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01/01/07
USC doesn't need any reminders that a single play can change the course of a game or a season.
The memory of Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard and wide receiver Mark Bradford connecting on fourth down - a play that ultimately took away USC's seat in the BCS National Championship Game - is reminder enough for a lifetime.
On Jan. 1, with Illinois driving inside USC Trojans 10-yard line, about to make a once-secure Trojans lead diminish to a mere four points, USC linebacker Kaluka Maiava made the play that turned the game back around in his team's favor.
Maiava knocked the ball out of
Illini wide receiver Jacob Willis' grasp at the 6 yard line and fellow USC linebacker Brian Cushing landed on it in the end zone. Thanks to Maiava's forced fumble, a game that could have been 21-17 as little as 10 seconds later instead turned into a 32-point rout, as then-No. 6 USC turned back the then-No. 13 Fighting Illini (9-4), 49-17, in front of 93,923 fans at the Rose Bowl.
"It would have been a motivational swing, so I'm glad we stopped them when we did," Maiava said.
All-American safety Taylor Mays went a step further, saying it was the definitive play of the game.
"You saw what happened after that," he said. "Sometimes a game comes down to one play."
An eight-play, 80-yard drive following the turnover, capped by a 2-yard touchdown pass from
quarterback John David Booty to tight end Fred Davis, made the game 28-10.
USC cornerback Cary Harris intercepted Illinois quarterback Juice Williams' pass on the first play of the ensuing drive, and one minute and 21 seconds later, tailback
Joe McKnight walked into the end zone to put USC (11-2) ahead 35-10.
Another Illinois turnover, this time a fumble forced by cornerback Terrell Thomas, and another USC touchdown - a 15-yard pass from Booty to wide receiver David Ausberry - and, theoretically, the game was over.
Eight minutes and 14 seconds. The sequence that USC Trojans coach Pete Carroll dreams about.
"We just got it right," Carroll said.
When it was all said and done, USC Trojans had racked up 633 yards of total offense - the most in the Rose Bowl Game's 94-year history. Booty threw three touchdowns, giving him seven career touchdown passes in the Rose Bowl - also a record.
McKnight rushed 10 times for 127 yards and a touchdown and caught six passes for 45 yards. Perhaps his most memorable play, however, was a dropped pass.
On the fourth play after Maiava's forced fumble, McKnight dropped a backward pass, which, by rule, is a fumble. The ball bounced directly back to him and he capitalized by streaking 65 yards down the right sideline.
"I hit the 'B' button, and it bounced right to him," joked USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.
The story of the first half was the USC Trojans defense, as it reduced Illinois' vaunted rushing threat to little more than level green.
Williams and junior running back Rashard Mendenhall rushed for a combined 22 yards on 22 carries. During one nine-play stretch in the second quarter, the Trojans stopped the Illini for zero or negative yards eight times, highlighted by back-to-back sacks by linebacker Rey Maualuga.
Maualuga finished with four tackles, three sacks, one interception and one forced fumble, earning him defensive MVP honors. Booty was named offensive MVP for the second year in a row.
The Trojans' dominating performance will only further elicit debate over the label of "best team in college football."
But if you ask McKnight, no such debate exists.
"You ask anybody on the team and they think we can beat anybody," he said. "Once we get everybody [healthy], I just think we're the best team in America."
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