Game Report

FIRST QUARTER

Oregon 7, USC 3

THE SCORING: * Oregon 7, USC 0: Justin Peelle, 35-yard pass from Onterrio Smith at 4:35. PAT--Jared Siegel (kick). * Oregon 7, USC 3: David Davis, 32-yard field goal at 1:56.

TURNING POINT: With no score, penalties left Oregon facing second and 20 from the Duck 39. But Maurice Morris rambled for 26 yards--and on the next play the Ducks caught the Trojans sleeping with a trick play, a 35-yard touchdown off a halfback pass to the tight end.

NOT IN THE SUMMARY: Oregon defensive back A.K. Keyes, a sophomore from Los Alamitos High, was taken off the field with his head immobilized after a long delay and sent to the hospital for precautionary tests. Keyes was moving his arm and had feeling in his toes despite taking an awkward hit at the end of a play.

STAT WATCH: Davis’ field goal was his first as a Trojan after missing his only previous attempt.

SECOND QUARTER

Oregon 14, USC 6

THE SCORING: * Oregon 7, USC 6: Davis, 43-yard field goal at 3:09. * Oregon 14, USC 6: Steve Smith, 38-yard interception return at 1:45.

TURNING POINT: USC stopped Oregon on fourth down deep in Trojan territory on Kevin Arbet’s sack with less than two minutes left in the half. But USC’s chance to take a lead into the locker room went up in smoke on the next play, when Palmer threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

NOT IN THE SUMMARY: Palmer’s first interception could have cost the Trojans points too, but Oregon’s Siegel missed a 38-yard field goal attempt after the first of Smith’s two second-quarter interceptions.

STAT WATCH: After 10 quarters this season, Palmer had thrown three interceptions and had yet to throw a touchdown pass.

THIRD QUARTER

Oregon 21, USC 13

THE SCORING: * Oregon 21, USC 6: Peelle, 21-yard pass from Joey Harrington at 12:55. PAT--David Rosenberg (kick). * Oregon 21, USC 13: Sultan McCullough, 75-yard pass from Palmer at 6:12. 95-yard drive, five plays. PAT--Davis (kick)

TURNING POINT: A quiet night for McCullough and a mistake-ridden outing for Palmer turned in an instant when they connected on a 75-yard touchdown pass play, breathing life into a team that had trailed by 15.

NOT IN THE SUMMARY: It goes down as a 75-yard touchdown pass--Palmer’s first of the season--but most of the yardage came courtesy of the sprinter’s legs of McCullough after a screen pass.

STAT WATCH: When Smith made his third interception of the game off Palmer early in the second half, it marked the first time since at least 1966 an individual player has picked off three passes against a Trojan quarterback.

FOURTH QUARTER

Oregon 24, USC 22

THE SCORING: * Oregon 21, USC 19: Kareem Kelly, 93-yard pass from Palmer at 14:48. 93-yard drive, one play. PAT-Run failed. * USC 22, Oregon 21: Davis, 39-yard field goal at 10:20. 53-yard drive, six plays. * Oregon 24, USC 22: Siegel, 32-yard field goal at 0:12.

TURNING POINT: Siegel, benched for part of the game after a missed field goal, came back to kick the game-winner with 12-seconds left after a masterful drive engineered by Harrington.

NOT IN THE SUMMARY: Almost a hero: USC’s Bobby DeMars blocked Rosenberg’s field-goal attempt with 1:21 left, but USC couldn’t sustain the next drive, giving Oregon another chance.

STAT WATCH: What looked like one of Palmer’s worst outings after his third interception instead became the first 400-yard passing game of his career. But Harrington topped him--pulling out the eighth come-from-behind victory of his career.