UW Football
Trojans too good for UW

By Bob Condotta
Seattle Times staff reporter

	DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES LenDale White, left, brushes aside Washington's Evan Benjamin for a 21-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, giving the Trojans a 20-7 lead.
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What had been billed as the Pac-10 game of the year in the preseason instead served only to show how much of a gap has grown between Washington and USC since the last time the Trojans were here in 2001.

Then, USC was a struggling former power with a first-year coach searching desperately for answers, falling to 1-4 after heartbreaking last-

second loss.

Yesterday, USC returned, having long ago regained its swagger and its standing as the class team in the Pac-10.

And any doubts that Washington had about USC's greatness vanished after the Huskies made a couple of critical mistakes that allowed the Trojans all the opening they needed to roll to a 43-23 win in front of 72,015 sun-drenched fans on Homecoming.

USC's 43 points were the most scored by an opponent in Husky Stadium since Colorado tallied 45 in 1989. It was the second-highest margin of victory by an opponent at Husky Stadium since 1980, topped only by a 28-7 loss to Arizona State in 1999. And USC's 565 yards were the most against UW anywhere since BYU went for 575 in 1999 and the third-most gained by an opponent at Husky Stadium.

"USC is a great team. That's the bottom line," said UW linebacker Marquis Cooper.

And really, it was as simple as that.

There was no second-guessing the effort in UW's locker room afterward. No wondering why they didn't come to play.

"We were ready today," said UW safety Owen Biddle. "We just got outplayed. We were out there playing hard. We wanted to have fun. But we just got beat."

The defeat drops UW to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the Pac-10 and basically out of the race for the Rose Bowl. Instead, UW hosts Oregon on Saturday night in a game that could determine whether the Huskies will play in any bowl game at all.

Biddle said the Huskies held a quick team meeting after the game to emphasize forgetting about the USC loss and preparing for the Ducks. The Huskies have run into trouble in recent seasons brooding over losses.

But there wasn't much to brood over concerning this one other than the all-too-obvious difference in talent, which UW knows it can't fix anytime soon.

"They are very, very talented," Huskies coach Keith Gilbertson said of USC. "They have recruited top classes out here in the West year after year after year, and they really have lots of great athletes."

So many that it was often just a matter of which one they wanted to unveil next. The Huskies actually did an acceptable job holding USC's star receivers Mike Williams and Keary Colbert in check — the two came into the game with 13 combined TDs but had just one yesterday.

But that just opened the door for freshman running back Reggie Bush, whom the Huskies tried hard to recruit a year ago.

Bush rushed for 81 yards on 12 carries and caught five passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

And when USC (7-1, 3-1) figured the Huskies might have their eyes on all three, fullback Brandon Hancock came out of the backfield for a 52-yard touchdown pass down the sideline in the fourth quarter.

"When you've got a fullback coming out of your backfield running past the secondary, that shows the talent you have," Gilbertson said.

UW started fast, scoring on its second possession to take a 7-0 lead. But USC came right back with its own drive to make it 7-7. UW responded by driving into USC territory. But on a third-down play, Cody Pickett was flushed out of the pocket. Pickett tried to throw the ball away and instead tossed it to USC cornerback Ronald Nunn, who returned it 57 yards for a touchdown. USC never trailed again.

	JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES Washington receiver Reggie Williams, front, fumbles the ball against USC's Marcell Allmond during the second quarter yesterday at Husky Stadium. The Trojans recovered the ball, but the ensuing drive ended in a missed field-goal attempt.

"I was trying to throw it out of bounds," said Pickett, who has had an interception returned for a touchdown in three of UW's last four games. "I had no idea that guy was out there."

UW scored with 32 seconds left in the half to make it 20-14 at the break. But USC quickly regained the momentum by taking the second-half kickoff and driving 80 yards for a touchdown, capped by a 60-yard pass to Bush over the middle on third down.

UW drove for a field goal to make it 26-17, then got its biggest break of the day when USC's Hershel Dennis fumbled a lateral and Husky Derrick Johnson recovered at the Trojans' 16.

But a penalty moved UW back 8 yards. On the replay of first down, Pickett overthrew tight end Ben Bandel, who was wide open in the end zone. On second down, Pickett was hit while throwing, and the ball bounced backward. Isaiah Stanback then kicked the ball trying to recover it, sending it into UW territory. Huskies lineman Khalif Barnes recovered, but the Huskies were left with a third-and-50 at their 44 and punted a play later. USC then drove for a field goal.

"That really hurt us," Gilbertson said. "It was a vintage opportunity to make something happen. After that, we never really contended."

USC scored TDs on its next two drives after the field goal, and only a late Pickett TD run prevented the game from being UW's worst home loss since the days of Jim Owens, who, coincidentally, was honored at halftime.

The Huskies, who had 238 yards at halftime, finished with 360, visibly hampered in the second half by the loss to injury of receiver Charles Frederick, who had his breakout game a week ago but left with a shoulder-and-rib injury late in the first quarter.

Afterward, Gilbertson marveled at the ability of the Trojans, calling them the most talented team UW has played since losing to eventual national champ Miami at the end of the 2001 season.

"I didn't think I'd see a team better than Ohio State (which UW lost to in its season opener)," Gilbertson said. "But I just did."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com

Stormed at home
USC's 43 points yesterday are the most scored against Washington at Husky Stadium since 1989. Here are the most since 1974:
Pts	Result	Year
45	Colorado, 45-28	1989
43	USC, 43-23	2003
41	WSU, 41-35	1997
37	USC, 37-23	1987
36	UCLA, 36-24	1998

Halftime
turnaround
Second-half yards tell the story of why yesterday's game got away from Washington:
Statistic	USC	UW
Total yards	320	122
Average gain	8.8	3.5
Passing yards	224	89
Rushing yards	96	63

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