Washington State Cougars vs USC Trojans Match Player Stats On Sep 07, 2013

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 8, 2013

Washington State 10, No. 22 USC 7: Damante Horton returned an interception for a touchdown in the first half and then sealed the contest with another pick as the Cougars stunned the host Trojans in the Pac-12 Conference opener for both teams.

Andrew Furney booted a 41-yard field goal to provide the difference for Washington State (1-1), which snapped an eight-game losing streak against USC and ended a string of 15 straight home-opening wins for the Trojans. Connor Halliday was 26-for-38 for 215 yards for the Cougars.

USC (1-1) was led by running back Tre Madden with 151 yards on 32 carries but otherwise the Trojans' offense was anemic. Cody Kessler accounted for the Trojans' only score in the first half, taking a bootleg around the end for a 4-yard touchdown to give USC a 7-0 lead. The sophomore, locked in a quarterback duel with Max Wittek, was set on directing a conservative attack until he missed badly on a deep attempt and Horton returned it 70 yards for a touchdown with 27 seconds left in the half.

The angry crowd let the heavily favored Trojans hear it entering the locker room with the score tied at 7. USC coach Lane Kiffin turned to Wittek in the second half and he was equally unimpressive. Kessler finished 8-for-13 for 41 yards while Wittek was 3-for-8 for just 13 yards and was intercepted on USC's final drive by Horton on a poorly thrown pass with 2:18 left.

The Trojans played without star tailback Silas Redd, who missed his second straight game with a knee injury. They also missed a pair of potential go-ahead field goals in the third quarter.

GAME NOTEBOOK: USC announced on Twitter that Redd would not dress just before game time. ... USC didn't convert a third down until there was five minutes left in the third quarter. The Trojans had just 73 yards of offense in the first half. ... With the score tied at 7, USC's Andrei Heidari failed on two field goal attempts. His first, from 32 yards out, was blocked and he missed from 43 yards out.