Oct. 23, 1999
LOS ANGELES - Todd Husak threw for two touchdowns and ran for thego-ahead score Saturday as Stanford continued its surprising run atop thePac-10 standings with a wild 35-31 victory over Southern California.
In a game that featured 1,043 yards of combined offense, the Cardinal (5-2,5-0) finally sealed the victory when safety Tim Smith intercepted a pass byMike Van Raaphorst at the Stanford 7 as time ran out.
That game-saving interception also made moot a decision by Stanford coachTyrone Willingham to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Cardinal 45 with 2:08remaining after his punter had been inconsistent.
Husak was stopped cold on a quarterback sneak and USC took over for onefinal chance against Stanford's league-worst defense.
Van Raaphorst threw for a school-record 415 yards, completing 25-of-51 forthree TDs with three interceptions. Husak was 20-of-32 for 290 yards with threeinterceptions.
Brian Allen ran for 121 yards on 15 carries for the Cardinal. The Trojans'Chad Morton had 151 yards on 22 carries as USC (3-4, 1-3) rolled up 587 yardsof offense.
The Cardinal came back from an early 21-point deficit as USC blew asecond-half lead for the fourth time this year.
Stanford is off to its best start in the Pac-10 since 1970, when the teamwon its first six league games and went on to the conference title and a RoseBowl win over Ohio State.
Husak's 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter turned out to be the finalscore of what had been a freewheeling game.
Stanford reeled off three consecutive touchdowns in a spree that began justbefore halftime and continued in the early moments of the third quarter to givethe Cardinal its first lead, 28-24, with 12:49 left in the third.
USC, which had only a field goal since scoring three touchdowns in theopening quarter, finally got into the end zone again with 6:34 left in thethird quarter. Van Raaphorst hooked up with R. Jay Soward on a 64-yard passplay to put the Trojans back in front, 31-28.
Allen broke loose up the middle on a 68-yard run, down to the USC 11, tostart the Cardinal on its comeback. Coy Wire bulled into the end zone from the2 early in the second quarter to cut the Trojans' lead to 21-7.
After the teams exchanged missed field goals later in the quarter, DavidNewbury hit a 31-yard field goal to put USC up 24-7. But Husak, starting with56 seconds left in the half, quickly moved the Cardinal down the field,throwing a 23-yard TD pass to DeRonnie Pitts to end an 80-yard drive that tookjust 30 seconds off the clock.
Stanford's two quick scores in the third quarter came on a 16-yard pass fromHusak to Dave Davis and Chris Johnson's 30-yard interception return.
USC was virtually unstoppable the first three times it had the ball. TheTrojans chewed up yards and scored on Chad Morton's 1-yard run to cap an85-yard march. They later scored on an 8-yard pass from Van Raaphorst toWindrell Hayes after a 63-yard drive and on a pass play from Van Raaphorst toMarcell Allmond that covered 64 yards.
With the game just 12:10 old, Stanford already was down by three touchdownsand had given up 230 yards.
By KEN PETERS
AP Sports Writer