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BOX SCORE
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Southern Cal dominated its opener and was
expected to repeat that performance against San Diego State.
But the Trojans (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today, No. 17 AP), favored by 23 points, were taken to the wire in edging San Diego State 24-21 Saturday.
"We thought it would be an easy one; it wasn't," said Carson
Palmer, who threw two touchdown passes to help USC avoid being
upset.
|  | | San Diego State's Jonas Lewis leaps over the line on fourth down to get the first down against Southern California. |
Trojans coach Paul Hackett wasn't pleased with many aspects of
his team's spotty performance.
"We dodged a bullet and found out that we have to play every
week like it's our last game," he said. "We wanted to play a
close game. This took it to the extreme."
The Trojans (2-0), off last week after their season-opening 62-7
rout of Hawaii, were up 17-0 late in the first half before San
Diego State (1-2) came back.
Aztecs coach Ted Tollner, who coached the Trojans for four years
before being fired in 1986, was happy with San Diego State's play.
"We saw a lot more positives today," he said. "The thing that
sticks in my mind is the great courage from our guys. The physical
part of the game, we stayed with them."
Jermaine Watkins returned an interception off Palmer 62 yards
for a touchdown with 4:24 remaining to put the Aztecs within three
points.
But after holding USC on the next series, the Aztecs gave the
ball up on downs when Jack Hawley threw an incompletion on
fourth-and-6 at the USC 44. The Trojans then ran out the clock and
San Diego State lost its 26 straight non-conference road game
dating back to 1981.
Palmer, who led the Trojans on an impressive scoring drive after
the opening kickoff, engineered another march to put them up 24-14
early in the final quarter.
The sophomore quarterback threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to
Kareem Kelly with 10:16 left in the game, capping a 93-yard drive.
Palmer finished 16-of-24 for 188 yards, with two interceptions.
"We came out on fire then let up as a team after that," Palmer
said. "They played well defensively and we didn't really expect
that."
Hawley completed 16-of-32 for 170 yards and one touchdown. He
threw four interceptions, with Kris Richard picking off two and
returning one for a TD.
"This is my worst game," Hawley said. "I can't do much worse
than this."
After scoring on a Hail Mary pass on the final play of the first
half, San Diego State drove 65 yards to another touchdown on its
first possession in the third quarter, capped by Larry Ned's
scoring run on third-and-3.
As time ran out in the half, Hawley threw a 45-yard pass and
Derrick Lewis timed his leap perfectly in front of two Trojans
defenders. Lewis came down with the ball at the 1, twisted around
and just got the ball over the goal line.
Following its impressive opening drive, USC made it 17-0 on
David Newbury's 26-yard field goal and Richard's 51-yard
interception return.
The Aztecs' defense kept them in the game, including stopping
the Trojans after USC drove to a first-and-goal at the 3. The
Aztecs stopped four consecutive running plays from there.
Palmer was 6-of-6 to six receivers on the Trojans' opening
drive, including a 31-yarder to Kelly to the Aztecs' 45.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
San Diego State Clubhouse
USC Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Chris Richard intercepts Jack Hawley's pass and returns it 51 yards for the TD.
avi: 915 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN
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