|
|
USC Football Tickets - Collision in Columbus
Two games into his college career, 19-year-old quarterback Matt Barkley has shown us why USC coach Pete Carroll has so much confidence in the true freshman. Get USC football tickets and see Barkley throw a TD pass. Barkley was composed as he drove the Trojans down the field in what became the go-ahead touchdown that beat the No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes 18-15. The freshman and tailback Joe McKnight made big play after big play before Stafon Johnson rushed for a 2-yard touchdown with 1:05 left to give the third-ranked Trojans their 10th straight victory against the Big Ten. Barkley said "We're Trojans. That's what we do." The QB continued to say it doesn't matter where the Trojans are in the score, they will find a way to win.
For the Buckeyes (1-1), it was another big-game disappointment. They have lost six-straight against top-five teams, including two national title games and last season's embarrassing 35-3 whipping at the hands of USC in the Coliseum. Carroll wore a smile fit for a king. He stated that the win was a beautiful statement for the USC team. USC's last drive started at their own 5, facing a second-and-19 with only 6:09 left in the game. No pressure on Barkley, right? The cool quarterback from Newport Beach marched his team on a 14-play, 86-yard drive. Suddenly, an anemic offense that was held scoreless all second half by a tough Buckeye defense came alive. McKnight darted for 11 yards before he caught a pass from Barkley and weaved for 21 more on a critical third-and-8.
The record crowd of more than 106,000 at Ohio Stadium started to grow uneasy after Barkley connected with Anthony McCoy for 26 to get the Trojans at the Buckeye 37. The freshman QB converted a fourth-and-short with a sneak. McKnight rushed three times, displaying his nifty moves all the way to the Buckeye 10. Another sneak by Barkley got it first-and-goal. Then Johnson ran around the right end, going untouched, pointing towards the USC section as he crossed the goal line. Barkley said it was good to hear the silence. Barkley and McKnight hooked up one more time and successful converted 2-points to put USC up 18 to 15. Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor had no timeouts left and couldn't get the Buckeyes up the field on their last drive.
Buckeye coach Jim Tressel expressed his frustration with the loss when he stated that Ohio State needed to score more than five points in the second half to defeat the third-seeded Trojans. Many will be questioning Ohio State's inability to beat the very best. Buckeye linebacker Brian Rolle gave McKnight lots of credit on their last drive. The tailback ran for 60 yards and had 45 receiving while Barkley finished 14 for 31 for 195 yards with an interception. He was sacked twice and took some hard hits, but shook them off in the last drive, one that could define his career. The freshman recently turned 19. Carroll said "He's not 19, he's our quarterback." The coach added that he's not worried about how old he is because numbers mean nothing.
About the Author This article was sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells USC Football tickets, as well as many other kinds of sports tickets, concert tickets, special events tickets and theater tickets.
|
 |
Please Rate: |
|
Rating: |
 Processing ... |
(Average: Not rated) |
| Views: | 25 | |
|
| More Articles from Football | | |
| Top Articles in Football | | |
|
