Sept. 18, 1999
By KEN PETERS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Southern Cal dominated its opener and was expected to repeat that performance against San Diego State.
But the 17th-ranked Trojans, favored by 23 points, were taken to the wire in edging San Diego State 24-21 Saturday.
"We thought it would be an easy one, it wasn't," said Carson Palmer, who threw two touchdown passes to help USC avoid being upset.
Trojans coach Paul Hackett wasn't pleased with many aspects of his team's spotty performance.
"We dodged a bullet and found out that we have to play every week like it's our last game," he said. "We wanted to play a close game. This took it to the extreme."
The Trojans (2-0), off last week after their season-opening 62-7 rout of Hawaii, were up 17-0 late in the first half before San Diego State (1-2) came back.
Aztecs coach Ted Tollner, who coached the Trojans for four years before being fired in 1986, was happy with San Diego State's play.
"We saw a lot more positives today," he said. "The thing that sticks in my mind is the great courage from our guys. The physical part of the game, we stayed with them."
Jermaine Watkins returned an interception off Palmer 62 yards for a touchdown with 4:24 remaining to put the Aztecs within three points.
But after holding USC on the next series, the Aztecs gave the ball up on downs when Jack Hawley threw an incompletion on fourth-and-6 at the USC 44. The Trojans then ran out the clock and San Diego State lost its 26 straight non-conference road game dating back to 1981.
Palmer, who led the Trojans on an impressive scoring drive after the opening kickoff, engineered another march to put them up 24-14 early in the final quarter.
The sophomore quarterback threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Kareem Kelly with 10:16 left in the game, capping a 93-yard drive.
Palmer finished 16-of-24 for 188 yards, with two interceptions.
"We came out on fire then let up as a team after that," Palmer said. "They played well defensively and we didn't really expect that."
Hawley completed 16-of-32 for 170 yards and one touchdown. He threw four interceptions, with Kris Richard picking off two and returning one for a TD.
"This is my worst game," Hawley said. "I can't do much worse than this."
After scoring on a Hail Mary pass on the final play of the first half, San Diego State drove 65 yards to another touchdown on its first possession in the third quarter, capped by Larry Ned's scoring run on third-and-3.
As time ran out in the half, Hawley threw a 45-yard pass and Derrick Lewis timed his leap perfectly in front of two Trojans defenders. Lewis came down with the ball at the 1, twisted around and just got the ball over the goal line.
Following its impressive opening drive, USC made it 17-0 on David Newbury's 26-yard field goal and Richard's 51-yard interception return.
The Aztecs' defense kept them in the game, including stopping the Trojans after USC drove to a first-and-goal at the 3. The Aztecs stopped four consecutive running plays from there.
Palmer was 6-of-6 to six receivers on the Trojans' opening drive, including a 31-yarder to Kelly to the Aztecs' 45.