Did you ever have any doubt?
In a scene that has become all too familiar — yet never easy — the No. 6 Oregon Ducks (3-0 overall, 1-0 Pacific-10 Conference) pulled off another dramatic, come-from-behind win against Southern California on Saturday, 24-22.
Seemingly needing the pressure of the clock to lift his arm, senior quarterback Joey Harrington led the Ducks on a 61-yard, 40-second drive to set up freshman Jared Siegel’s game-winning 32-yard field goal with 12 seconds left.
“Jared is a picture of composure for a freshman,” Harrington said. “He’s a great kid, carries himself very well, and I can say this now, but I never doubted that he was going to make it.”
With 1:20 remaining, USC (1-2, 0-1) — and many of the 45,765 in attendance — acted as if the nation’s second-longest home winning streak was all but over. The Trojans’ Bobby DeMars, a 6-foot-4 defensive lineman, got a hand on Oregon backup kicker David Rosenberg’s 43-yard field goal attempt, sending a rejoicing USC offense back on the field and many bewildered fans out of Autzen Stadium.
The game, however, was far from over.
USC running back Sultan McCullough’s two carries netted just four yards, and after two Oregon timeouts, quarterback Carson Palmer threw a pass out of bounds to stop the clock at 1:11. Oregon’s Keenan Howry returned the ensuing USC punt to the Oregon 24, where Harrington would begin to wave his wand.
For 59 minutes, four seconds, Harrington looked like anything but a Heisman Trophy candidate. When it counted most, though, Harrington was at his best.
In the final drive, the senior quarterback completed 5-of-6 passes — including two to Howry — to bring the Ducks to the USC 15-yard line and give Siegel his moment of glory. The fourth-quarter comeback was the eighth of Harrington’s career.
“We knew when we got the ball back with [0:56], we knew we’d do it,” said senior tight end Justin Peelle, who had two touchdown catches. “I wish we could do it earlier and stop with this crap, but we’ll take it. We’ve just done it so many times and have that swagger, that confidence in ourselves.”
“I had a gang of confidence” (that we were going to win), sophomore tailback Onterrio Smith said. “I told the defense we needed one big stop at the end, and that’s what they did. And when the offense took the field, I looked in Joey’s eyes and saw how relaxed he was, so I knew it was going to be no problem going down there and getting one in.”
The Ducks did have problems keeping a lead, though. Harrington’s only touchdown pass of the day, a 21-yarder to Peelle, gave the Ducks a 21-6 lead early in the third quarter. From there, the USC offense exploded.

McCullough scored on a 75-yard screen pass from Palmer with 6:12 remaining in third, and on the first play of the fourth quarter, Palmer hit receiver Kareem Kelly for a 93-yard score, the longest offensive play in Autzen Stadium history.
Then, at the 10:36 mark in the fourth, David Davis hit a 39-yard field goal to put the Trojans ahead 22-21, where it would stand until the game’s final drive.
Despite the two big plays, Oregon’s defense played arguably its best game of the season, holding the Trojans to 40 total yards on the ground (on 32 carries). Defensive back Steve Smith, who struggled in the first two games of the season, had three interceptions, tying the Autzen record, one returned for a touchdown.
“I am still singing the praises about the defense,” head coach Mike Bellotti said. “We stopped the run, forced the pass and got the turnovers. I feel like we made a positive step today because I think we can take care of the mistakes that allowed the big touchdowns. We proved that we can stop a Pac-10 team running the ball.”
Oregon opened the scoring on a trick play in the first quarter. Onterrio Smith took a pitch and threw a perfect spiral to a wide-open Peelle for a 35-yard score.
Climbing back from two sub-par performances, Oregon tailback Maurice Morris rushed for 86 yards on 15 carries.
Before play began, however, a few words — and punches — were exchanged between the two clubs. With the USC marching band in the way, Trojan players took the field before the game by running through the Oregon players. Several Ducks took offense, including senior defensive back Rashad Bauman, who got into a pushing match with USC’s Antuan Simmons.
“The emotions were real high tonight,” Onterrio Smith said. “We were playing with a lot of heart.”
Adam Jude is the sports editor for the Oregon Daily Emerald.
He can be reached at [email protected].