Big Stops, No Miscues Boost Key Rankings

USC went wire to wire as the No. 1 team in the nation this season.

The Trojans’ demolition of Oklahoma in the bowl championship series title game also vaulted USC into the top spot nationally in turnover margin and rushing defense.

“Those are proud stats for us,” Coach Pete Carroll said Thursday. “That’s a bunch of stats that are meaningful to our whole football team.”

USC played turnover-free, and intercepted three passes and recovered two fumbles, in the 55-19 Orange Bowl rout over Oklahoma to finish with a 1.46 turnover margin. The Trojans gained the ball 38 times through turnovers and lost it 19.

USC limited Sooner running back Adrian Peterson to 82 yards in 25 carries. The Trojans gave up only 79.4 yards a game to finish first in rushing defense for the second consecutive season.

Quarterback Matt Leinart passed for five touchdowns against the Sooners, but it was USC’s defense that set up several scoring opportunities and shut down Peterson and quarterback Jason White.

With nearly a month to pore over tape of Oklahoma, Carroll said he could see it coming.

“Teams that played schemes like we did made them work really hard to make their yards,” Carroll said. “I saw very clearly that they had a hard time with it. They made a lot of yards against looks that weren’t like ours. With that thought in mind, I knew that we had a real shot.”

Oklahoma started the game with a 92-yard scoring drive, but Carroll said he wasn’t worried. After all, the Trojans gave up a 100-yard touchdown on the opening kickoff against Iowa in the 2003 Orange Bowl and came back to beat the Hawkeyes, 38-17.

“It was absolutely reminiscent of the last time we were there,” Carroll said.

“They just worked a little harder to get it than the opening kickoff.”

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Carroll said the coaching staff resorted to theatrics before the game because the Orange Bowl required teams to be off the field for 31 minutes before kickoff, about twice as long as the norm.

“With about 13 minutes to go, I said, ‘OK, let’s get everybody out of the locker room!’ ” Carroll said.

As the players congregated outside the door, Carroll told them to pretend they were coming off the field.

Upon the players’ reentry into the room, defensive line coach Ed Orgeron and offensive line coach Tim Davis “were yelling at them like we always do,” Carroll said. “We took the guys back and just faked it.... We always want to come out really pumped up. It worked out great.”

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Ken Norton, who served as a graduate assistant this season, was added to the recruiting staff.

Norton takes the spot, but not the recruiting-coordinator responsibility, that was vacated when Orgeron left to become coach at Mississippi.

USC received commitments from several recruits immediately after its Orange Bowl victory, but Carroll said the staff must keep pushing.

“We’ve been out of the recruiting loop a little bit,” Carroll said. “We did do something nice for us, it’s not like we didn’t do something, but we have to make our contacts and make our headway here. Next week we can rest.... Right now we have to close.”

Jason Gwaltney, a high school running back from Long Island, N.Y., told Newsday that he received a call from Carroll about an hour after the Orange Bowl, which ended after midnight on the East Coast.

“I was in total shock when I realized who it was,” Gwaltney, Long Island’s all-time rushing and scoring leader told the newspaper. “I congratulated him and we talked for a few minutes. When I hung up, I looked at the clock and I still couldn’t believe it.”

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Junior running back Hershel Dennis postponed knee surgery scheduled for today because of the death of his grandmother Monday.

A funeral for Alauta Teofilo will be held next week.

Dennis, who sustained torn ligaments in his left knee on Dec. 16, probably will have surgery the following week.