OCR Text |
Show Sunday, September 7, 2003 DAILY HERALD C4 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 35. C3.GHAT.1 YOUNG 18 BY THE NUMBERS Number of consecutive games in which BYU has avoided being shut out. The Cougars' first score came when JC.C. Bills sacked Matt Leinart for a safety. use BYU played a great game defensively. It's tough to make adjustments against them, and I had some poor execution. But we did what we had to do. We won and we'll move on to next week. BYU Matt Leinart 114 Total number of yards gained by BYU tight end Daniel Coats on eight catches. Coats had BYUs only touchdown on a pass from Matt Berry. Southern California quarterback Total number of turnovers committed between I Daniel had five turnovers (three interceptions, two ahdySC had three, all interceptions. 114 yards and a touchdown. I Mike Williams, widi receiver. Southern I John er USC 35, BYU 18 Sept 6 USC at New Mexico Sept 13 Hawa! Stanford Sept 27 Oct 4 at California at Arizona State Oct Stanford Sept.6 Sept 13 Sept 20 Sept 27 0ct4 ( California Denney, defensive end, Brigham Young Ted) tl ' at San Diego State , ' Colorado State Oct 18 at Wyoming 0ri2S atUNUf Oct 30 Boise State Nov. 15 Denney registered a sack, an interception, a pass deflection and five tackles for the Cougar defense. 24 Georgia Air Force Oct! Williams had 10 catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns, the second of which put the game away. Total yardage of Matt Payne's three field at the end of the goals. Payne hit a second quarter. He added a and a in the second half. USC 23, Auburn BYO Coats, tight end, Brigham Young Coats had eight catches for fum- bles) Opponent Aug. 30 Opponent Aug. 28 TOP PERFORMANCES BYU and Southern California on Saturday. BYU Date Date , Nov. 22 ' Nov. 15 at Notre Dame Nov.22..klA : ; Det'6 Utah Continued from CI v Then, BYU realized something. The Mountain West Conference can play. Maybe they saw the scores. Georgia Tech, which BYU pounded last week, beat No. 17 Auburn on Saturday. MWC doormat San Diego State gave enough of a scare to nearly un-dthe I at Ohio State. BYU coach Gary Crowton said, because of the late start in Los Angeles, his team was aware how other games were transpiring. See, the ticker had to give the Cougars confidence. John Denney made big plays on defense. Brady Poppinga was all over the 7 0 place. t Z7 - II I II If V . l 11 j - m left. But in the end, USCs passing attack was too lethal. The Trojans had 235 yards in the air, and the f oot-- 5 Mike Williams 0 -- ' 21-1- t Southern California receiver Mike Williams was, but I know that Leinart will come to me eventually. When he does, I have to make the plays." The Trojans, now are obviously a passing team. It's just as noticeable that they love to find Williams. Their first eight plays, USC threw six times, result rd 2-- celebrates a touchdown f Continued from CI dont know what to at- started to slow USC in his absence, and ' the Trojans never found their BYU offense again untij late. But that's when USC put the game away with two touch-dowin the final five minutes. The first was an pass from quarterback Matt Leinart to Williams. Less than three minutes later, BWi Fahu Tata fumbled on his line. USC recovered and scored a play latrun by Hershel er on an ns rd . the Trojans' left. But this is Los Angeles. later, Leinart hit Keary Colbert on a slant. Colbert sped through BYUs secondary for a touchdown, making it 14-- with 2:43 left in the first. Then on BYLTs second play on its ensuing drive, USC defensive end Omar Nazel snared Berry's quick swing pass and ran easily into the end zone . from 16 yards. Berry looked stunned imrnediately afterward, like he was wondering how in the world Nazel caught that balL After the extra point, it was 21-- USC, with 2:34 left in the first quarter. BYU, at that point, looked ex- underdog adly like the it was. "We weren't intimidated," said BYU coach Gary Crowton. "There are just a couple of guys who were young. "We just have a lot of young guys who were playing in a big place in a big game for the first time." BYU scored with 2:51 left in the first half when Leinart intentionally grounded the ball from the end zone. Leinart was in the arms of Bills when he threw it away. It was BYUs first safety since 1998 and made the score 21-- 2 USC field Payne booted a d goal on the half s final play, making it 21-- 5 USC and sending the Cougars in the