Washington State University Athletics
Washington State University
USC
Cougars Drop The Trojans, 33-27
November 11, 2000 | Football
Nov. 11, 2000
LOS ANGELES - Matt Kegel threw for 242 yards and a touchdown in his first start as Washington State beat USC 33-27 Saturday night in a game between the Pacific-10 Conference's worst teams.
Kegel, the cousin of former Cougars quarterback Ryan Leaf, completed just 12 of 32 passes but connected on an 88-yard TD pass in filling in for Jason Gesser, who broke his leg last week against Oregon.
Washington State scored first and led the rest of the way, with USC getting a touchdown on the final play of the game to make it close at the end.
The Cougars scored one TD on a blocked punt and another on a fumble return, and the Trojans got one of their TDs on a fumble return.
By winning, Washington State (4-6, 2-5) dropped the Trojans (4-6, 1-6) into sole possession of last place.
The Trojans, who have lost six of their last seven, switched quarterbacks after being shut out in the first half. Mike Van Raaphorst, a fifth-year senior who has started 15 games, replaced Carson Palmer to start the second half and threw for three touchdowns, the last a 21-yarder to Keary Colbert as time expired.
The Trojans' other TD came on Zeke Moreno's 56-yard return of a fumble by Deon Burnett as USC closed to 26-14 early in the fourth quarter.
D.D. Acholonu scored for the Cougars on a 35-yard fumble return, after Billy Newman sacked Van Raaphorst, to stretch their lead to 26-7 early in the fourth quarter.
A 30-yard scoring pass from Van Raaphorst to Steve Stevenson narrowed the gap to 26-20 with 4:28 remaining, but the Cougars' Dave Minnich scored an insurance touchdown on a 2-yard run with 1:42 remaining - and the pad proved just enough.
After the Trojans pulled within 12-7 in the third quarter, Kegel answered with his long touchdown pass. Marcus Williams caught the long throw in stride just beyond midfield and was off to the end zone for a 19-7 lead.
Van Raaphorst had not played in 13 games dating back to last year. He completed 17 of 28 for 234 yards, but was sacked five times. Palmer was 12 of 26 for 145 yards, with one interception, before being benched at halftime.
The Cougars scored their second touchdown on the punt block. With Mike MacGillivray punting from his own 31, James Price broke though to swat the kick down and Jeremy Thielbahr chased the bouncing ball and covered it in the end zone. A run for the two-point conversion failed.
The Cougars cashed in on Chris Martin's interception of a Palmer pass to take a 6-0 lead earlier in the second quarter. After Martin outfought USC receiver Kareem Kelly for the ball at the USC 47, Washington State took over on the Trojans' 35.
Miilton Wynn sprinted around the right side on a reverse for a 25-yard touchdown, but Anousith Wilaikul's PAT kick was blocked by the Trojans' Sultan Abdul-Malik.
In the second quarter, Kelly caught a short pass from Palmer and ran 7 yards to the Washington State 2, but Kelly fumbled at the end of the play and the ball bounced into and out of the end zone for a touchback.
By KEN PETERS
AP Sports Writer
