A Flight to the Finish for USC

USC could not wait to get started on its finish.

In the days leading up to Saturday night’s game against Stanford, Trojan players and coaches spoke repeatedly about their desire to move impressively past the Cardinal so they could get to the final three contests of a 12-game regular-season schedule.

In other words: The fourth quarter.

Top-ranked USC quickly took care of business against Stanford, routing the overmatched Cardinal, 51-21, before a sold-out crowd of 90,212 at the Coliseum for its 31st consecutive victory.

“This is the fourth quarter of the season. We don’t want to stop, we want to keep this thing going and keep pushing,” USC quarterback Matt Leinart said.

USC improved its record to 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference. The Trojans also stayed on track for a second consecutive appearance in the bowl championship series title game and a shot at their third consecutive national title.

On a day when previously unbeaten Virginia Tech and UCLA probably fell by the BCS wayside, USC continued its recent string of dominant showings.

A week after amassing a season-high 745 yards against Washington State, USC rolled up 529 against the Cardinal and also dominated for most of the game on defense.

Defensive end Lawrence Jackson recovered a fumble and linebacker Thomas Williams and end Frostee Rucker intercepted passes in the first half as the Trojans won at the Coliseum for the 25th consecutive time.

“It’s been a work in progress all year with the defense,” USC Coach Pete Carroll said. “We’re holding our own.”

Leinart remained in the groove he recaptured three games ago and passed for four touchdowns in the first half as USC took a 44-7 lead. The Heisman Trophy winner finished 22 for 28 for 259 yards without an interception against the Pac-10’s worst defense.

Junior running back Reggie Bush rushed for 113 yards in 12 carries and scored on a 42-yard run. It was Bush’s sixth 100-yard game of the season and put him over 1,000 yards in a season for the first time.

Running back LenDale White ran for a touchdown and also scored on a 16-yard pass.

Split end Dwayne Jarrett caught eight passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.

“Not to take anything away from Stanford, but it did feel like today we could really do what we wanted,” Bush said.

USC cut Stanford no slack in Carroll’s first matchup against longtime friend Walt Harris, who recruited Carroll to play at Pacific, served on Carroll’s staff with the New York Jets and coached Carroll’s son, Brennan, at Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, Stanford (4-4, 3-3 in the Pac-10) played as if still in shock from last week’s meltdown against UCLA when the Cardinal blew a 21-point lead in the final 8:30 and lost in overtime.

Stanford entered the game without a turnover in its last three games, but committed three in the first half against the Trojans, who improved to 14-0 in November games under Carroll.

“We didn’t play like we know we can play,” Harris said. “The turnovers were huge.”

USC showed no signs of being distracted after a week that included a Carroll-directed Halloween prank during practice and also the arrest of freshman linebacker Rey Maualuga for allegedly punching a man during a party. Maualuga was demoted to the scout team during the week, but he played in the second half.

The Trojans scored on all seven of their first-half possessions en route to a 44-7 lead.

They began their first drive at their 20 and moved down the field with ease before White finished the drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

USC middle linebacker Oscar Lua suffered a sprained knee on the kickoff, but the Trojan defense came up with its first big play on Stanford’s second play.

Cardinal quarterback Trent Edwards’ lateral went off the hands of receiver Gerren Crochet and Jackson recovered the ball at the Cardinal 47. After an offside penalty against Stanford, Bush took a handoff and cut toward the left sideline before turning the corner and racing to a 42-yard touchdown.

USC forced the Cardinal to go three and out, then increased the lead to 21-0 on Leinart’s 16-yard swing pass to White with 6:04 left in the first quarter.

Freshman linebacker Brian Cushing set up the Trojans’ final points of the first quarter when he tipped a pass from Edwards that was intended for Marcus McCutcheon. Williams grabbed the ball out of the air and returned it to the Cardinal 19. Mario Danelo’s 21-yard field goal put the Trojans ahead, 24-0.

The Trojans continued the onslaught in the second quarter, Leinart’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Jarrett in the right corner of the end zone increasing the lead to 31-0 with 9:13 left.

Rucker set up the next touchdown when he picked off a pass by Edwards. Rucker fumbled the ball, but cornerback Josh Pinkard picked it up and ran 21 yards to the Stanford four. After a pass interference penalty against USC, Leinart connected with tight end Fred Davis for a 19-yard touchdown and 37-0 lead.

Now USC enters the final phase of its drive to the BCS title game, the degree of difficulty appearing to have changed dramatically on Saturday.

The Trojans finish with games against California, Fresno State and UCLA, all of which began the day in the BCS top 25.

But Cal, No. 23 in the BCS, lost to No. 13 Oregon, 27-20, in overtime. Fresno State, No. 24, routed San Jose State, 45-7. And No. 5 UCLA got blown out at Arizona, 52-14.

“We’ve stepped into the fourth quarter of the season,” Carroll said. “It’s been a big deal in this program for years on how we finish, and I was just hoping we could get to what we refer to as the true part of the finish.”

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KEYS TO THE GAME

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

1. Protect Leinart. Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart passed for 259 yards and four touchdowns and was not sacked.

2. Pressure Edwards. Stanford had not committed a turnover in its last three games, but USC intercepted three passes by quarterback Trent Edwards and recovered two fumbles.

3. Remain focused. The Trojans remained on point and did not commit any costly mistakes.