SEATTLE — Southern California was leveled by another post-Ohio State funk, taken down by upstart Washington with a late drive that must have looked familiar to the Trojans.
Erik Folk kicked a 22-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining and the Huskies' fired-up defense stymied fill-in quarterback Aaron Corp and No. 3 USC in a 16-13 victory Saturday.
Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley, who directed a game-winning drive to beat the Buckeyes 18-15 in Columbus, Ohio, last week, could only watch the latest stunning upset loss by the Trojans from the sideline. The 19-year-old freshman was out with a sore shoulder.
It was Washington quarterback Jake Locker's time to shine and the Huskies'turn pull out a victory that will stand among the most memorable in the once-proud program's history. Locker drove the Huskies 63 yards on 10 plays to set up the winning kick.
USC (2-1, 0-1 Pacific-10) was nearly a three-touchdown favorite. Washington (2-1, 1-0) came in riding a 10-game losing streak in Pac-10 games and had broken a 15-game overall skid last week against Idaho.
But again the Trojans were toppled by a team that seemed to be no match for all their blue chip recruits and future NFL draft picks. USC has now lost to an unranked team each of the past four seasons.
"Washington wasn't the better team. They just outplayed us," said Trojans running back Joe McKnight, who ran for 100 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown. "Clearly, we have superior athletes. But hard work beats athleticism every time. That's what happened today."
"We didn't get any better from last week. I'm not doing a good enough job of making the points of how we win," said USC Coach Pete Carroll, whose team went 0 for 10 on third down and had three turnovers inside the Washington 35.
Carroll began warning his team to avoid another post-Buckeyes letdown last Saturday night - in the locker room at Ohio State.
This time it was an old friend upsetting his powerful team. Washington Coach Steve Sarkisian was on Carroll's staff for seven years andwas his offensive coordinator before taking over in Seattle in January, trying to rebuild a team that had the Pac-10's first 0-12 season last year.
"Our kids played very hard. I don't know if we played very good, but we played hard," Sarkisian said. "It's unbelievable. It's what we were hoping for. We're trying hard."
Corp, a sophomore making his first career start, was 13 for 22 for 110 yards with 1 interception. USC (2-1, 0-1) was held to its lowest point total since a 13-9 loss to UCLA on Dec. 2, 2006.
In other games involving Pac-10 teams, Nico Grasu kicked a 39-yard field goal in overtime as Washington State came back to beat SMU 30-27 in Pullman, Wash., for its first victory of the season. ... Tony Pike threw for 332 yards and hit Mardy Gilyard with an 18-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter as No. 17 Cincinnati stopped a second-half Oregon State comeback bid for a 28-18 victory in Corvallis, Ore. ... Chris Owusu opened the game with a 94-yard kickoff return and also caught a touchdown pass, Toby Gerhart ran for 113 yards and two touchdowns and Stanford beat San Jose State 42-17 in Stanford, Calif.
WESTERN ATHLETIC Colorado State cruises
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Grant Stucker accounted for three scores while wide receiver Dion Morton threw a touchdown pass and caught another, leading ColoradoState to a 35-20 victory over Nevada on Saturday.
The Rams are 3-0 for the first time in 15 years. They also moved to 6-0 against the Wolf Pack (0-2) in Fort Collins.
Stucker ran for a 35-yard touchdown and threw for two more. He had a 32-yard pass to Zac Pauga and hit Morton on a 49-yard post route midway through the third quarter that broke open a close game.
In another game involving a Western Athletic Conference team, Ross Jenkins threw for 357 yards and two touchdowns to lead Louisiana Tech to a 48-13 victory over Nicholls State in Ruston, La. The Bulldogs (1-2) never trailed and claimed a 20-3 lead in the third quarter when D.J. Morrow scored on a 9-yard run. Morrow finished with 89 yards rushing on eight carries, while Tyrone Duplessis added 71 yards on the ground on eight attempts.
MOUNTAIN WEST Florida State stuns BYU
PROVO, Utah - Christian Ponder threw for two touchdowns and ran for anotheras Florida State beat No. 7 Brigham Young 54-28 Saturday, ending the Cougars' 18-game home winning streak and probably any hopes they had of a BCS berth.
Florida State (2-1) was too fast for BYU (2-1) and avoided its first 1-2 start in 20 years.
Three weeks after upsetting Oklahoma in the season opener, BYU couldn't keep up with Florida State and the Cougars' BCS aspirations faded a little bit on each drive by the Seminoles.
In other games involving Mountain West Conference teams, DeMaundray Woolridge rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns in Idaho's 34-20 victory over San Diego State. Deonte Jackson (Warren) rushed for a touchdown in the first quarter ... Joseph Turner ran for 129 yards and three touchdowns, Jerry Hughes had three sacks and No. 15 TCU won its eighth consecutive home opener, 56-21 over Texas State. ... Jon Davis intercepted two passes, returning one for a touchdown, to lead Air Force to a 37-13 victory over New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M.
Sports, Pages 25, 37 on 09/20/2009