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| Southern California interim coach Clay Helton celebrates with wide receiver Nelson Agholor (15) after Agholor's 17-yard touchdown reception was ruled good against Fresno State in the second quarter of the Royal Purple Bowl NCAA college football game, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013 in Las Vegas. |
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Southern California wrapped up its rocky season by rolling over Fresno State in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Cody
Kessler passed for 344 yards and a bowl-record four touchdowns in the
Trojans' 45-20 victory over the 21st-ranked Bulldogs on Saturday under
Clay Helton, their third head coach in less than three months.
Marqise
Lee and Nelson Agholor had two touchdown catches apiece, Javorius Allen
rushed two more scores, and the Trojans (10-4) answered every question
about their motivation by dancing on the sideline while routing a BCS
contender for the storied program's first postseason victory since 2009.
Derek
Carr passed for just 217 yards and two TDs in his final game at Fresno
State (11-2), which fell behind 35-6 at halftime and failed to secure
the first 12-win season in school history.
From
Kessler's smooth offense to a dynamic defensive effort against Fresno
State's FBS-best passing game, USC was uniformly outstanding in its only
game under Helton.
The offensive coordinator
filled the one-game gap between coaches Ed Orgeron and Steve Sarkisian
on the Trojans' coaching carousel, but USC picked up right where Orgeron
left off after its desultory start to the season under Lane Kiffin.
Kessler
even outdid Carr, his fellow Bakersfield native and friend, setting the
Las Vegas Bowl record for TD passes before halftime and finishing 22
for 30. USC scored three touchdowns in a nine-minute burst in the second
quarter, and Allen clinched it with his second TD run with 4:44 to
play.
The Trojans even put on a show off the
Strip: The entire USC bench twice bounced onto the field during
spontaneous group dances after touchdowns, displaying the excitement and
confidence so common during the Trojans' halcyon years under Pete
Carroll.
Carr, the nation's leader in yards
passing and total offense, became the fourth player in NCAA history to
surpass 5,000 yards passing and 50 TD passes during the game. But Carr
leaves Fresno State without a bowl victory, never getting the Bulldogs
moving against one of the nation's best pass defenses.
Fresno
State's two TD catches by Isaiah Burse and Davante Adams both came on
short drives resulting from USC mistakes on special teams, and Derron
Smith returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown in the opening
minute of the fourth quarter.
The Mountain West champions still haven't won a bowl game since 2007, losing six of their last seven.
Lee
had seven catches for 118 yards in likely the final game at USC for the
Biletnikoff Award-winning receiver. The junior is expected to head to
the NFL after putting a pleasant finish on a crazy season in Los
Angeles.
Kiffin was fired in late September,
and Orgeron revived the program with a 6-2 finish to the regular season
before resigning in anger when USC hired Sarkisian for the full-time
job. Sarkisian watched the bowl game with athletic director Pat Haden in
a box above the sellout crowd at Sam Boyd Stadium.
After
the teams traded touchdowns on their opening drives, the Trojans
blocked Fresno State's extra point attempt - and it started a deluge.
Agholor
caught TD passes of 40 and 17 yards for the Trojans' next two scores.
Allen made a 24-yard TD run through bad tackling midway through the
second quarter, and Lee turned a short pass into a 40-yard TD with 37
seconds left in the half.
Kessler threw for
243 yards and set the Las Vegas Bowl single-game record for TD passes in
the first half alone, but USC's defense perhaps was even more
spectacular against the nation's top passing offense.
Carr
went 30 for 54 under constant pressure from the blitzing Trojans, who
eliminated Fresno State's running game and twice stopped the Bulldogs on
fourth downs in the first half.
