Ducks no match for Trojans

Easily shaking off a first-half Oregon threat, top-ranked USC did what it does best: score.

The 24th-ranked Ducks built an early 13-0 lead in Eugene, Ore., but the Trojans dominated the rest of the way Saturday for a 45-13 victory, their 25th straight.

Southern California (3-0, 1-0 Pac-10) has outscored its opponents 178-47 this season.

Matt Leinart threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns for the two-time defending national champions. The Heisman Trophy winner, completing 75 percent of his passes going into the game, didn’t even make half of his attempts (12 of 25) in the first half against the Ducks, but he recovered to finish 23 of 39 with an interception.

“We know you can’t win a game in the first three quarters,” he said. “It’s how you finish.”

Reggie Bush caught a scoring pass and ran for another for USC, which has been No. 1 for a record 22-straight AP polls. He finished with 20 carries for 122 yards, and three catches for 43 yards.

Dewayne Jarrett added eight catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

LenDale White ran for 111 yards and two scores as the USC offense continued to look unstoppable after a few early gaffes.

“We were slowly rolling and slowly rolling and once we got the train moving there was no stopping it,” Bush said.

Kellen Clemens made 15 of 30 passes for 168 yards and one TD for Oregon (3-1, 0-1). In 155 attempts this season, he has yet to throw an interception.

Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said the second half took its toll on Clemens.

“Kellen got a little dinged. He answered our questions all right on the sideline, but I don’t think he was the guy we’ve had out there playing for us,” Bellotti said. “He was a little out of it there in the third quarter.”

Bush said the rest of the Ducks seemed run down, too.

“They were getting tired, definitely, toward the end of the game,” he said. “I think we really out-prepared them and out-conditioned them.”

Paul Martinez kicked a 37-yard field goal to put the Ducks ahead 3-0 early in the game, thrilling the record Autzen Stadium crowd of 59,129.

On USC’s subsequent possession, Leinart’s pass intended for Jarrett was intercepted by Aaron Gipson in the end zone and returned 38 yards. Oregon capitalized on the turnover with Clemens’ 36-yard touchdown pass to Demetrius Williams.

Martinez added a 48-yarder to make it 13-0 before the Trojans got going with Leinart’s 19-yard scoring pass to Bush. Mario Danelo kicked a 36-yard field goal to narrow it to 13-10 at halftime.

The last time USC played in Oregon, the Trojans fell behind 13-0 to Oregon State before coming away with a 28-20 win last season.

This time the Trojans didn’t just get by, they blew away the Ducks. Southern California took over early in the second half with Leinart’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Jarrett.

Oregon’s offense and defense both stalled, and the Trojans scored again on White’s 1-yard plow into the end zone.

Despite two stubborn Oregon defenders, Jarrett pulled down a 6-yard pass from Leinart in the end zone to make it 31-13. Jarrett has 20 touchdowns in 16 games.

Oregon appeared to score on Cameron Colvin’s 6-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

But the play was called back when officials penalized the Ducks for Terrell Jackson’s below-the-knees block, even though it appeared to occur after Colvin crossed the goal line.

The crowd that hadn’t begun to stream out of the stadium booed when Bush scored on an 11-yard run to give the Trojans a 38-13 lead with 8:12 to go. White ran in a 2-yarder for the final margin.

“History has shown we’re a really good second-half football team and particularly strong in the fourth quarter,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “We count on that.”

Many expected the Ducks would be able to put up more points because of two key injuries on the Southern California defense.

Linebacker and co-captain Dallas Sartz dislocated his shoulder against Arkansas, and cornerback Terrell Thomas is probably sidelined for the remainder of the season with torn knee ligaments.

Instead the Trojans tossed a shutout in the second half.

“A lot of people thought we were going to come into this game scared. Early on, we made plays. But in the second half, it was like the air went out of our balloon,” Gipson said.

The two teams last met in 2002, when the No. 15 Trojans visited the No. 14 Ducks at Autzen.

USC won it 44-33 led then by Carson Palmer, who threw for a career-best 448 yards, and a school record-tying five touchdowns. Freshman receiver Mike Williams caught 13 passes for 226 yards and two scores.

(18) Arizona St. 42, Oregon St. 24

Sam Keller threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns and Derek Hagan had 193 yards receiving as the Sun Devils (3-1) pummeled the Beavers (2-2) in Corvallis, Ore., in the Pacific-10 opener for both teams.

The Sun Devils had 475 yards of total offense and scored four touchdowns in the third quarter to pull away. The Beavers piled up 525 yards of total offense, but turned the ball over six times.

Hagan, a senior who has receptions in 33 straight games, passed John Jefferson (1974-77) to become the Sun Devils’ career leader in receiving yards with 2,160. He had 11 receptions, two for touchdowns, against the Beavers.

The game was stopped for about 15 minutes in the third quarter after a member of the chain crew was knocked unconscious and left the field in an ambulance.

The sideline official, Swede Clappe, was taken to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. He was alert and talking at the hospital, an Oregon State official said.

After play resumed, the Sun Devils took over. Keller threw TD passes of 37 and 28 yards, and freshman tailback Keegan Herring scored on a 29-yard run to make it 42-10.

Keller has thrown for more than 1,300 yards and 16 TDs in four games this season.

Oregon State’s Matt Moore was 24 of 43 for 311 yards, but he also threw three interceptions. Mike Hass caught 11 passes for 174 yards for the Beavers, and Yvenson Bernard ran for 134 yards.

Oregon State ran 96 plays, one short of the school record, and had the ball for nearly 36 minutes of the game.