SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A fumble saved USC's season.
A fumble by its Heisman-winning quarterback.
A fumble after one of the dumbest decisions of this or any season.
|
|
| Here comes Reggie Bush to nudge Matt Leinart into the end zone. (AP) |
A fumble that went out of bounds and saved everything -- the now 28-game winning streak, the No. 1 ranking, a shot at a third consecutive national championship.
Please remember in January that it was Matt Leinart's fumble that saved the season. Not Reggie Bush and his three touchdowns. Not Dwayne Jarrett and his 61-yard catch and run on fourth-and-8.
None of those. On a field made of shamrocks, USC shockingly, fortunately, lucked out.
"They were looking down from above," said Leinart, who apparently worships multiple supreme beings. "That's all that matters."
Let's set up how USC won 34-31 in an instant classic it should have lost:
First and goal from the Notre Dame 2. Twenty-seconds left. USC trailing 31-28. No timeouts. Leinart rolls out, decides to scramble, and is hit inches before he reaches the goal line by linebacker Corey Mays. The ball pops loose and out of bounds.
Those three words are the key. Leinart's decision was monumentally bad because the one thing he can't do is get tackled shy of the end zone.
"I'm just glad the time didn't run out on us," receiver Steve Smith said. "He was supposed to throw that one."
Football 101 says that scrambling in that situation is not an option with the clock running and no timeouts left. Ah, but there was another unexpected, fortuitous option.
