Posted on: Wednesday, January 5, 2005
No doubt!
| • | Southern Cal dominated Oklahoma in all phases |
| • | OU blunder ignited USC spree |
By Mike Lopresti
Gannett News Service
MIAMI — Southern California stands alone.
Photos by Alan Diaz • Associated Press And no one even touching them, on a stunning night in the Orange Bowl, at the moment of truth between two famed powerhouses.
55-19. Who could see it coming? Or how completely and mercilessly the stars from the freeways of Los Angeles would outshine the stars from the plains of Oklahoma?
"We wanted to leave no doubt," said coach Pete Carroll, who may be building an empire at USC.
"I think they're great," said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. "I don't know if that's a surprise to anybody."
By the time Matt Leinart had thrown an Orange Bowl record five touchdown passes, and Steve Smith had caught three of them and piled up 113 yards of receiving, and Dwayne Jarrett had 115 more, and LenDale White and Reggie Bush had combined to rush for 193 yards, and Oklahoma had self-destructed on five turnovers, the message was clear.
This could well be the dawn of a Trojans' dynasty.
They scored the most points and won by the largest margin in an Orange Bowl in 52 years, back to Alabama's 61-6 smashing of Syracuse in 1953. And they did it starting 16 players who have eligibility remaining.
Including all the incendiary devices. Smith, Bush, Jarrett, White, who rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns last night, a bad ankle healed just in time.
And Leinart, if he does not choose early entry into the NFL. Leinart, who succeeded a Heisman winner last season, and has promptly gone 25-1. Who accepted the MVP trophy last night as the crowd chanted "One more year!"
"I don't see why we can't do this again next year," he said. "That's enough motivation for me to come back. Obviously it's going to be a hard decision."
"We ain't stopped," Bush said. "And we're not going to stop."
"This is a program that's flying right now," Carroll said.
History had been anticipated, but this kind?
Oklahoma had never given up so many points in any of its 37 previous bowls.
Nor had the Sooners ever allowed so many during the six golden years of Stoops.
"Disappointed, embarrassed, you name it," quarterback Jason White said of Oklahoma.
"You soul search as a coach how this could happen," Stoops said.
All that against an Oklahoma defense that had allowed six points its last 12 quarters. But a defense with a suspect secondary, which USC gleefully exploited.
"You could tell early," Carroll said, "we could do what we did."
A showdown awaited all season, megahyped for a month, incessantly analyzed all week, was over by halftime.
Chris O'Meara • Associated Press All the individual matchups, each one supposedly as even as the next, tilted toward the Trojans
The Heisman quarterback confrontation? Leinart had five touchdown passes. White two, and three interceptions.
The tailback battle? LenDale White and Bush averaged 9.2 yards per carry. Freshman and Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, surrounded everywhere he went, finished with 82.
In the first half, 11 of his 15 carries were two yards or less. The unstoppable force had run into a wall.
The models of efficient offenses? The Trojans had no turnovers. The Sooners had four of their five by halftime, leading to 24 USC points.
Of the gaggle of perfect teams this season, the Trojans are the fairest of them all. Behind them in the final rankings is 13-0 Auburn. And 12-0 Utah.
And 12-1 Oklahoma, their partner in a massive build-up for this Orange Bowl.
But in the end, USC had no peers.
As for Oklahoma, this makes two straight national championship games gone sour. The Sooners, with all their famed weaponry, combined for only 33 points against LSU and USC.
An early 7-7 tie — after both quarterbacks played a game of "Can you top this?" — quickly melted into a pool of Oklahoma turnovers.
White went 4 for 5 in the Sooners' first possession, and passed 4 yards to Travis Wilson for a touchdown.
Leinart answered by going 5 for 5, and threw a 33-yard touchdown to tight end Dominique Bird.
Then came three quick Oklahoma mistakes ... and three quick USC touchdowns.
Mark Bradley tried to scoop up a punt near his own end zone and fumbled at his 6 ...
LenDale White scored in one play.
"As bad a play as there is," Stoops said of Bradley's decision.
Jason White put a jump ball of a pass into heavy traffic for his first interception ...
Jarrett blew past Oklahoma safety Brodney Pool and took in a 54-yard touchdown pass from Leinart.
"When you're in safe, conservative coverages and you let people run behind you, you're not going to win," Stoops said. "I don't know what you can do about that. I guess you can line up 25 yards deep."
White was intercepted by Eric Wright when Bradley slipped making a cut on his route ...
Leinart hit Smith on a 5-yard touchdown pass.
In barely six minutes, the score had gone from 7-7 to 28-7.
There would be no rally. Peterson had no room. White had no time. The margin grew, the crowd of 77,912 faded away into the night. The Orange Bowl came packaged as a classic. But was unwrapped as a slaughter.
No. 1 at the beginning. No. 1 at the end. A nonstop blitz from August to January, with everyone gunning for the Trojans, but no one stopping them.
Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Matt Leinart embrace after their 55-19 win over Oklahoma. Leinart, who threw for an Orange Bowl record five touchdowns, was the game's MVP.
They put a unanimous national championship with last year's Associated Press title. The Trojans have won 22 straight games. They join Florida State (1999) as the only team to go wire to wire as No. 1 in the AP poll.
Southern Cal's Dominique Byrd (86) catches a 33-yard touchdown pass from Matt Leinart as Oklahoma's Rufus Alexander (42) defends. Byrd's score helped tie the game at 7.
USC led by then 38-10, the biggest first half lead in Orange Bowl history.
Quarterback Matt Leinart went 5 for 5 and threw for a 33-yard touchdown on Southern California's second drive in the first quarter.
