USC-Washington live blog

Today’s game kicks off at 5:00 on the West Coast.  All updates will be timestamped with game time. Be sure to check out our Twitter feed for instant info at www.twitter.com/dailytrojan

End of Game. Washington 32-31.

Eric Folk nails a 32 yard field goal as time expires. Game over.

2:39 4th quarter. USC 31-29.

MISSED FIELD GOAL USC. On a drive where USC was content to run the ball (Bradford’s up to 223 yards on 23 carries), Houston missed a 40-yard field goal that clinked off the right post. Barkley missed a wide open Jordan Cameron on 3rd down where the ball went off his hands. Washington now has the ball and just needs a field goal to win. I’m going down to the field so check out twitter for the up to date info.

10:00 4th quarter. USC 31-29.

FIELD GOAL USC! The track meet continues here at the Coliseum as Bradford added another 37 yards to his rushing total (184 now) with one carry. Joe Houston put the Trojans in the lead with a 27-yard field goal one play after a pass from Barkley went off David Ausberry’s finger tips coming out of a slant route  in the end zone. It was refreshing to see Kiffin put his trust in Houston, as the senior kicker is now 2-for-5 on field goal attempts.

In other news, Locker appears to be okay. He’s back in the game at QB.

13:52 4th quarter. Washington 29-28.

It’s a close one, and it just got more interesting. Locker led the Huskies down to the one yard line only to get knocked out of the game on a carry in what looked like a knee to the head. Unfortunately for the Trojans, redshirt freshman Keith Price from Compton came in and tossed a one-yard touchdown to the back of the end zone on his first throw. He stayed in for the 2 point conversion but his pass was broken up. USC has no answer for Locker but his injury could change the dynamic of this game. Check out our twitter for updates.

End of 3rd quarter. USC 28-23.

It’s the end of the 3rd quarter here at the Coliseum and Washington is threatening to score. Locker is continuing his dominance, despite the recent spike in play by USC’s defensive line, and is looking dangerous as Washington has 2nd-and-10 from the 11 yard line. Locker’s got 93 rushing yards and 286 passing yards, giving him 379 of his team’s 430 yards of offense- or 88 percent. That’s Denard Robinson numbers. One quarter separating USC with a possible undefeated clash with Stanford (depending on what happens with this Oregon game) next week in Palo Alto.

4:44 3rd quarter. USC 28-23.

TOUCHDOWN USC! Allen Bradford finds a hole on the left side of the line to go untouched for a 16-yard score.

The Trojans avoided trouble after Marc Tyler fumbled the ball on his own 37-yard line, and after getting the ball back on a punt, Bradford took over from there. The senior carried the ball on four out of five plays on that drive for 50 yards as he’s just imposing his will out there. On one play, he purposefully ran at a Washington player in the open field in the hopes to run him over (he succeeded but got tackled in the process). Bradford now has 150 yards- a career high- on 13 carries and 2 touchdowns. Something tells me Tyler won’t be seeing the field the rest of this game.

Meanwhile on the defensive end, the line is starting to play well. Armond Armstead recorded the first sack for USC this evening on the previous drive and DaJohn Harris tackled running back Jesse Callier for a loss of 8 on this current drive.

9:54 3rd quarter Washington 23-21.

FIELD GOAL Washington. The Huskies get on the board first in the 2nd half, as they take the opening drive 62 yards in 11 plays resulting in a 35 yard field goal by Eric Folk. Washington was aided by a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Shareece Wright that was a questionable call. It looks like the defense has picked up on some of Locker’s tendencies but this has the makings of a shootout. Offense has to respond.

Halftime. USC 21-20.

It’s halftime here at the Coliseum and it’s turning out to be a great game. After the Trojans’ touchdown, Washington drove down the field to knock in a 41-yard field goal to bring the game within one.

Washington has been all about Jake Locker this half. He’s showing why he was a preseason Heisman favorite, albeit against a USC secondary that only has one starter older than a sophomore. The Huskies QB is shredding USC with his arm, he’s 14-for-20 for 200 yards and a score, and with his feet, he has 5 carries for 77 yards. USC has having a hard time tackling but forced a key turnover with the fumble at the goalline.

