Final
Strong second half lifts USC past Stanford
Nov 16, 2008 - 5:16 AM PALO ALTO, California (Ticker) -- C.J. Gable and Stafon Johnson each scored two touchdowns to lead No. 6 Southern California to a 45-23 victory over Stanford on Saturday.Gable returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown and ran for a TD while Johnson added a pair of rushing TDs in the second half to help the Trojans avenge last season's home loss to the Cardinal.
Stanford (5-6, 4-4 Pac-10) kept things close in the first half, out-gaining USC, 210-90. The Cardinal rushed for 153 yards in the first half, but had to settle for a 17-17 tie after Gable's kickoff return.
Mark Sanchez threw two touchdown passes for the Trojans (9-1, 7-1), who outscored the Cardinal in the second half, 28-6.
With the win, USC remained one of two teams in the Pac-10 with one conference loss. Oregon State (7-3, 6-1) is the other and has the edge in the race for a BCS bowl.
The Beavers own the tiebreaker in the conference based on a head-to-head 27-21 victory over the Trojans in September.
USC is sixth in the BCS standings and not only has work left to do in conference, but needs help if it wants a shot at the national title as well.
But the Trojans could not afford another loss, and they came out fired up for the second half.
"It was a really interesting night tonight," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "The first half I thought was really dominated by Stanford. We hung with it but they did a really nice job of running the ball and making some plays."
USC racked up 330 yards, including 243 on the ground, in the second half. Stanford managed just 150 yards over the final two quarters, and its only second-half points came on an 18-yard TD pass from Alex Loukas to Austin Gunder as time expired.
"You have to give USC a lot of credit defensively," Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said. "We knew going in this is a team that has given up one touchdown in their last five games, two in the last six, 13 points in the last three games. They're a good football team defensively."
Gable added a 3-yard run early in the fourth and Sanchez helped ice the game with a 50-yard touchdown pass to fullback Stanley Havili.
"Our offensive line came out and blocked so much better and was so much more effective. We really started going after it and figured it out and I think just did a fantastic job," Carroll said. "Defensively, the guys came through and just stopped them series after series after series and it wasn't like that early on. We did great, had a great second half."
TD STANFORD AUSTIN GUNDER 18 YD PASS FROM ALEX LOUKAS
USC(6) 45, Stanford 23 End of Reg.Nov 15 10:09 PM
TD STANFORD AUSTIN GUNDER 18 YD PASS FROM ALEX LOUKAS
USC(6) 45, Stanford 23 End of Reg.Nov 15 10:09 PM- NCAAF FINAL
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
USC (6) 3 14 7 21 45
STANFORD 10 7 0 6 23 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: STANFORD - TD, TOBY GERHART 4 YD RUN (AARON
ZAGORY KICK), 3:56. STANFORD
7-0
USC - FG, DAVID BUEHLER 37 YD, 5:10.
STANFORD 7-3
STANFORD - FG, AARON ZAGORY 38 YD, 13:40.
STANFORD 10-3
2ND QUARTER: USC
Nov 15 10:09 PM - NCAAF
TD STANFORD
AUSTIN GUNDER 18 YD PASS FROM ALEX LOUKAS
USC (6) 45
STANFORD 23 0:00 LEFT, 4TH QTR
USC(6) 45, Stanford 23 End of Reg.Nov 15 10:09 PM - NCAAF
TD USC
STAFON JOHNSON 3 YD RUN
(DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC (6) 45
STANFORD 17 1:23 LEFT, 4TH QTR
USC(6) 45, Stanford 17 4th - 1:23Nov 15 10:01 PM
TD USC STANLEY HAVILI 50 YD PASS FROM MARK SANCHEZ (DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC(6) 38, Stanford 17 4th - 7:35Nov 15 9:47 PM
TD USC STANLEY HAVILI 50 YD PASS FROM MARK SANCHEZ (DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC(6) 38, Stanford 17 4th - 7:35Nov 15 9:47 PM
TD USC STANLEY HAVILI 50 YD PASS FROM MARK SANCHEZ (DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC(6) 38, Stanford 17 4th - 7:35Nov 15 9:47 PM- NCAAF
TD USC
STANLEY HAVILI 50 YD PASS FROM MARK SANCHEZ
(DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC (6) 38
STANFORD 17 7:35 LEFT, 4TH QTR
USC(6) 38, Stanford 17 4th - 7:35Nov 15 9:47 PM - NCAAF
TD USC
C.J. GABLE 3 YD RUN
(DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC (6) 31
STANFORD 17 11:46 LEFT, 4TH QTR
USC(6) 31, Stanford 17 4th - 11:46Nov 15 9:34 PM - NCAAF END, 3RD QTR
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
USC (6) 3 14 7 24
STANFORD 10 7 0 17 END, 3RD QTR
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: STANFORD - TD, TOBY GERHART 4 YD RUN (AARON
ZAGORY KICK), 3:56. STANFORD
7-0
USC - FG, DAVID BUEHLER 37 YD, 5:10.
