Two hours before kickoff, Southern California's players menacingly rocked their buses, as if they couldn't wait to get on the field. There would be no taking Washington State lightly, not after what happened on their last trip to the Pacific Northwest.
Mark Sanchez became the first USC quarterback to throw five touchdown passes in a half and the focused No. 6 Trojans dominated this time as a huge favorite, beating Washington State 69-0 on Saturday a month after they were upset by Oregon State.
USC's defense, ranked first in the nation coming in by allowing just 9.4 points per game, ended the Cougars' streak of scoring at 280 games dating to Sept. 15, 1984, when Ohio State beat Washington State 44-0. That scoring streak was second-longest in the nation to Michigan's 295 games.
"Our guys had a ball playing football today, from the locker room on out,"
coach Pete Carroll said. "Right from the start, we wanted to find that focus that we really hadn't had yet."
It was the largest shutout victory for USC (5-1, 3-1 Pac-10) since a 69-0 win over Montana in 1931.
"Our intention wasn't to come out and beat these guys by 80 points. Our intention was to come out and play a great football game,"
star linebacker Rey Maualuga said.
The Trojans easily could have done both. Maualuga was kicking himself for having a potential interception and touchdown bang off his hand in the second quarter. And USC began showing mercy at the end of the first half, marching to the WSU 10 but then letting time expire.
The Trojans have won their last three games by a combined 141-10 since that stunning loss at Oregon State on Sept. 25 cost them their No. 1 ranking. They have scored 117 unanswered points. They have recorded consecutive shutouts for the first time since 1971.
"That loss to Oregon State couldn't have come at a better time as far as waking everybody up,"
Maualuga said.
Sanchez wasn't surprised.
"It's supposed to look that way when you prepare that way,"
said the Pac-10's leader in passing efficiency, with 19 touchdowns and six interceptions.