locker room feeling pretty good. "We felt like we were going to beat them," Berry said. "We had the momentum." BYU came out strong in the third. After stopping USC on three downs, BYU drove 80 yards in nine plays to score. Coats caught his third touchdown pass of the season, this v one from 14 yards out, drawing BYU to within Berry squeezed the pass between defenders. It was the first touch-dow- n USC allowed in the 2003 nt 1? j :' 4 MARK J. TERRKiThe Associated Press Crowtonleft, greets quarterback Matt Berry after the sophomore turned the ball over Saturday. coach Gary Dennis, making it 35-1BYU coach Gary Crowton . said Tahi was in at that point be8. cause Reynaldo Brathwaite broke his helmet. But the middle of this game from a safety forced by Bills to Williams' aforementioned was controlled by touchdown BYU. The Cougars sliced the deficit to 8 by frustrating USCs offense and by getting some solid work from kicker Matt F&yne, who hit 3-- A field two f;oal attempts,50including beyond yards. 21-1- USC got its first break of the night on its first punt. BYlTs David Christensen fumbled it, and Metvin Simmons recovered, giving USC a first down on BYUs 21. USC drove the distance in five plays, which included a third-and-conversion. Leinart scrambled left and hit Williams on a touchdown pass to put USC ahead 7-- in the first. After USC forced BYU to punt, Bockwoldt hit Leinart out of bounds, enabling USC to conFive plays ' vert a third-and-l9 21-1- 2. 0 L On USCs next drive, Joshua Brandon tipped a pass that Brady Poppinga intercepted, giving BYU the bafl on USCs , 28. But a sack and two penalties , These folks know how to end a story.. USC wide receiver Mike Williams, typecast as a superstar, caught an touchdown pass that gave the Trojans their first score of the second half and a 28-1-8 week, a home game against Hawaii There's still plenty of work for the Tro-jan- s to do. "To get this first home win at home under our belts was important" Carroll said. "We have a lot of corrections to , make now." 18-ya- lead. stalled BYU, and Payne missed field goaL It was his a only miss of the night. BYU drew to within 5 with 1403 left on Payne's d 54-ya- 21-1- 0 ..jy BYU i i win over BYU on Saturday. d (31:15-28:45- wrist in ing in one sack and three passes to touchdown Williams, including a pass that opened the game's scoring. USC has won 10 consecutive games, its longest streak since 1988. It was also the Trojans' 10th victory in a row at home. Carroll was more concerned with next BYU -- 1 Mark J. TemllThe Associated Press was a major factor. Williams, who finished with 10 receptions for 124 yards and two touchdowns, caught his last scoring pass with 4:11 remaining to seal the game. Leinart found him for the score, and the Tro" jans could finally exhale. ; "When they call your number," Williams said, "you've got to make plays. BYU did a good job of knowing where I tribute the mistakes to," said BYU linebacker K.C Bills. "We were definitely ready to go. There are just a few things we have to learn. Like coach said, we're a good team that has to tearo how to be great." BYU finished the night with more yards than USC, 359 to 306. BYU had more first downs (19-1and more time of posses). BYU kept sion USC off the scoreboard from late in the first quarter until there were less than five minutes left in the game. The Cougars struggled to run, but their defensive line ruled the line of scrimmage keeping USCs rushing totals to 71 yards on 27 carries. However, BYU committed five turnovers. And BYU had another big night with the officials, committing 10 penalties for 91 yards. One was a late hit by Corny Bockwoldt that kept USCs second touchdown drive alive. BYU quarterback Matt Berry hit 27-o- f 39 passes and found Daniel Coats for a touchdewa Coats caught eight passes for 114 yards. Berry also threw three interceptions, including one with less than four minutes to play and BYU down by 10. USCs Mike Williams caught 10 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns; He left the game in the second quarter to have his I .r 6-- "I Quarterback Matt Berry found his receivers, who found the ball, who found open spots on the lush, green grass. BYU gasp! was finding ways. The road? The tradition? The air pollution? It was USC that was caught breathless at home. The Cougars still had arms to fight back. They looked and found some gum and tape. It was 8 USC after field