Carson Is On Late Again

This time, USC got to pile on.

Enough of all the aching disappointments and hold-your-chin-high moments of the last few seasons.

This time, there was a party in the end zone, and linebacker David Gibson was at the bottom of it.

“I had about the whole team on top of me,” said Gibson, whose 16-yard interception return put a stamp on No. 21 USC’s 35-24 victory over Arizona State on Saturday at the Coliseum in front of a crowd of 56,093--a crowd that came raucously to life as the Trojans overwhelmed the Sun Devils at game’s end.

With a 22-0 fourth quarter--and a ferocious push fueled by a defense that scored the final 14 points on a blocked punt and an interception--the Trojans snuffed a team that was considered a favorite for the Rose Bowl before the season, and maybe even a longshot for the national championship.

Despite a phenomenal performance by Arizona State running back J.R. Redmond--a junior from Carson High who gained 214 yards in 33 carries and set a school record with 350 all-purpose yards--Arizona State is 2-3 and 1-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference, its hopes ended.

USC is 4-1, 2-0, and it’s fair enough to mention the Rose Bowl.

It was a game USC played without tailback Chad Morton because of a back injury and Arizona State played without quarterback Ryan Kealy because of a concussion suffered on the third play of the game after a hit by linebacker Chris Claiborne.

But the speed of USC receiver R. Jay Soward and the sheer possibilities the strong right arm of freshman quarterback Carson Palmer presented when he entered the game in the third quarter helped push the Trojans over the top.

“It’s just Carson,” Soward said. “You guys hear the crowd. I don’t know how to explain it. He makes something happen. He’s Carson.”

Nevertheless, Mike Van Raaphorst will start again next week against California, Coach Paul Hackett insisted. “Absolutely. I like what’s going on here.”

Even more so for those who were around for the 35-7 humiliation USC suffered at the hands of Arizona State last season--a loss that prompted a long mea culpa by John Robinson and contributed to his firing.

“Even though we didn’t talk about it too much, we were still thinking about how they downed the ball on the three-yard line against us last year instead of scoring,” receiver Billy Miller said. “That was kind of embarrassing. Maybe they thought it was respect, but that kind of stuck with us.”

This time, the Trojans trailed by 10 points at halftime and 11 entering the final quarter.

“I had to make something happen,” Soward said. “We were out there like we had jet lag, but we didn’t go anywhere.”

Soward started by returning the opening kick of the second half 62 yards to the Arizona State 38-yard line. A personal-foul penalty against the Sun Devils put the ball on the 23, and Soward scored on a pass from Van Raaphorst only 19 seconds into the second half.

That left Arizona State still leading, 17-13, after the extra point was blocked by Junior Ione.

Van Raaphorst passed for 191 yards in the game, completing 11 of 23 passes, but threw a particularly bad interception late in the third quarter.

Palmer came in shortly thereafter, and for the second time this season, helped fuel a comeback, just as he did against Purdue.

Palmer completed four of seven passes for 69 yards and one touchdown, which came four seconds into the fourth quarter, on a 20-yard pass to Soward on a play Palmer changed at the line of scrimmage because he saw that Arizona State was going to blitz.

With that, USC trimmed the Sun Devil lead to 24-21 after Palmer connected with Ted Iacenda for a two-point conversion.

Less than two minutes later, USC cornerback Antuan Simmons blocked Stephen Baker’s punt deep in Arizona State territory and Trojan safety Ifeanyi Ohalete won a wild scramble for the ball and carried it into the end zone.

With 13:16 left in the game, USC had its first lead, 28-24.

“It was a little volleyball game,” joked Rashard Cook, who tipped the ball. “I saw Antuan block it, then I jumped as high as I could, but obviously he got higher. Ife’ got it and stole my touchdown.”

Gibson helped make it emphatic when he intercepted a Chad Elliott pass and carried it in for a 16-yard touchdown with 8:27 left.

Elliott filled in for Kealy admirably, completing 16 of 32 for 157 yards and one interception, but USC stopped Arizona State when it mattered most--twice on fourth down before the game ended.

It was a wild swing from the first half, when Arizona State took a 17-7 lead on touchdowns by Gerald Green, a one-yard run, set up by Redmond’s 89-yard run, and Kenny Mitchell, a four-yard pass from Elliott, as well as a 25-yard field goal by Baker.

USC’s only touchdown was an eight-yard run by Van Raaphorst.

“I thought Van Raaphorst played his best half of football in the first half,” Hackett said.

“This qualified as a big win in my book. At halftime I said they have one big run and outside of that haven’t done much, and it’s time to step up.

“You could just feel it in the fourth quarter. That’s the way we have to play USC football.”