Trojans atone for down year
SAN FRANCISCO – Southern California ended a disappointing season with a bowl win that the Trojans hope will vault them into a more successful 2010.
Matt Barkley threw touchdown passes to Stanley Havili on Southern California’s first two possessions and added a touchdown run in the fourth quarter to help the Trojans beat Boston College 24-13 in the Emerald Bowl on Saturday night.
“It was important to be able to end on that note with that positive attitude knowing we’re capable of winning like that and getting back to playing Trojan football,” Barkley said. “It’s huge for us to be able to go into the offseason like that.”
The victory was far from impressive but it did put a positive ending on the worst season at USC (9-4) since Pete Carroll’s first back in 2001. The Trojans lost three of their final five regular-season games to fall out of the national rankings for the first time since that year.
That left USC in an unfamiliar bowl setting after making it to the Bowl Championship Series the past seven years, including four straight Rose Bowl bids. But the Trojans made the most of it, handing Boston College (8-5) its second straight bowl loss after an eight-year bowl winning streak.
“We needed this ‘W,’ ” Havili said. “We’re happy to start next season with a win. We had a great two weeks of practice and it was all a matter of executing. Yeah, we’re used to playing in the Rose Bowl but we’re still motivated to play and to win this game, since this is where we played. We had a great game plan up front. It was a growing season. We had a lot of young guys step up.”
Damian Williams caught 12 passes for 189 yards in what could be his final game for the Trojans, grabbing long passes to set up Havili’s second score and Barkley’s 1-yard sneak that gave USC a 24-13 lead with 11:53 remaining. Williams will decide in the next few days whether to skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft.
The Eagles stayed close with the Trojans for most of the game before Dave Shinskie threw an interception to Shareece Wright early in the fourth quarter. On the next play, Barkley connected on a 48-yard pass to Williams, who made a leaping grab among three defenders. Barkley scored on the next play.
The Trojans won despite playing without leading rusher Joe McKnight, who was not cleared to play as the school investigates whether he violated rules by using an SUV that doesn’t belong to him. McKnight is USC’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 2005, with 1,014 yards on 6.2 yards per carry and eight touchdowns.
USC struggled on the ground without McKnight but was able to move the ball consistently through the air as Barkley often found receivers on slant patterns. Barkley was 27 of 37 for 350 yards in the second 300-yard game of his freshman season.