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Nov. 9, 1996
Stanford Knocks Off USC, 24-20
Greg Comella's two-yard run late in the third quarter put Stanford ahead to stay and Damon Dunn scored on a 93-yard kickoff 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 second time in 14 meetings. The Trojans still lead the all-time series, 51-21-3.
Brad Otton threw a pair of touchdown passes for Southern California, which has lost three of its last four games and fell to 5-5, 3-4. The Trojans must win at least one of their final two games against traditional rivals UCLA and Notre Dame to be eligible for a bowl game.
Comella's touchdown with 1:54 left in the third quarter capped a 65-yard drive and gave Stanford a 21-20 lead. Kevin Miller added a 32-yard field goal with 32 seconds to go in the fourth and safety Tim Smith intercepted Otton in the end zone as time expired to seal the win.
Otton was 23-for-47 for 277 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He hit Jay Soward for a 33-yard score early in the first quarter, then found Chris Miller for a four-yard TD toss in the second as USC built a 20-7 halftime lead.
Mitchell, who had 22 carries, started the Stanford comeback with a four-yard run early in the third quarter. Chad Hutchinson completed 20-of-35 passes for 166 yards and an interception for the Cardinal.
1 2 3 4 T
USC 10 10 0 0 - 20
Stanford 7 0 14 3 - 24 FINAL
Scoring 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 SU
First Downs 22 18
Rushing Yards 68 195
Passing Yards 277 166
Total Yards 345 361
Fumbles/Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties/Yards 7-72 10-97
Sacks by/Yards 2-11 1-9
3rd Down Eff. 8-18 6-17
Time of Poss. 29:46 30:14
Individual Leaders
Rushing
(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 Quarter
STA - Bookman 16-yard scamper to Stanford 28
USC - Otton 21-yard pass to Miller to Stanford 32
USC - Woods 17-yard carry to Stanford 15
STA - 35-yard kickoff return by Evans to Stanford 46
USC - Otton 23-yard pass to Soward to Stanford 11
2nd Quarter
STA - Evans 31-yard kickoff return to Stanford 42
STA - Bookman 16-yard run up the middle to USC 27
STA - Miller misses 36-yard FG attempt
USC - Otton 18-yard pass to Bastianelli to USC 45
3rd Quarter
STA - Hutchinson 13-yard pass to Dunn to USC 44
STA - Mitchell 44-yard run to USC 4
STA - Wong sacks Otton for 10-yard loss to USC 40
STA - Pruitt intercepts Otton pass to Stanford 35
STA - Hutchinson 10-yard pass to Dunn to 50
STA - Hutchinson 13-yard pass to Walters to USC 37
STA - Hutchinson 22-yard pass to Kirwan to USC 10
4th Quarter
STA - Mitchell 52-yard run to USC 12
STA - Miller misses 29-yard FG attempt
STA - Swanson intercepts Otton's pass to USC 27
Attendance: 41,980