EUGENE, Ore. - Oregon defensive back Matthew Harper could sense it. Southern California was trailing by touchdown and on the march in the final moments.
The home fans were on their feet, urging the Ducks to make the one last play they needed to take down the kings of the Pacific-10.
Harper was confident. "We knew somebody would make the play, and luckily it was me," he said.
Harper's interception on USC's final drive preserved a 24-17 victory and put Oregon on the short list of national title contenders.
As for Southern California, just defending its Pac-10 title could be a long shot at this point.
Jonathan Stewart ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns and Dennis Dixon completed 16 of 25passes for 157 yards for Oregon (7-1, 4-1), which was fifth in the BCS standings this week. Dixon, who's starting to get some serious Heisman hype, also ran for 76 yards and a touchdown.
The Ducks, who came into the game ranked second nationally in total offense, managed only 339 yards - more than 200 below their average - against the Trojans' third-ranked defense. But it was turnovers, including a fumble recovery and a pair of interceptions, that gave Oregon the advantage over Southern California (6-2, 3-2).
USC came into the season ranked No. 1 and a heavy favorite to play for a national title. Now the No. 12 Trojans will need lots of help to gain even a share of the Pac-10 crown they've won at least a part of for five consecutive seasons.
"They have been top dogs," Stewart said. "But this is a different year."
Is it ever. USC was an underdog coming into this game, the first time since 2001 the Trojans weren't favored against a Pac-10team.
Mark Sanchez, making his third start for the Trojans in place of the injured John David Booty, completed 26 of 41 passes for 277 yards and 2 touchdowns, but the misfires hurt.
Trailing 24-10 with 4:44 left in the game, Sanchez narrowed the gap with a 14-yard touchdown pass to David Ausberry.
Sanchez led the Trojans to the Oregon 33 on their final drive, but he was intercepted by Harper - his second interception of the quarter.
"They walked down the field on us, and we knew we couldn't let them do it again," defensive end Nick Reed said. "Then Harper made a big play."
After the interception, fans rushed onto the field, and even Dixon appeared headed to the locker room. But there were still9 seconds on the clock, so the celebration was delayed while they cleared the field and played the game out.
"If you look at this game, turnovers were the story for us," USC Coach Pete Carroll said."In the second half when you have to play right and do things right, we gave them a couple easy shots and they took advantage and played a very good football game."
It was the first time in Autzen Stadium's 41-year history that two top-10 teams played. The game drew a stadium record of 59,277 fans, including former Ducks Joey Harrington, now with the Atlanta Falcons, and Haloti Ngata, who is with the Baltimore Ravens.
Dixon faked a handoff to Stewart and ran 2 yards for a touchdown to put the Ducks up 7-0 with 2:50 to go in the first quarter. It was Dixon's eighth consecutive game with a rushing TD, but his first without a passing score.
USC's David Buehler kicked a 30-yard field goal to narrow the gap, but Matt Evensen added a 41-yard field goal for the Ducks to put Oregon up 10-3 at halftime.
Sanchez hit Patrick Turner with a 9-yard touchdown pass early in the second half to tie it at 10.
Oregon capitalized on a turnover to go ahead 17-10. Defensive end Will Tukuafu stripped the ball from Trojans fullback Stanley Havili on the USC 16 and recovered the fumble. Two plays later, Stewart ran 16 yards for the score.
In another Pac-10 game, Willie Tuitama passed for a school-record 510 yards, and his 27-yard touchdown pass to Mike Thomas with 2:02 left rallied Arizona for a stunning 48-41victory over Washington in Seattle. Tuitama directed the Wildcats 80 yards in 11 plays, capping the decisive drive with a pass to Thomas in the back of the end zone. Arizona (3-6, 2-4) scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to ruin an outstanding performance by Washington quarterback Jake Locker. The Huskies (2-6, 0-5) led 41-26 with 12:32 left. ... Dwight Tardy rushed for a career-best 214 yards and two touchdowns as Washington State upset UCLA 27-7 in Pullman, Wash., spoiling the Bruins' bid to stay atop the Pacific-10 standings.Washington State (3-5, 1-4) used a bye week after a humiliating 53-7 loss at Oregon on Oct. 13 to figure out how to defend against UCLA (5-3, 4-1), which suffered its first conference loss. ... Sean Canfield threw for 142 yards and Alexis Serna kicked three field goals to lead Oregon State to a 23-6 victory over Stanford in Corvallis, Ore. Matthew Sieverson ran for 68 yards after replacing injured tailback Yvenson Bernard for the Beavers (5-3, 3-2). Freshman Tavita Pritchard completed 16 of 32 passes for 168 yards for the Cardinal (3-5, 2-4).
Sports, Pages 43 on 10/28/2007