USC Upends Oregon State 31-14
Friday night saw the return of one of the nation’s best players and and a return to form for one of the nation’s most prolific football programs, as the USC Trojans won their third game in the past four weeks and became bowl eligible with their sixth victory of the season overall.
The Trojans moved to 6-3 on the year and 3-1 under interim coach Ed Orgeron with a 31-14 win over the Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis, a win that brought back memories of their more dominant days under Pete Carroll – especially since their last win at Reser Stadium had come under Carroll in 2004.
“Great job of coming into a hostile environment and really never letting it affect us as much as it has in the past,” said Orgeron, according to ESPN.com. “There was a belief in the locker room, at halftime, during the game.”
With 2012Â Biletnikoff Award winner Marqise Lee back in the lineup, the USC offense flourished once again. Even after missing two of the last three games with a knee injury, Lee didn’t seem to miss a beat, grabbing five catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.
“One of the main things we really focused on was that Oregon State beat our No. 1 team a couple of years ago,” Lee said. “We had a lot on the line here. Our main focus was to come out here and execute, and that’s basically what we did.”
However, Lee wasn’t the only offensive star for the Trojans, who enjoyed two 100-plus yard rushing performances Friday night. Silas Redd got the majority of the team’s totes – with 22 carries for 140 yards – but Javorious Allen got most of the glory, as he found the endzone three times out of his 16 attempts for 133 yards.
Meanwhile, the USC defense was able to capitalize off of several uncharacteristic miscues from the Oregon State side – including two redzone interceptions and two missed field-goal attempts – one of which was blocked.
“That’s too much,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said of the errors. “You’re not going to overcome that.”
The loss marked Oregon State’s third of year and second in a row, but with a 6-3 record and an upcoming date against the conference’s leader, rival Oregon, there’s still plenty for the Beavers to play for this season.
Meanwhile, USC will look to build off its recent success and should be able to do so against Cal on the road next week, before taking on Stanford the following week at home.
