Sanchez is the star of the show

The feeling crept up on him slowly.

One play at a time. One pass at a time.

As soon as Mark Sanchez settled down from a slight case of nerves, he fell into a rhythm, started having fun, telling jokes in the huddle.

“I started to feel it kind of rolling,” he said. “I was pretty loose.”

Loose as in four touchdown passes and a touchdown run. Loose as in completing 80% of his throws for 413 yards.

While fifth-ranked USC was best known for defense this season, it was the junior quarterback who stole the spotlight at the Rose Bowl on Thursday afternoon, putting up historic numbers on the way to leading USC to a 38-24 victory over Penn State.

His completion rate tied the Rose Bowl game record. His passing yards are second all-time.

Surely the Trojans’ talented, and in some cases tall, receivers deserved credit. But as Penn State cornerback Lydell Sargeant said, “I think that a 4-foot-10 guy could catch some of the passes that Mark was throwing.”

It didn’t matter that the Nittany Lions arrived in Pasadena with the fifth-ranked defense in the nation -- Sanchez had an inkling that something special might transpire.

The Trojans’ pregame meeting at the team hotel, a ritual that includes chanting and occasional tossing of chairs, was especially spirited, he said. The feeling was so infectious that Sanchez set aside a brace he has worn since dislocating a kneecap in the preseason.

The USC medical staff wasn’t too happy. Nor was his family.

“I just felt a little different this morning,” he said. “I didn’t put it on for warmups.”

And when he went back to the locker room before kickoff?

“I never got around to it.”

For the record, his first pass was a seven-yard completion to tight end Anthony McCoy, after which he missed on two attempts, overthrowing Damian Williams and Patrick Turner.

“He was really excited,” Turner said. “We just talked to him a little bit, told him to settle down.”

A 27-yard strike to Williams, a post route that went for the game’s first touchdown, did the trick. With Sanchez catching fire, USC scored on five consecutive possessions.

“My arm was alive,” he said. “It felt good.”

A large part of his success can be credited to savvy game-planning. Despite Penn State’s lofty defensive ranking, the Trojans figured their receivers had an edge.

In some instances, they used smarts.

“We watched a lot of film and we knew they liked to run a lot of zone coverage,” Turner said. “They were sitting in their zones and we found the holes.”

Other times, it was more physical.

“Speed really kills,” receiver Ronald Johnson said. “We just went right by them.”

That explains Sanchez’s two touchdown passes to Johnson, including a 45-yard strike in the fourth quarter. But there was also a bootleg run across the goal line and a shorter pass that probably ranked as his best of the game.

With USC near midfield in the second quarter, Sanchez dropped back under heavy pressure. There wasn’t time to wait for Williams, who finished with 10 catches for 162 yards, to complete a deep out pattern.

So Sanchez threw a timing pass well before the receiver made his break and, as Penn State Coach Joe Paterno said, “It was right on the money.”

It was that kind of day and, with USC all but shutting down its offense in the final minutes, there was nothing for Sanchez to do but celebrate.

Clambering up a ladder in the end zone, he led the marching band, waving a sword as his baton. Then came a most-valuable-player award and endless interviews with the media.

Everyone wanted to know about next season. Would he leave early for the NFL draft?

There was no definitive answer, but just talking about it made Sanchez well up. Coach Pete Carroll, sitting beside him, put a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m telling you right now, it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to this place,” Sanchez said. “I don’t think I can do it.”

The quarterback did not want to let go of a good feeling.

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david.wharton@latimes.com