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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- After an outstanding passing performance
against Southern California, Joey Harrington believes Oregon still
has room for improvement.
|  | | Oregon's Samie Parker hauled in a pass from Joey Harrington against USC's Chris Cash during the first half on Saturday. |
Harrington picked the Trojans' secondary apart Saturday,
throwing for 382 yards and four touchdowns as the Ducks (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 9 AP) beat the slumping Trojans 28-17.
"We played extremely well, but I think we can play better,"
the junior quarterback said after completing 28 of 42 passes, with
one interception, in the best game of his career.
"We're one step closer to what we want to accomplish, and
that's a Pac-10 championship."
The Ducks (5-1, 3-0) are off to a great start toward that goal,
having beaten Washington, UCLA and USC in the same season for the
first time since 1948. Oregon is 3-0 in the conference for the
first time since 1957.
Oregon coach Mike Bellotti agreed with Harrington that the Ducks
can improve.
"I may be a perfectionist, but I think we can play better in
all aspects of the game," he said. "We gave up too many big plays
and had too many penalties."
Harrington threw touchdown passes of 8, 23, 13 and 18 yards for
Oregon, becoming the first to throw for four TDs against USC since
Notre Dame's Steve Beurlein did it in 1986.
"Joey took advantage of the fact that they were in man coverage
a lot," Bellotti said. "There were some great play-action fakes
and great receptions."
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Saturday, Oct. 14
What's surprising, but hopeful for USC, is the Trojans didn't quit in this ballgame. Many expected
them to fall into the same kind of funk that they did last year and that they did last week
against Arizona. But when they were down, they kept fighting, kept playing and made a
game of it into the fourth quarter.
But Oregon made plays to win. Paul Hackett hasn't lost this team. Whether that's enough to save his job is another question.
Joey Harrington had the kind of game you expected him to have all year but hadn't. He
came into this game completing 47 percent of his passes, but he played much better than
that today.
The Oregon defense is as good as any in the Pac-10 right now.
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Oregon built a 21-7 lead early in the third quarter and scored
an insurance touchdown with 1:10 remaining to beat the Trojans for
the third consecutive time.
The loss also was the third in as many weeks for USC (3-3, 0-3),
which had been ranked eighth after winning the first three games.
The Trojans are off to their worst conference start since they also
lost the first three league games in 1957.
USC coach Paul Hackett thought the Trojans were about to turn
the corner against Oregon after pulling within 21-17 early in the
fourth quarter.
"But we didn't play smart at the end, which they did," he
said.
Hackett, who figures to be under increasing pressure unless the
Trojans salvage their season with a strong second half, said:
"This is a group I believe in and we've got to put the first half
behind us.
"We've got to regroup and go on a mission in the last half of
the season. We've got six to go and we're going to come out
flailing."
Oregon's Keenan Howry had eight catches for 126 yards, and
Maurice Morris carried 32 for 85 yards against a USC defense that
often was stacked up to stop the run.
Sultan McCullough rushed for 152 yards on 23 carries for USC,
including a 59-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the game.
Carson Palmer was 15 of 35 for 194 yards for the Trojans, with one
touchdown and one interception.
After falling behind 21-7 early in the third quarter, the
Trojans closed the gap on John Wall's 25-yard field goal with 4:53
left in the quarter, then pulled within four on Palmer's 7-yard TD
pass to Antoine Harris 2:19 into the fourth.
But the Ducks' defense stiffened, and, after stopping the
Trojans on fourth down at the USC 25 in the closing minutes, Oregon
padded the lead on Harrington's 18-yard pass to Justin Peelle.
The Ducks had built their 21-7 lead on Harrington's third
touchdown pass, a 13-yarder to LaCorey Collins. Josh Rogers set up
the score when USC punt returner Kris Richard fumbled a punt and
Rogers recovered at the Trojans' 7.
The Ducks pulled ahead early in the second quarter on
Harrington's 23-yard touchdown pass to Josh Line. Howry caught a
31-yard pass and Peelle a 22-yarder in the 77-yard scoring march
for a 14-7 lead.
After McCullough's TD run gave USC a quick 7-0 lead, the Ducks
came back with a sustained drive to tie it.
Harrington wrapped up the 13-yard, 79-yard march with a shovel
pass to Morris on third-and-goal from the 8. Morris took the pitch
2 yards behind the line of scrimmage and had a clear path up the
middle to the end zone.
The Ducks missed another scoring chance in the second quarter,
when Howry caught a Harrington pass and ran down to the USC 1, but
fumbled through the end zone for a touchback.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Oregon Clubhouse
USC Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Maurice Morris takes the shovel-pass from Joey Harrington and rumbles into the end zone.
avi: 1180 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Sultan McCullough slices through the Oregon defense 59 yards for a TD.
avi: 883 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Joey Harrington lays it in nicely for Josh Line on a 23-yard TD pass.
avi: 1189 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Kareem Kelly lays out to haul in the Carson Palmer bomb.
avi: 1163 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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