Modern-day David only 5-foot-7: Just ask USC
Posted: Friday, September 26, 2008 1:35 PM
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Now we know that David was most likely 5-foot-7 and a sturdy 193 pounds. That would be just like his modern-day embodiment, Jacquizz Rodgers, who led Oregon State’s shocking slaying of Pete Carroll’s Goliath here, just around the corner from nowhere, on Thursday night.
A true freshman in just his fourth collegiate game, Rodgers rushed for 186 yards on a whopping 37 carries, the majority of which saw him rip right through the heart of top-ranked Southern California in a decisive 27-21 victory.
For the record, Goliath stands 23-feet, 10-inches tall. He weighs 840 pounds and has four heads. Just like the quartet starting at tailback for the Trojans.
Yes, so impossibly stacked at the position, USC does indeed list four starters on their official depth chart.
Of course, only one can take the field for the first snap and on this night the chosen one was celebrated sophomore Joe McKnight, who finished with 10 rushing yards on seven carries. He also caught passes and returned punts, but will be remembered -- if at all -- for losing one of his two fumbles.
The rest of the Trojans running game didn’t fare much better, netting only 76 additional yards on 15 carries.
Rodgers, on the other hand, placed himself at No. 16 on Oregon State’s all-time single-game rushing list and (perhaps more impressive) at No. 12 on USC’s opponent’s list.
“He was OK for a freshman,” joked Beavers coach Mike Riley, after escaping the postgame pandemonium at Reser Stadium. “He’ll learn and get better.”
Rodgers knew that this was going to happen. Days before the nationally televised game, he predicted that he was going to “put on a show.” From start to finish, Rodgers backed up his words with a rugged running style not usually permitted by USC, even from much larger backs.
“It was my chance to show what I’ve got,” said Rogers, who rushed for 2,902 yards and 43 touchdowns last season for Lamar Consolidated High School in Richmond, Texas. “I just have to continue to work hard and get better every day.”
If he gets any better, USC will have its hands full three more times.
Carroll, who now has as much experience with championship performances as he does with terrible tumbles, couldn’t explain specifically how Rodgers made the vaunted Trojan defense look helpless.
“Our inability to stop their zone (running) play ...” said Carroll, shaking his head and unable to finish his sentence. “I’m just beside myself. They didn’t hide what they were doing. They just did it and we couldn’t stop it. We couldn’t tackle. They played better than us and harder than us.”
Rodgers did break a lot of tackles, but that first contact usually occurred a few yards downfield. To see the Trojan defensive line get pushed around was startling. Perhaps the only ones not surprised were the Beaver offensive linemen, who were physically and verbally prepared.
“We worked hard all week,” senior left guard Adam Speer said. “We’ve never been yelled at that much by (offensive line coach Mike) Cavanaugh. We got up to the second level a lot and ‘Quizz’ just ran his butt off, finding those cutback lanes.”
The man at the top, Riley also deserves a ton of credit. He masterfully used the 11 days that he had to prep for this game, creating the proper mindset for his Beavers.
“We were respectful, but not in awe,” said Riley, who has now won two of his last three games against USC. “I am just so proud of our players. Every game is about competing and competition and they came out and played.”
Perhaps the only way to explain why mighty Goliath fell so hard from so high a perch is that he wasn’t respectful. But he sure left this tiny town in awe, especially of a 5-foot-7 David that he’ll not soon forget.