another goal from Matt Payne. There was still seven minutes and five seconds . II 4 ...ft 21-1- 8, At 3 . IV-r- Oregon State Franchuk DAIY HERALD 16-ya- : at Washington Washington State at Arizona Nov.! Jason Franchuk LOS ANGELES Southern California coach Pete Carroll had an offense that looked so good early, it's hard to imagine that the Trojans would struggle more and more to decode BYLTs defense as the game wore on. "This was a good win for us," Carroll said. "A difficult win. I have a lot of respect for BYU and I think a lot of people will as the season goes oa This was a hard game for us. It caused us a lot of problems. Their defensive scheme was unusual." Early, USC looked like a sure national championship contender, jumping out to a 21-- lead on two Matt Leinart touchdown passes and a interception return by Omar Nazel in the first quarter. The cheers from the home crowd would die down considerably until late in the fourth quarter. Everything seemed sweet as USC was trouncing the Cougars in its home opener. USC had already pounded ranked Auburn last week, and this one seemed even easier. "It's hard to compare these games," Nazel said. "They were different. This one was a passing game, and those kinds of games can change in a second." It wasn't exactly that fast, but BYU did make a significant charge after the first deficit to quarter, cutting a with about seven minutes three, at Notre Dame Oct 18 Oct25 USC's offense just good enough THE 11 0 35, BYU 18 26-yar- field goaL After USCs Ryan Killeen missed a try to end USCs next drive, BYU took over amid joyous chants of "Overrated!" from the west end zone, where BYU fans sat. BYU drove again. Payne hit a field goal with 705 left to make it and everyone was talking upset. USC answered with Leinart's scoring pass to Williams. BYU got the ball back with 1:55 left and a deficit, but Tahi's fumble ended its last hope. BYUs defense looked tired by the end of the game, but coordinator Bronco Mendenhall pointed out that Williams' final touchdown came without a Cougar near him. "He caught some balls after we missed some coverages," Mendenhall said. StOL there was a lot to encourage BYU on a night when, as Crowton put it, "Lots of people didnt even expect us to score." BYU kept its scoring streak alive and put a scare into a team that sees itself competing for the national title. Next week, BYU begins fighting for the Mountain West title, when it visits New Mexico on Saturday. "I was very proud," Crowton v said. "We played hard the whole game Defensively, we flew hard to the bafl. Offensively, we kept fighting. "The disheartening thing was we got down 21-- 0 based on a couple of bad errors. We fumbled and threw an interception and dropped some passes. When you do that against a good defense, it's hard to get a rhythm." 41-ya- rd 52-ya- rd 21-1- 8, ; 18-ya-rd Patrick Ridged can be reached at pridqeUheraldextra.c6m.1 On BYUs last possession of consequence, the coup de grace of its chase at history in the historical Coliseum, Berry was hurt on the first play. Two plays later, he was back in. He threw an interception. It was a long pass, a desperate one. A failed one, too. Stop rolling tape. USC improved to with a victory. But the Trojans know the truth: They still have work to do. USC is not invincible. The Cougars, now discovered just the oppo- site. They dont deserve all of the criticism they get about quarterbacks and scoreless streaks and point spreads. "A lot of people didn't think we'd score tonight," Crowton said. It took some time, but BYU ended up doing much more than that. Crowton and his players kept the right attitude. Sure, disappointment prevails. But BYU also found it could e play well against a opponent, and do it on the road. New Mexico is not like USC, but the Cougars will go to Albuquerque a different team. A conference title could happen, if BYU can carry over performances like this against a schedule that gets noticeably easier the next few weeks. It could've been amazing. The East Coast fans who turned off their TVs could've woken up to sec that another power had 2-- . 35-1- 8 1, ' big-tim- fallen. Sometimes, the better team is simply better. ' Football can be on TV or the movies, but it doesn't always resemble it. At least not for BYU last night. Underdogs don't always v comeback. Sometimes, the kryp- - ' ' tonite holds up. Jason Franchuk can be reached at jfranchuk heraldextra.com or - |