Oregon State
USC
Beavers End Longtime Drought Against USC!
September 30, 2000 | Football
Sept. 30, 2000
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) -
The last time Oregon State beat Southern Cal, the Beavers brought down O.J. Simpson before he could reach the end zone and ruin their 3-0 victory.No one could stop Oregon State's Ken Simonton as he ran for a career-high 234 yards and three touchdowns as the Beavers beat No. 8 Southern Cal 31-21 on Saturday to break a 26-game losing streak against the Trojans.
Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson, who won two national championships at Miami, said the victory is as big as he has experienced.
"I've never been so proud of a football team in life," Erickson said. "It's as high as I've ever been. This was right up with any of them. You keep hearing about the streak. I didn't want to hear it any longer."
When the Beavers (4-0, 1-0 Pac-10) last beat Southern Cal (3-1, 0-1) in 1967, the Trojans went on to win the national championship, and Oregon State began its long decline.
Last season, Oregon State ended another embarrassing streak with its first winning season in 29 years.
Simonton had 37 carries and ran for more yards against Southern Cal than anyone but Penn State's Curtis Ennis, who had 241 in 1996.
"Is this a big game? Yeah. Is it the biggest game? No. This is the first of many big games," Simonton said. "It's no limits. It's what we believe we can do. We're finally able to get the big plays."
Simonton scored on a 2-yard run with 11:14 left to give Oregon State a 21-14 lead.
Southern Cal had a 49-yard pass negated by an illegal procedure penalty and was forced to punt, with T.J. Houshmandzadeh returning the ball 36 yards to the Trojans' 27.
Ryan Cesca then connected on his first field-goal attempt of the year, a 41-yarder that made it 24-14 with 8:04 left.
Southern Cal closed to 24-21 after Oregon State's punter bobbled the ball and had to fall on it on the Beavers' 12.
Carson Palmer completed an 11-yard pass to Malaefou Mackenzie and a 1-yard TD pass to Chad Pierson to bring the Trojans within three with 2:16 left.
With the Beavers trying to run out the clock, Simonton bolted downfield for a 36-yard TD run that made it 31-21 with 1:36 left.
The clock was still ticking down its final seconds when orange-and-black clad Beavers fans rushed onto the field - hugging each other, mobbing the players and jumping up and down.
"This win was for the alumni," Oregon State linebacker Richard Seigler said. "Oregon State has life right now."
Oregon State's Jonathan Smith completed 10 of 29 passes for 157 yards and one touchdown. Southern Cal's Carson Palmer was 19-of-38 for 282 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Simonton's second touchdown was set up when Oregon State downed a punt on the Trojans' 1. On the next play, the Beavers forced tailback Petros Papadakis to fumble on the 6 and Oregon State's Calvin Carlyle recovered it.
Three plays later, Simonton scored his second TD of the game.
"They played hard. They played well. They played with great emotion," Trojans coach Paul Hackett said. "The bottom line is we couldn't make the plays we had to."
Southern Cal was haunted by penalties. Its offense also sputtered after losing rushing leader Sultan McCullough to an injury two minutes into the third quarter.
At the beginning of the third quarter, Palmer threw an apparent 4-yard touchdown pass to Antoine Harris, but the Trojans were called for delay of game. David Newbury's 26-yard field-goal try then hit the right upright.
A 49-yard pass after the Beavers' go-ahead touchdown was called back for illegal procedure.
Oregon State had a productive first quarter, racking up 202 total yards and taking a 14-0 lead in the first 10 minutes.
The Beavers scored on Jonathan Smith's 15-yard TD pass to Chad Johnson and a 20-yard run by Simonton. Simonton broke an arm tackle, spun away from a defender and sprinted 14 yards through three other Trojans to score.
Southern Cal cut the lead to 14-7 with just over two minutes left in the quarter on an eight-play, 71-yard drive that ended with Palmer's 12-yard pass to Matt Nickels.
The Trojans tied it early in the second quarter when linebacker Zeke Moreno returned Patrick McCall's fumble 80 yards for a touchdown.
Terrence Carroll, who had two interceptions, is a fifth-year senior who has seen four of the 26 losses to Southern Cal.
"I'm just happy to have that streak over," he said. "I'm just so proud. I'm just ecstatic right now."
By TARA BURGHART
Associated Press Writer
