LOS ANGELES – USC’s 38-0 throttling of Washington Saturday was impressive, considering the Trojans played anything but the part of a top-ranked team in the first half.
The Huskies stayed close to the Trojans in the first 30 minutes; USC led 10-0 at the half. Washington forced two turnovers. Safety C.J. Wallace intercepted Matt Leinart once and the Huskies forced LenDale White to fumble late in the half.
“We just weren’t executing,” White said. “We were penalized and missed some blocks. At halftime, we made our adjustments. In the second half, we got into a groove and the line started plowing.”
Leinart was good, but not great. He threw for accuracy, but not distance, completing 13 for 24 passes for 97 yards with an interception. On the ground, the Trojans ran for a pedestrian 84 yards.
Good, but not dominant.
“We weren’t hitting it right,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “They had a nice little plan, but we just weren’t hitting. We made adjustments in the second half and took care of it.”
The defense, however, was a constant. UW tailback Kenny James lost a fumble on the first play of the second half and USC responded with a touchdown. No matter what Washington tried, USC countered.
“The coaches did a great job calling the game,” said USC defensive end Frostee Rucker, who had two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a recovered fumble. “Today, it didn’t matter if they were 1-5, 5-1 or 6-0. It just didn’t matter. We were prepared and we knew who was going to get the ball. They kept trying the same plays and they kept getting frustrated.”
The USC front seven dominated the Huskies as they’ve never been dominated before. Stats don’t lie. The Huskies managed 113 yards, 50 on the ground.
“We didn’t get a chance to test their secondary today,” UW quarterback Isaiah Stanback said.
Familiar names: USC honored 29 former Trojans who will be inductees into the 2005 USC Athletic Hall of Fame.
Among the names: Willie Brown, Rich Dauer, Lisa Leslie, Bruce and Clay Matthews and Lynn Swann.
They will be inducted in a black-tie dinner May 7, 2005, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.
Short bursts: UW defensive end Manase Hopoi tied a school single-game record with six tackles for loss. Cascade High School graduate Jerry Jensen set the record in 1997 against Arizona State … Seattle Mariner Bret Boone and his brother, Aaron, of the Cleveland Indians, shared the tossing of the coin before the game. Both are USC grads … The Huskies had 12 total yards in the first quarter … UW freshman tight end Robert Lewis caught his first pass as a Husky … Tight end Jon Lyon was the Huskies’ fourth co-captain. Two, fullback Zach Tuiasosopo and tackle Khalif Barnes, are out for the rest of the season with injuries … The loss assures Washington of its first losing season since 1976, the second year of the Don James era, when the Huskies went 5-6 … USC has won 16 straight games, 19 in a row at home … The Trojans have not allowed a touchdown in the fourth quarter this season … Since allowing a 69-yard TD pass in the third quarter against BYU, USC has not allowed a pass completion longer than 26 yards. That’s 17 quarters, or 41/4 games … Leinart has thrown at least one TD pass in all 20 games he has started at USC. He has thrown at least two TD passes in 18 of those 20 games … In USC’s 16-game win streak, Leinart has thrown 46 TD passes and just seven interceptions.
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