NCAAF: ARIZONA at USC <div class="pre">NCAAF FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- ARIZONA 0 10 3 0 13 USC (10) 7 3 0 10 20 FINAL USC-TD, C Washington 18 YD RUN (D Buehler KICK) 11:18 1st Qtr USC-FG, D Buehler 27 YD 6:14 2nd Qtr ARIZONA-TD, W Tuitama 1 YD RUN (J Bondzio KICK) 9:29 2nd Qtr ARIZONA-FG, J Bondzio 28 YD 13:58 2nd Qtr ARIZONA-FG, J Bondzio 45 YD 3:46 3rd Qtr USC-TD, F Davis 25 YD PASS FROM M Sanchez (D Buehler KICK) 4:13 4th Qtr USC-FG, D Buehler 23 YD 14:03 4th Qtr ARIZONA USC First downs 13 19 Rushed-yards 16-22 43-146 Passing yards 233 130 Sacked-yards lost 1-5 3-14 Return yards 47 53 Passes 30-43-0 19-31-2 Punts 7-48 7-36.6 Fumbles-lost 5-3 1-0 Penalties-yards 8-55 5-35 Time of possession 26:54 33:06 Individual Statistics RUSHING: ARIZONA-Chris Jennings 7-16, Nicholas Grigsby 7-10, Willie Tuitama 2-MINUS 4. USC-Joe McKnight 13-75, Chauncey Washington 17-54, Stanley Havili 2-7, Ronald Johnson 1-6, Mark Sanchez 7-5, Desmond Reed 2-0, - Team 1-MINUS 1. PASSING: ARIZONA-Willie Tuitama 30-43-233- 0. USC-Mark Sanchez 19-31-130- 2. RECEIVING: ARIZONA-Michael Thomas 12-83, Chris Jennings 5-68, Terrell Reese 5-28, Anthony Johnson 2-15, Terrell Turner 1-13, Earl Mitchell 1-11, Delashaun Dean 3-8, Rob Gronkowski 1-7. USC-Fred Davis 6-63, Vidal Hazelton 3-24, Patrick Turner 3-21, David Ausberry 1-11, Stanley Havili 3-4, Joe McKnight 2-4, Hershel Dennis 1-3. Att: 84,671</div>
LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Joe McKnight made sure SouthernCalifornia wasn't upset for a second straight week. The highly touted freshman set up the eventual game-winningscore with a 45-yard punt return early in the fourth quarter asthe 10th-ranked Trojans bounced back from last week's stunningloss to Stanford with a 20-13 victory over Arizona Saturday. The Trojans (5-1, 3-1 PAC 10), who lost All-American left tackleSam Baker to a hamstring injury in the first half, waslethargic on offense until McKnight returned the ball to theWildcat 25 at the 10:47 mark of the fourth quarter. "I know what he's got - he's just a fantastic football player,"said USC coach Pete Carroll of McKnight. "It's just aconfidence deal. "He has so much stuff and he's going to continue to make goodplays. The punt return was exhilarating." On the next play from scrimmage, sophomore quarterback MarkSanchez, making his first career start in place of injured JohnDavid Booty, hooked up with Fred Davis for a 25-yard scoringpass to put USC ahead, 17-13. It was Sanchez's first career TDpass. "That first touchdown pass ... I couldn't sleep all last nightthinking about it," Sanchez said. "I just wanted to get oneunder my belt at least." "But more than anything we just needed a win more than atouchdown pass. I just couldn't lose this game - we couldn't losethis game, we weren't going to let it happen." McKnight also scampered 59 yards on the Trojans' final drive,which covered 86 yards and was capped off with a 24-yard fieldgoal by David Buehler with 57 seconds left. "I really haven't been proving to people what I can do so I hopeI've proven it to them now," McKnight said. For the game McKnight rushed for a team-high 76 yards on 13carries. Sanchez completed 18-of-30 passes for 130 yards and atouchdown. He was also intercepted twice. The Trojans took a 10-0 lead after an 18-yard TD run by ChaunceyWashington in the first quarter and a 27-yard field goal byBuehler midway through the second quarter. Arizona (2-5, 1-3) struck back after Buehler's field goal withan eight-play drive that covered 74 yards, capped off by aone-yard scoring plunge by quarterback Willie Tuitama. Late in the first half Arizona cornerback Antoine Casonintercepted Sanchez at the USC 46 and returned it to the USC 19,which set up a 28-yard field goal by Jason Bondzio to knot thescore at 10. Arizona then broke a 10-10 tie on its first possession of thesecond half on a 45-yard field goal by Bondzio. Tuitama finished 30-for-43 for 233 yards and Mike Thomas caught12 passes for 83 yards for the Wildcats. "It's a tough loss. I thought we had a great opportunity, butwe let it slip away in the late third, early in the fourth,"Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. "I thought we could take thegame into the fourth quarter and make some plays but we neverdid. "They made the plays in the fourth quarter to ice the game."