The Trojans offense is having better luck. Kiffin has broken out the wildcat for this game, using it mostly with Tyler but sometimes with Baxter, but he’s using it a bit too much. The Trojans did score on a wildcat formation but it’s been largely ineffective. Bradford, meanwhile, is having a beast of a game, running for 100 yards on just 9 carries and that 37-yard score. If the Trojans want to pull away, or even win, they are going to have to get more creative with the wildcat or just hand the ball off and tire the Huskies defensive line. The USC defense also needs to start tackling and getting tighter coverage.

2:35 2nd quarter. USC 21-17.

TOUCHDOWN USC! Just when it looked like Washington was driving down the field for another touchdown, USC answered with several big plays. Firstly, on the second play of Washington’s drive, Locker took a direct snap to sprint up the middle and outrun just about everyone in USC’s secondary, but was chased down by Shareece Wright who punched the ball out of Locker’s hands. The ball went out of bounds after entering the end-zone causing a touchback for the Trojans.

USC then used a multitude of runs (including many out of the wildcat) to roll down the field. Bradford had several big carries- he’s now got 9 carries for 100 yards- and Tyler scored on a six-yard run out of the wildcat formation. Kiffin used the wildcat twice in a row on the goal-to-go downs and on the second time it worked. Washington will try to mount a drive to score as the half winds down.

9:08 2nd quarter. Washington 17-14.

TOUCHDOWN USC! For the 2nd time this season, freshman Robert Woods rescues the Trojans with an electric tackle-breaking, switchback 56 yard kickoff return to the Washington 38. 5 plays later, Marc Tyler took the handoff and rumbled 4 yards to the right side for the score. It looked like Barkley audibled on that play and it worked as he was pumped after the score. Coliseum starting to come alive again.

11:57 2nd quarter. Washington 17-7.

TOUCHDOWN Washington. If the Coliseum wasn’t quiet before the game (it’s only 2/3 full even though it’s parents weekend) it is now. After a disastrous drive that saw USC run the wildcat on 2nd and 16, the Trojans punt it and on the next play, Locker throws the ball 44 yards to wide open receiver Devin Aguilar streaking downfield into the end zone for a touchdown. Aguilar got behind Torin Harris and the rest of the secondary for the score.

TOUCHDOWN Washington. The Huskies methodically move down the field with a 12-play, 80-yard drive to take the lead. Locker led the attack with his feet and his arm, but it was running back Chris Polk who bullied his way into the end-zone on a one-yard carry. The offensive line really overpowered USC’s defensive line on that play. Locker is looking sharp, as he’s 8-for-12 for 106 yards and has 3 runs for 18 yards. The defense hasn’t been able to get much pressure on him yet.

End of 1st quarter. USC 7-3.

Not much happening in this quarter. Apparently Lane Kiffin found a new love (other than Layla of course) as he has moved on from his affair with the two-point conversions and gone to the wildcat. USC ran the wildcat 4 or 5 times with Marc Tyler, and it’s worked with mediocre success. tyler’s running mate, Bradford, is using his power and speed to put an imprint on this game as he has 4 carries for 63 yards.

USC’s defense is looking very shaky. The Trojans are making Jake Locker look real good. Washington could be leading if it weren’t for a few errant passes near the end zone by Locker. The tackling really needs to improve this quarter as well.

11:32 1st quarter. USC 7-0

TOUCHDOWN USC! The Trojans got the ball first and wasted little time putting points on the board. On his first carry of the day, senior running back Allen Bradford raced 37 yards up the middle for the touchdown. USC broke out the wildcat twice on the first drive for the first time this year. Many people thought freshman running back  Dillon Baxter would handle wildcat duties because he was a quarterback in high school, but it was junior Marc Tyler to took the direct snap both times and ran for 15 yards. We’ll see if the defense can contain Washington’s dual threat QB Jake Locker.

Hey guys! Kenny Legan here. About 15 minutes to kickoff as we get set for the USC-Washington battle. The Trojans are looking to avenge last season’s early loss while the Huskies are out to prove they are better then their showing at Nebraska two weeks ago. A lot of recent history between these two teams, with Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian was co-offensive coordinator with USC head coach Lane Kiffin earlier this decade under Pete Carroll. Should be a good game.