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Cardinals trounce Trojans

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The Associated Press

Published: November 15, 2009

LOS ANGELES - Toby Gerhart rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns and No. 25 Stanford emphatically followed up its 2007 upset at the Coliseum by beating No. 11 Southern California on Saturday 55-21, the most points ever allowed by the Trojans.

The loss was the Trojans' worst since a 51-0 defeat at home against Notre Dame in 1966 and essentially ended USC's seven-year run as Pac-10 champions.

Andrew Luck threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score for the Cardinal (7-3, 6-2 Pac-10), who followed up their surprising rout of Oregon last week with a strong start and a big finish at the Coliseum, where the Trojans (7-3, 4-3) haven't lost to any other opponent since 2001, going 47-2.

Richard Sherman returned an interception 42 yards for a score with 11:41 to play, part of a 27-point fourth quarter for the Cardinal.

For the second time in three weeks, Coach Pete Carroll endured the worst defeat of his nine seasons at USC.

Stanford's 24-23 victory as a 41-point underdog in 2007 was a major shocker, yet this win barely even qualified as an upset - which might be the most incredible thing of all about the Trojans' downward slide.

Luck soundly outplayed fellow freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, while Gerhart steamrolled the once-vaunted USC defense in another huge game for his Heisman Trophy hopes. Stanford piled it on late, scoring four touchdowns in the fourth quarter after leading 28-21 entering the period.

NO. 2 TEXAS 47,

BAYLOR 14

WACO, Texas - Colt McCoy tied the NCAA record for career victories by a starting quarterback, throwing two touchdown passes in Texas' win.

McCoy is 42-7 in his career, tying the wins record set by former Georgia QB David Greene.

Texas (10-0, 6-0 Big 12) reached 10 wins for the ninth straight season, second only to Florida State's run of 14 consecutive 10-win seasons from 1987-2000.

NO. 4 TCU 55,

NO. 16 UTAH 28

FORT WORTH, Texas - In likely its last significant hurdle to an undefeated regular season, TCU scored three touchdowns in a 2 1/2 -minute span early in the second quarter to beat Utah.

The Horned Frogs (10-0, 6-0 Mountain West) stretched their winning streak to 12 games since a last-minute loss last November at Utah (8-2, 5-1), which had won 22 of 23. TCU also has won 13 in a row at home since losing when the Utes last visited two years ago.

NO. 6 BOISE STATE 63,

IDAHO 25

BOISE, Idaho - Kellen Moore threw four touchdown passes to Austin Pettis and tied a career high with five overall, in Boise State's rout.

Titus Young had a 100-yard kickoff return and Kyle Wilson returned an interception 71 yards for another score for the big-play Broncos (10-0, 5-0 WAC), who beat their rivals for the 11th consecutive time.

CALIFORNIA 24,

NO. 18 ARIZONA 16

BERKELEY, Calif. - Shane Vereen scored on a 61-yard run after an odd penalty thwarted a potential go-ahead drive for Arizona and California went on to a victory without star running back Jahvid Best.

Giorgio Tavecchio kicked four field goals, giving Cal (7-3, 4-3) an 18-16 lead with a 22-yarder with 4:46 remaining. But Arizona wasn't done.

After Tavecchio made a key tackle on the ensuing kickoff, the Wildcats (6-3, 4-2) drove the ball down to the Cal 25. On third-and-3, Nick Foles' pass was batted at the line. Foles caught the ricochet and tried to throw it again. That was a penalty for an illegal forward pass and the ball moved back to the 39 and Arizona lost the down. Foles threw an incompletion on the next play.

Vereen then ran it in on the next play.

NO. 22 BYU 24,

NEW MEXICO 19

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Max Hall passed for two touchdowns and got his 29th win at BYU to match Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer's school record, and the Cougars (8-2, 5-1 Mountain West) survived a sloppy fourth quarter to beat New Mexico (0-10, 0-6).

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