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Friday, December 13, 2002
No. 12 Oregon 28, USC 17
Associated Press
BOX SCORE
LOS ANGELES -- Joey Harrington picked the Southern Cal
defense apart Saturday, throwing for 382 yards and four touchdowns
as No. 12 Oregon beat the slumping Trojans 28-17.
|  | | Maurice Morris is a workhorse for the Ducks, but should have more help this fall. |
Harrington completed 28 of 42 attempts, including touchdown
passes of 8, 23, 13 and 18 yards for Oregon (5-1, 3-0 Pacific-10).
The Ducks built a 21-7 lead early in the third quarter and held on
to beat Southern Cal for the third consecutive time.
The loss also was the third in as many weeks for USC (3-3, 0-3),
which had been ranked eighth after a 3-0 start.
Keenan Howry had eight catches for 126 yards, and Maurice Morris
carried 32 for 85 yards for Oregon, which also owns Pac-10
victories over Washington and UCLA this season.
Sultan McCullough rushed for 152 yards on 23 carries for USC,
including a 59-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the game.
Carson Palmer was 15 of 35 for 194 yards for the Trojans, with one
touchdown and one interception.
After falling behind 21-7 early in the third quarter, the
Trojans closed the gap on John Wall's 25-yard field goal with 4:53
left in the quarter, then pulled within four on Palmer's 7-yard TD
pass to Antoine Harris 2:19 into the fourth.
But the Ducks' defense stiffened, and, after stopping the
Trojans on fourth down at the USC 25 in the closing minutes, Oregon
added an insurance touchdown on Harrington's 18-yard pass to Justin
Peelle with 1:10 remaining.
The Ducks had built their pad to 21-7 in the opening moments of
the third quarter on Harrington's third touchdown pass, a 13-yarder
to LaCorey Collins. Josh Rogers set up the score when USC punt
returner Kris Richard fumbled a punt and Rogers recovered at the
Trojans' 7.
The Ducks pulled ahead early in the second quarter on
Harrington's 23-yard touchdown pass to Josh Line. Howry caught a
31-yard pass and Peelle a 22-yarder in the 77-yard scoring march
for a 14-7 lead.
After McCullough's early TD run gave USC a quick 7-0 lead, the
Ducks came back with a sustained drive to tie it.
Harrington wrapped up the 13-yard, 79-yard march with a shovel
pass to Morris on third-and-goal from the 8. Morris took the pitch
2 yards behind the line of scrimmage and had a clear path up the
middle to the end zone.
The Ducks missed another scoring chance in the second quarter,
when Howry caught a Harrington pass and ran down to the USC 1, but
fumbled through the end zone for a touchback.
The victory was the Ducks' third in four years against USC,
including a triple overtime win last year in Eugene. Until now,
Oregon hadn't beaten UCLA, Washington and USC in a single season
since 1948, and the Ducks are 4-0 in conference for the first time
since 1957.
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Kareem Kelly lays out to haul in the Carson Palmer bomb.