB, Ken Gurode, throws into coverage on 3rd and 12. It is picked by SS Joe Lusk, who follows blockers all the way! 81 yards, 14-0 Bruins! 9:47 left in the quarter.

The Trojans now appear to be taking us seriously. First play, 32 yards from Gurode to John Hobbs. Hobbs is a stud receiver who has been stuck as the #3 guy for four years now.
Back to back carries for Vereb - 7 and 17 yards.
Then Gurode hits Sherman with a 32 yard TD strike. 14-7, 7:34 left in quarter.

3 and out, we can't get Brown going here.

It looks like Gurode is getting the snaps today. Good break for us, but we still have a very tall order.
Vereb picked up a pair of 1st downs on the ground.
Back to Sherman, 20 yards.
We can't stop them on 3rd and short, so they plod into the red zone.
Hobbs is down at the 1 on the final play of the first quarter.
The Trojans tie the game up with another 3rd down conversion. 14-14, 13:52 left in half.

3 and out. I think it is safe to say that momentum has swung.

Defense comes up with a quick stop. Punt.

Brown has been put in lockup so far - 7 carries for 18 yards.
But he finally gets some running room, rattling off two 10 yard gains.
We pick up 13 on 3rd and 1, down to the 4.
And Brown is in, we are back in front. 21-14, 5:51 left in the half.

Derek Stewart shows off his return skills on a 90 yard runback. 21-21, 5:34 left in the half.

Derrick runs the next kickoff back to the 45.
3 and out - USC is back to stuffing the run.

Gurode keeps picking up 3rd downs and USC moves into field goal range with a minute left in the half.
But they don't need to settle for a field goal, as Gurode throws his 3rd TD pass of the day, 31 yards to Hobbs. 28-21, 1:00 left in the half.

We can't move the ball in the last minute. 28-21 at half.

Halftime Notes:
I guess we are happy to only be down 7 at this point. But we are not really slowing them down and without a quality QB I don't think we can win this game. We have to have multiple turnovers in the 2nd half to have any hope of stealing this one.
We've done a good job of keeping penalties (1/10) and turnovers (0) in check so far.

USC is cutting us up on the opening drive of 2nd half - 10+ almost every play.
Vereb plows past 100 yards - 17 carries for 115.
And he runs it in from one yard out. 35-21, 11:47 left in quarter.

3 and out, Brown only gets 7 on 3rd and 10.

Gurode and Hobbs are on the same page, and Hobbs is over 100 yards. We can't stop these guys and we need a turnover - STAT! - to stay in this game.
We don't get a turnover, but DE Ronald Smith sacks Gurode on 3rd down to force a 39 yard field goal attempt. It's good, 38-21, 6:57 left in 3rd quarter.

We are being outgained 399-164.
QB Anderson hurts his leg on a handoff and is out. It is up to Moorehead.
Moorehead gets the ball to Ben Jackson, who sheds a tackler and gets into the open field before he is run down and has the ball stripped. USC recovers, they have the ball at their 48.
A USC score here would pretty much end this one.

Vereb runs for 20 and picks up 25 more on a screen pass. But we stuff him inside the ten, forcing a 22 yard field goal attempt. Money, 41-21 with 3:25 left.

We only have six completions with 18 minutes left in the game. That is a problem.
We get one more before an interception after Byrum runs a crappy route.

The defense holds, forcing a 3 and out.

Is this how comebacks begin? On 3rd and 3, Moorehead spots Brewer behind the secondary and lofts it up to him. 85 yards later, we have cut the margin to 41-27. 41-28 after the extra point, 13:31 left in the game.

Well, comebacks end on 86 yard returns. Derek Johnson is brought down at our 3 yard line. One play drive - Sherman catches a 3 yard screen. 47-28 after we stuff a 2 point conversion. 12:32 left to play.

USC has 30 first down to our 11, and a pair of long returns.
3 and out, we punt.

Three and out for USC, as Travis Wilcox rings up a sack on 3rd and 3.

Byrum fights for a ball and hauls it in for a 30 yard gain.
But we can't pick up another first down. Wayne takes the 33 yard field goal, 47-31 with 7:24 left. I think we probably needed to go for it on 4th and 7 there.

USC takes the kick back to the 44.
Vereb passes the 150 yard mark on a 17 yard run.
Gurode passes 300 yards in the air on a 15 yard completion to Sherman.
USC takes a 35 yard field goal, pushing the margin back to 19. 50-31, 4:48 left.

We are stopped near the 50. 4th and 9, Moorehead finds Stablein for 13 to keep the drive alive.
Next pass is picked.

Vereb punishes our defenders while running out the clock. He finishes with 31 carries for 187 yards. I won't miss him next year. USC is losing a lot of horses, but this might be the best of them if Sharpe doesn't go pro a year early.
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