 "Photo: GREG BLOBAUM")
LOS ANGELES - It was a night of big plays for Southern California and missed opportunities for Nebraska.
The 19th-ranked Cornhuskers fell to No. 2 USC 28-10 in front of 92,000 in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, thanks in part to a stifling Trojan defense that rendered useless the running game NU worked so hard to establish in its first two games.
The first two Nebraska drives of Saturday's game were signs of things to come.
On the first drive, Nebraska went three-and-out after sophomore I-back Marlon Lucky rushed two times for a combined eight yards and senior quarterback Zac Taylor threw an incomplete pass to junior wide receiver Terrence Nunn.
On the second series, the Huskers parlayed a successful fake punt into a first down at the Trojan 36, but a false start penalty and two-yard loss by Brandon Jackson ended the scoring threat.
"Our guys competed hard against one of the best teams in the country," NU Coach Bill Callahan said, "but when you compete against teams like this, the margin for error is minute. We had critical penalties and mistakes."
Probably the most crucial error of the game happened early in the third quarter.
With Nebraska down 14-3, Taylor tried handing the ball off to Lucky. The ball instead found the grass and was recovered by USC cornerback Cary Harris at the Huskers' 31-yard line.
"It was a miscommunication," Lucky said.
Four plays later, Booty connected with Dwayne Jarrett on a five-yard TD pass to give the Trojans a 21-3 lead with 12 minutes, 5 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The drive also seemed to extinguish any hopes the Huskers had of upsetting the No. 2 team in the nation.
"That's how it goes sometimes, but it's a shame," NU Offensive Coordinator Jay Norvell said. "We've worked so hard to take care of the football and ball security, so to give them an easy ball like that on a short field, it just hurt our momentum in the second half."
Nebraska got on the scoreboard first Saturday when sophomore Jordan Congdon kicked a 38-yard field goal to give the Huskers a 3-0 lead with 3:23 left in the first.
That lead lasted briefly. Booty connected with Jarrett on a 12-yard touchdown pass on the last play of the first quarter, and USC never trailed again.
Jarrett finished the game with 11 receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns. With his second touchdown, the junior broke the USC school record for touchdowns in a career. Jarrett's 31 TD catches are just one shy of the Pac-10 Conference record.
Callahan said the Huskers tried to mix defensive coverage to contain Jarrett, but the All-American still managed to control the game.
"He's an outstanding receiver," Callahan said. "That's why he's a Heisman Trophy candidate. When you watch this guy play, he's a monster."
Booty's other favorite target Saturday was wideout Steve Smith, who had six catches for 53 yards and one touchdown.
"We've got to get back to the drawing board on Monday and get better," Husker junior cornerback Cortney Grixby said. "They were hitting on all cylinders, and we weren't."
Norvell said turnovers, inopportune penalties and missed opportunities were the Huskers' undoing.
"When you play the No. 2 team in the nation, you just can't make the mistakes we did," Norvell said. "It's really that simple."
