Trojans cruise to win

PASADENA, Calif. --- Southern California made a strong case of its own to be No. 1.

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Associated Press

Southern California running back C.J. Gable (center) scored on a 20-yard pass from Mark Sanchez (not pictured) in the second quarter, helping the Trojans build a 24-point lead at halftime.

JoePa certainly recognized what a talented team the Trojans were -- and that was before they beat up Penn State in the Rose Bowl.

Mark Sanchez passed for 413 yards and four touchdowns, Southern Cal dominated on defense and the fifth-ranked Trojans defeated the No. 6 Nittany Lions 38-24 on Thursday.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno watched from the press box, where he's been for most of the season because of hip problems. He couldn't have liked what he saw -- at one point in the first half, the TV camera caught him shaking his head as Southern Cal (12-1) rolled to a 31-7 lead.

Out of the BCS championship mix, the Trojans could only wonder what might have been had they not lost at Oregon State 27-21 on Sept. 25.

What was thought to be a weak Pac-10 hurt the Trojans' chances to reach the national championship game in Miami -- where Florida and Oklahoma will play next week. But the Pac-10 finished the postseason 5-0.

"With all due respect, those are two great programs, I don't think anybody can beat the Trojans," Southcrn Cal coach Pete Carroll said. "I just think we can beat anyone we played. That's happened a lot to us late in the season. This is a terrific finishing program. There are so many things we can do. We're just hard to beat right now."

Southern Cal scored four touchdowns and a field goal on five consecutive first-half possessions for its 24-point halftime lead against a team that allowed only 12.4 points per game during the regular season.

With the No. 1 defense in the nation, there was no way the Trojans would blow that kind of lead.

The Trojans finished with 27 first downs and 474 yards of total offense. Their 31 first-half points were the most they've scored in any of their record 33 Rose Bowl games. They spent most of the second half working the clock while their defense held Penn State in check until the fourth quarter.

The Nittany Lions (11-2) scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to make the final score respectable, but they fell far short of their 40.2-point average. Penn State gained 410 yards on offense.

"I don't want to take anything away from Southern Cal, because they played a heck of a football game and their quarterback played a great game," Paterno said. "They certainly deserved to win it, but I'm a little disappointed that we weren't a little bit more competitive. And a lot of that was because we made so many mistakes in the first half."