Sep 16, 2007, 4:32 GMT
Lincoln, NE - John David Booty threw for a pair of touchdowns and Chauncey Washington ran for two other scores, as top-ranked Southern California scored 35 consecutive points, on the way to a 49-31 win over No. 14 Nebraska.
Booty completed 19-of-30 passes for 144 yards for the Trojans (2-0), who gave head coach Pete Carroll a victory on his 56th birthday. Stafon Johnson ran for 144 yards and a TD, as the Trojans used a dominating ground game, outrushing Nebraska by an eye-opening 313-31 margin in yardage.
'We just wanted to come here and play our ball,' Johnson said. 'Play Trojan ball in a great atmosphere. The crowd was bananas, but we had to come in and play our Trojan way and we came out with a victory. We are proud of that.'
Making their first visit to Lincoln since 1969, the Trojans fell behind in the second quarter before scoring five consecutive touchdowns to take control.
Sam Keller connected on 36-of-54 passes for 389 yards with a pair of touchdowns and two interceptions for the Cornhuskers (2-1), who couldn't contain USC's rushing attack, one week after a tight 20-17 victory at Wake Forest.
'We knew they had a stable of running backs and a solid offensive line coming back,' Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said. 'I think the only guy not coming back was their center. Aside from that, they are pretty savvy up front. Their tight ends are good blockers. They did a very good job. Of course, they mixed in the play action with it and some timely calls, so that was a tough situation for us, especially when you have success throwing the ball. We have to get better.'
USC cornerback Vincent Joseph was taken off the field on a stretcher, suffering a bruised larynx, after fumbling a kickoff in the second quarter. Alex Henery kicked a 37-yard field goal to give Nebraska a 10-7 lead with 9:04 left until halftime, and Joseph then fumbled the ensuing kickoff and was hurt when he was hit by Ricky Thenarse.
Meanwhile, linebacker Malcolm Smith picked up Joseph's fumble for USC and ran 40 yards into Nebraska territory, setting up Stanley Havili's two-yard touchdown run to give the Trojans the lead for good with 6:50 remaining in the half.
Joseph stayed on his back on the field before medical personnel wheeled out a stretcher and he was taken to a local hospital.
Johnson scored on a seven-yard run later in the second, and Booty hit Anthony McCoy with a two-yard TD pass early in the third, followed by a pair of one- yard scoring runs by Washington in the same quarter for a 42-10 margin going into the fourth.
The Trojans drove 96 yards in just four plays on their initial possession of the game, with Havili scoring on a five-yard pass from Booty. Havili ran 50 yards and C.J. Gable rumbled 40 yards to set up the score after Nebraska pinned USC deep with a punt.
Cody Glenn scored on a one-yard run with 1:03 left in the first.
After the field goal, the Trojans took control with Havili capping a 45-yard march with a TD for a 14-10 lead.
The Trojans moved the margin to 11 points on Johnson's TD run with 1:19 left in the half, and a Keller interception led to a 28-10 USC lead, with McCoy catching the short pass with 11:29 left in the third.
Keller was then picked off by Kyle Moore, who returned the ball 24 yards to the one. Washington then punched it into the end zone, and after a short punt Washington scored again from a yard out for a 42-10 lead with 5:03 remaining in the third.
It was academic from there, but Glenn scored on a one-yard run, while Keller threw TD passes of 20 and 18 yards to Todd Peterson in the fourth. Bradford Allen scored on a six-yard run for USC in the final quarter.
Game Notes
The Trojans beat the Cornhuskers by 18 points last year in Los Angeles, and USC holds a 3-0-1 edge in the series...USC heads into its Pac-10 opener at home next Saturday versus Washington State, while Nebraska is at home against Ball State...The loss dropped Nebraska to 1-10 all-time against top-ranked teams...The 49 points by USC are the most Nebraska has allowed at home since 1945 when Minnesota scored 61 points.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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