STANFORD 7-3
STANFORD - FG, AARON ZAGORY 38 YD, 13:40.
STANFORD 10-3
2
Nov 15 9:25 PM - NCAAF
TD USC
STAFON JOHNSON 7 YD RUN
(DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC (6) 24
STANFORD 17 2:36 LEFT, 3RD QTR
USC(6) 24, Stanford 17 3rd - 2:36Nov 15 9:18 PM - NCAAF HALFTIME
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
USC (6) 3 14 17
STANFORD 10 7 17 HALFTIME
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: STANFORD - TD, TOBY GERHART 4 YD RUN (AARON
ZAGORY KICK), 3:56. STANFORD
7-0
USC - FG, DAVID BUEHLER 37 YD, 5:10.
STANFORD 7-3
STANFORD - FG, AARON ZAGORY 38 YD, 13:40.
STANFORD 10-3
2ND QUART
Nov 15 8:23 PM
TD USC C.J. GABLE 93 YD KICKOFF RETURN (DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC(6) 17, Stanford 17 2nd - 4:15Nov 15 8:17 PM
TD USC C.J. GABLE 93 YD KICKOFF RETURN (DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC(6) 17, Stanford 17 2nd - 4:15Nov 15 8:17 PM
TD USC C.J. GABLE 94 YD KICKOFF RETURN (DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC(6) 17, Stanford 17 2nd - 4:15Nov 15 8:11 PM
TD USC C.J. GABLE 94 YD KICKOFF RETURN (DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC(6) 17, Stanford 17 2nd - 4:15Nov 15 8:11 PM- NCAAF
TD USC
C.J. GABLE 94 YD KICKOFF RETURN
(DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC (6) 17
STANFORD 17 4:15 LEFT, 2ND QTR
USC(6) 17, Stanford 17 2nd - 4:15Nov 15 8:11 PM
TD STANFORD ANTHONY KIMBLE 1 YD RUN (AARON ZAGORY KICK)
USC(6) 10, Stanford 17 2nd - 4:29Nov 15 8:07 PM
TD STANFORD ANTHONY KIMBLE 1 YD RUN (AARON ZAGORY KICK)
USC(6) 10, Stanford 17 2nd - 4:29Nov 15 8:07 PM- NCAAF
TD STANFORD
ANTHONY KIMBLE 1 YD RUN
(AARON ZAGORY KICK)
USC (6) 10
STANFORD 17 4:29 LEFT, 2ND QTR
USC(6) 10, Stanford 17 2nd - 4:29Nov 15 8:07 PM
TD USC DAMIAN WILLIAMS 5 YD PASS FROM MARK SANCHEZ (DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC(6) 10, Stanford 10 2nd - 6:47Nov 15 7:59 PM
TD USC DAMIAN WILLIAMS 5 YD PASS FROM MARK SANCHEZ (DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC(6) 10, Stanford 10 2nd - 6:47Nov 15 7:59 PM
TD USC DAMIAN WILLIAMS 5 YD PASS FROM MARK SANCHEZ (DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC(6) 10, Stanford 10 2nd - 6:47Nov 15 7:59 PM- NCAAF
TD USC
DAMIAN WILLIAMS 5 YD PASS FROM MARK SANCHEZ
(DAVID BUEHLER KICK)
USC (6) 10
STANFORD 10 6:47 LEFT, 2ND QTR
USC(6) 10, Stanford 10 2nd - 6:47Nov 15 7:59 PM - NCAAF END, 1ST QTR
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
USC (6) 3 3
STANFORD 10 10 END, 1ST QTR
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: STANFORD - TD, TOBY GERHART 4 YD RUN (AARON
ZAGORY KICK), 3:56. STANFORD
7-0
USC - FG, DAVID BUEHLER 37 YD, 5:10.
STANFORD 7-3
STANFORD - FG, AARON ZAGORY 38 YD, 13:40.
STANFORD 10-3
Nov 15 7:43 PM - NCAAF
FG STANFORD
AARON ZAGORY 38 YD
USC (6) 3
STANFORD 10 1:20 LEFT, 1ST QTR
USC(6) 3, Stanford 10 1st - 1:20Nov 15 7:39 PM - NCAAF
FG USC
DAVID BUEHLER 37 YD
USC (6) 3
STANFORD 7 9:50 LEFT, 1ST QTR
USC(6) 3, Stanford 7 1st - 9:50Nov 15 7:22 PM - NCAAF
TD STANFORD
TOBY GERHART 4 YD RUN
(AARON ZAGORY KICK)
USC (6) 0
STANFORD 7 11:04 LEFT, 1ST QTR
USC(6) 0, Stanford 7 1st - 11:04Nov 15 7:14 PM
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