Oregon State shocks #1 USC

Oregon State freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 186 yards and two TDs as the Beavers pulled off the unthinkable: they upset the #1 ranked USC Trojans 27-21 in Corvallis, OR on Thursday night. It was the first time an Oregon State football team had beaten a #1 ranked opponent in 41 years, when the Beavers upset an earlier vintage of the USC Trojans led by OJ Simpson.

USC clearly wasn’t ready to play on Thursday night, and Oregon State shot out to a 21-0 halftime lead. The Beavers were able to withstand a furious Trojan burst in the 2nd half to eventually prevail 27-21. It was the 2nd time in three years that Oregon State had upset USC—they also beat the Trojans, then ranked #3, in 2006.

Needless to say, Trojan Coach Pete Carroll wasn’t happy with his team’s performance—and particularly the highly touted USC defense:

"I'm beside myself. They didn't hide what they were doing, they just did it. We couldn't stop it. We couldn't tackle."

While Beaver frosh Rodgers was running for 186 yards—the most against a USC team since Vince Young went for 200 for Texas in the 2006 National Championship game—the Trojan rushing attack was virtually nonexistent. USC finished with 86 net yards rushing, and tailback Joe McKnight was in particular a “non factor”. McKnight finished with 10 yards after gaining 105 in the Trojans big win over Ohio State. QB Mark Sanchez played better, with 227 yards passing and 3 TD passes but also threw a costly late game interception.

USC will play another Oregon team on Saturday 10/4 as the University of Oregon travels to Southern California. That’s not particularly good news for the Trojans, who have struggled against teams from Oregon—they’ve got a 2-3 record against Oregon and Oregon State in the past three years. Against teams from the other 49 states they’re 22-2 since 2006. After Oregon, the Trojans continue PAC 10 play with a home game against Arizona State and a road game at Washington State.

The Beavers, meanwhile, will try to keep the momentum from this victory going next Thursday as they travel to Salt Lake City for a tough non-conference game against the University of Utah. They’ll resume PAC 10 action on Saturday 10/11 against Washington State and on the road against the University of Washington a week later.