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Nov. 9, 1996
Stanford Knocks Off USC, 24-20
Greg Comella's two-yard run late in the third quarter putStanford ahead to stay and Damon Dunn scored on a 93-yardkickoff return as the Cardinal defeated Southern California,24-20, in a Pac-10 Conference battle.
Mike Mitchell rushed for 147 yards and a touchdown for Stanford,(4-5, 3-3 Pac-10), which beat USC at home for just the secondtime in 14 meetings. The Trojans still lead the all-timeseries, 51-21-3.
Brad Otton threw a pair of touchdown passes for SouthernCalifornia, which has lost three of its last four games and fellto 5-5, 3-4. The Trojans must win at least one of their finaltwo games against traditional rivals UCLA and Notre Dame to beeligible for a bowl game.
Comella's touchdown with 1:54 left in the third quarter capped a65-yard drive and gave Stanford a 21-20 lead. Kevin Milleradded a 32-yard field goal with 32 seconds to go in the fourthand safety Tim Smith intercepted Otton in the end zone as timeexpired to seal the win.
Otton was 23-for-47 for 277 yards with two touchdowns and threeinterceptions. He hit Jay Soward for a 33-yard score early inthe first quarter, then found Chris Miller for a four-yard TDtoss in the second as USC built a 20-7 halftime lead.
Mitchell, who had 22 carries, started the Stanford comeback witha four-yard run early in the third quarter. Chad Hutchinsoncompleted 20-of-35 passes for 166 yards and an interception forthe Cardinal.
1 2 3 4 TUSC 10 10 0 0 - 20 Stanford 7 0 14 3 - 24 FINALScoring Summary:USC - TD - 9:40 left in the 1st quarter Otton 37-yard pass to Soward (Abrams kick good) (52 yards, 6 plays, 1:57 elapsed time) STA - TD - 9:26 left in the 1st quarter Dunn 93-yard kickoff return (Miller kick good) (93 yards, 1 play) USC - FG - 6:53 left in the 1st quarter Wren 27-yard kick (43 yards, 7 plays, 2:33 elapsed time) USC - TD - 14:56 left in the 2nd quarter Otton 4-yard pass to Miller (Abrams kick good) (64 yards, 11 plays, 4:54 elapsed time) USC - FG - 3:01 left in the 2nd quarter Abrams 27-yard kick (70 yards, 14 plays, 5:28 elapsed time) STA - TD - 12:27 left in the 3rd quarter Mitchell 4-yard run (Miller kick good) (8 yards, 70 plays, 2:33 elapsed time) STA - TD - 1:54 left in the 3rd quarter Comella 2-yard run (Miller kick good) (65 yards, 10 plays, 4:23 elapsed time) STA - FG - 0:32 left in the 4th quarter Miller 32-yard kick (12 yards, 6 plays, 1:35 elapsed time) Team Statistics USC SUFirst Downs 22 18Rushing Yards 68 195Passing Yards 277 166Total Yards 345 361Fumbles/Lost 0-0 1-0Penalties/Yards 7-72 10-97Sacks by/Yards 2-11 1-93rd Down Eff. 8-18 6-17Time of Poss. 29:46 30:14Individual LeadersRushing(attempts-yards-touchdowns)USC - L. Woods (13-49-0), Walters (5-24-0), Sermons (3-10-0), Washington (7-(-2)-0), Otton (2-(-11)-0)Stanford - Mitchell (22-147-1), Bookman (7-48-0), Comella (4-13-1), Ritchie (1-0-0), Hutchinson (3-(-13)-0)Receiving(receptions-yards-touchdowns)USC - C. Miller (7-71-1), Bastianelli (5-53-0), Soward (4-77-1), Sermons (3-36-0), L. Woods (2-32-0), Parker (1-5-0), Hall (1-3-0)Stanford - Walters (5-38-0), Manning (5-37-0), Kirwan (3-46-0), Dunn (2-23-0), Clark (2-17-0), Salina (1-6-0), Comella (1-2-0), Bookman (1-(-3)-0)Passing(attempts-completions-interceptions-yards-touchdowns)USC - Otton (47-23-3-277-2)Stanford - Hutchinson (35-20-1-166-0)Punting(number-average-long)USC - Wren (6-43.2-51)Stanford - Miller (4-40.8-47) Highlights:1st QuarterSTA - Bookman 16-yard scamper to Stanford 28USC - Otton 21-yard pass to Miller to Stanford 32USC - Woods 17-yard carry to Stanford 15STA - 35-yard kickoff return by Evans to Stanford 46USC - Otton 23-yard pass to Soward to Stanford 112nd QuarterSTA - Evans 31-yard kickoff return to Stanford 42STA - Bookman 16-yard run up the middle to USC 27STA - Miller misses 36-yard FG attemptUSC - Otton 18-yard pass to Bastianelli to USC 453rd QuarterSTA - Hutchinson 13-yard pass to Dunn to USC 44STA - Mitchell 44-yard run to USC 4STA - Wong sacks Otton for 10-yard loss to USC 40STA - Pruitt intercepts Otton pass to Stanford 35STA - Hutchinson 10-yard pass to Dunn to 50STA - Hutchinson 13-yard pass to Walters to USC 37STA - Hutchinson 22-yard pass to Kirwan to USC 104th QuarterSTA - Mitchell 52-yard run to USC 12STA - Miller misses 29-yard FG attemptSTA - Swanson intercepts Otton's pass to USC 27Attendance: 41,980