Buffed and Polished Off

USC brought big hopes and dreams to this town that bills itself as the Little Apple.

Another crisp performance, and the No. 11 Trojans were looking at a possible 3-0 start and very sweet spot in the top 10.

But things turned rotten for the Trojans on Saturday night against No. 25 Kansas State.

They fell behind by 21 points in the second half and lost, 27-20, before a crowd of 49,276 at KSU Stadium that left the Trojans in a purple haze.

“They had the upper hand the whole time,” USC Coach Pete Carroll said. “It was important to seize control early and we didn’t do it.”

USC (2-1) looked nothing like the team that dominated the final two quarters of its season-opening victory over Auburn and the entire game against Colorado.

And Kansas State (4-0) proved it was worthy of its ranking after beating up on Western Kentucky, Louisiana Monroe and Eastern Illinois.

“I think everyone thinks we are playing these pansy teams and they weren’t,” Kansas State offensive lineman Nick Leckey said. “They were just a natural progress for us.”

Kansas State quarterback Ell Roberson showed he has made progress since last season, when he led the Wildcats to a 10-6 victory at the Coliseum.

In that game, Roberson ran the option offense and rushed for 119 yards.

He missed Kansas State’s last game because of an injured left hand and senior Marc Dunn started in his place Saturday.

But Roberson came off the bench early in the second quarter and changed the rhythm of the game against a Trojan defense ranked No. 1 in the nation.

“How many times did he make something happen when we had him?” Carroll said.

Roberson rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown in 20 carries and, in what came as a surprise to most Trojan defenders, completed 10 of 15 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown.

“My first couple of passes were short as I was pushing it too much,” Roberson said. “My players were telling me, ‘Calm down. Calm down.’ [USC] presented some things that made me shine.”

Roberson’s effort helped the Wildcats beat a ranked opponent in a nonconference game at home for the first time in school history. It also extended to 38 the Wildcats’ home winning streak against nonconference opponents.

“We were looking for the option a little bit too much,” USC defensive end Omar Nazel said. “We weren’t ready up front necessarily for pass rush. We thought it was going to be run, run, run, and they just killed us with the pass.”

Meanwhile, USC’s passing offense faltered.

Trojan quarterback Carson Palmer, who completed nearly 72% of his passes in the first two games, completed only 18 of 47 attempts for 186 yards and a touchdown against Kansas State.

Trojan receivers dropped six passes, and Palmer, who was sacked only once in the first two games, was sacked twice against the Wildcats. He was also penalized once for intentional grounding.

“We didn’t play a complete game,” Palmer said. “We started playing the fourth quarter and it wasn’t enough.”

The Trojans survived numerous special teams errors last week against Colorado, but they were hurt against Kansas State.

Kicker David Davis continued to struggle, missing a 30-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter that would have given the Trojans a 3-0 lead. Kansas State also blocked an extra-point attempt and Terence Newman returned it for a two-point play that turned what should have been a 10-7 USC deficit into a 12-6 halftime lead for Kansas State.

Punter Tom Malone also struggled. His 12-yard punt in the third quarter set up a 29-yard drive that tailback Darren Sproles capped with a 10-yard touchdown run. That extended the Wildcats’ lead to 19-6.

Kansas State pushed it to 27-6 on Roberson’s nine-yard touchdown pass to James Terry on the first play of the fourth quarter before the Trojans started to rally.

Mike Pollard recovered a fumble by Sproles, and Palmer completed a 65-yard drive with a five-yard pass to Keary Colbert, who had 11 catches for 125 yards.

Kansas State was forced to punt on its ensuing possession and Palmer connected with Colbert for a 21-yard pass play that set up Sultan McCullough’s 25-yard touchdown run to make the score 27-20.

Kansas State then drove to the USC five, but Roberson fumbled and safety DeShaun Hill recovered in the end zone for a touchback with 3:04 left.

Palmer completed consecutive passes to Colbert and one to Kareem Kelly as the Trojans drove to the Kansas State 33. But running back Malaefou MacKenzie was stopped for no gain on first down, Palmer’s pass to Kareem Kelly fell incomplete and Palmer was sacked on third down.

USC’s comeback bid ended when Palmer overthrew Colbert on fourth-and-15 from the Wildcat 38.

“I’m pleased with the fight we had to come back and get back in this thing, but I’m frustrated we didn’t play better earlier,” Carroll said. “There were a couple of drives against our defense that just shouldn’t happen.”

Now, the Trojans will prepare for their Pacific 10 Conference opener against Oregon State at the Coliseum.

Their bid for a perfect season is over, but they are prepared to shoot for a conference title and possibly more.

“I think we should be 3-0 right now, but we can’t have our heads down,” McCullough said. “It came down to the last play.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Crunch Time

USC has a 6-9 record in games decided by seven points or fewer with Carson Palmer at quarterback. However, in only five of those games was Palmer involved in the game’s last drive or a play that determined the outcome:

*--* SEPT. 9, 2000, AT COLISEUM No. 11 USC 17, Colorado 14

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* Palmer leads a 72-yard drive in the final 1:14 that results in David Newbury’s game-winning field goal with 16 seconds left.

*--* NOV. 18, 2000, AT ROSE BOWL USC 38, UCLA 35

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* A week after getting pulled at halftime of a loss to Washington State, Palmer passes for a career-high four touchdowns and leads a drive in the final 1:05 that results in David Bell’s game-winning field goal with nine seconds left.

*--* SEPT. 8, 2001, AT COLISEUM No. 12 Kansas State 10, USC 6

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* Palmer kept several drives alive in the second half by scrambling for first downs. But on a second-down scramble at the Wildcat 28 with 2:33 left, he fumbled after trying to bull through two defenders and Kansas State recovered.

*--* NOV. 3, 2001, AT COLISEUM USC 16, Oregon State 13

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* Palmer rolled to his left and ran for a four-yard touchdown that gave the Trojans an overtime victory.

*--* SATURDAY AT MANHATTAN, KAN No. 25 Kansas State 27, No. 11 USC 20

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* Palmer led the Trojans from their 20 to the Wildcat 33 with just over a minute left, but was sacked and overthrew Keary Colbert on fourth and 15.

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KEYS TO THE GAME

Gary Klein’s keys to the game and how the Trojans matched up:

Neutralize Kansas State’s big-play special teams and eliminate Trojan breakdowns: Kicker David Davis missed a 30-yard field-goal attempt in the first quarter and had an extra-point attempt blocked near the end of the first half. Kansas State cornerback Terence Newman recovered the blocked kick and ran for a two-point conversion that gave the Wildcats a 12-6 lead. Punter Tom Malone also struggled. He averaged 36.9 yards for 11 punts and his 12-yard punt with five minutes left in the third quarter gave Kansas State a first down at the USC 29. The Wildcats scored three plays later for a 19-6 lead.

Establish a running game: The Trojans were hoping for a repeat of last week when they rushed for 181 yards against Colorado. But Kansas State loaded up at the line of scrimmage and limited USC to 110. Sultan McCullough, who gained 110 yards against Colorado, rushed for 73 against Kansas State--25 coming on a fourth-quarter touchdown.

Prove cornerbacks are not the weak links in USC pass defense: Darrell Rideaux and Ronald Nunn expected to be tested, but Nunn left the game because of a sprained knee in the second quarter and was replaced by redshirt freshman William Buchanon. Kansas State quarterback Ell Roberson went after Buchanon on a nine-yard touchdown pass to James Terry in the fourth quarter.