Los Angeles, Calif.-----Prior to the start of the 2009 season opener, University of Southern California coach Pete Carroll expressed concern about the San Jose State defense's takeaway nature.
The Spartans lived up to the prophecy with a pair of first-quarter fumble recoveries. While neither resulted in score, San Jose State took advantage of field position exchanges and opened the scoring with a 41-yard Tyler Cope field goal.
USC followed up establishing control of the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and went on to a 56-3 win over the Spartans.
The Trojans broke off four touchdown runs on successive possessions from late in the second quarter into the third after taking a 7-3 second quarter advantage. Stefon Johnson put USC ahead with a 14-yard run and added a 2-yard run to start the Trojans’ rally.
Overall, USC ran for 342 yards and racked up 620 yards in total offense. Joe McKnight led the Trojans in rushing with 145 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns in just over two quarters of work.
Early on, Matt Barkley, USC’s freshman quarterback, struggled to find his targets, but settled in a rhythm to give San Jose State’s defense one more thing to keep on its mind. Barkley finished the opener completing 15-of-19 for 233 yards including 8-of-11 in the first half.
Both Kyle Reed and Jordan La Secla quarterbacked the Spartans in the first half. Reed finished 9-of-17 for 66 yards. La Secla was 5-of-10 for 43 yards. Neither quarterback threw an interception.
San Jose State, which accumulated 121 yards of total offense, struggled to sustain its possessions. The Spartans were 1-of-16 on third down possessions and needed a fourth-down 10-yard reception by Kevin Jurovich to set up Cope’s field goal.
San Jose State returns to action, Saturday, September 12 in its home opener against the University of Utah. Game time is 7:30 p.m. ESPNU will provide national television coverage.