http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=333200030
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70 - Final
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352 - Final4STAN
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203 - Final
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436 - Final
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289 - Final17UCF
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3610 - Final
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4811 - Final
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3012 - Final
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2013 - Final
22IND
WIS3
5114 - Final23MIA
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4815 - Final
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CLEM31
5517 - Final
13WASH
UCLA31
4118
Final
Coverage: ABC
8:00 PM ET, November 16, 2013
Los Angeles Coliseum, LOS ANGELES, CA
Top Performers
Passing: C. Kessler (USC) - 288 YDS, 1 TD
Rushing: T. Gaffney (STAN) - 24 CAR, 158 YDS, 2 TD
Receiving: N. Agholor (USC) - 8 REC, 104 YDS
USC stuns No. 4 Stanford on Andre Heidari FG with 19 seconds left
USC Upsets No. 4 Stanford
SportsCenter Highlight of the Night: Cody Kessler led USC down the field to set up a game-winning field goal and help the Trojans beat No. 4 Stanford 20-17.Tags: USC, Stanford, Cody Kessler, Kevin Hogan,Andre Heidari, Highlight of the Night, SportsCenter
LOS ANGELES -- The Coliseum stands emptied in waves that flowed onto the field after Stanford's final fumble.
Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defense that wouldn't break.
USC's surge for Ed Orgeron had just swallowed up No. 4 Stanford's national title hopes.
Andre Heidari kicked a 47-yard field goal with 19 seconds to play, and a stalwart defense repeatedly came up big in USC's 20-17 upset of the Cardinal on Saturday night.
Markazi: Orgeron Is Only Choice
Ed Orgeron has improbably turned USC around and almost as improbably earned the right to be the team's head coach, Arash Markazi writes. Story
• Bonagura: Oregon big Pac-12 winner
Cody Kessler passed for 288 yards as the revitalized Trojans (8-3, 5-2 Pac-12) earned their fifth win in six games under the irrepressible Orgeron, who replaced the fired Lane Kiffin in late September. Orgeron immediately returned fun to a dour program -- and wins have followed, none bigger than this streak-snapping win over powerful Stanford.
"In our tight-knit family, there was a belief that we were going to find a way to win the game,'' Orgeron said. "I'm proud of our young men. This is something that they've wanted for a long time now.''
USC's remarkable defensive performance included two fourth-quarter interceptions and a season-low 17 points from the Cardinal (8-2, 6-2), who followed up last week's win over Oregon by getting knocked out of the BCS title chase and maybe the Rose Bowl race as well.
Heidari nearly lost his job twice this season, and he missed an extra point in the first quarter. But the junior coolly nailed the tiebreaking field goal -- and then got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for running the length of the field to celebrate it.
"They all said, 'We know you got this. You do it every day in practice,''' Heidari said of his teammates. "They believed in me.''
Moments later, thousands of USC fans flooded the field.
Stanford had won in its last three trips to the Coliseum, including a triple-overtime thriller two years ago, and its last four meetings with USC overall.
Unlucky No. 4
After losing to USC on Saturday night, Stanford has now lost its past three games when it was ranked No. 4 in the BCS.
Stanford as No. 4 in BCS, Past 3 Games
| Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Sat. | USC | Lost |
| 2011 | No. 3 Oklahoma St. | Lost |
| 2011 | No. 7 Oregon | Lost |
Soma Vainuku caught an early TD pass andJavorius Allen rushed for a score for USC, which played 38 straight scoreless minutes until Heidari's kick. Nelson Agholor had eight catches for 104 yards, while Marqise Lee had six catches for 83 yards -- and both receivers made big plays on USC's final drive.
"I don't know if I pulled them together,'' Orgeron said. "I think they just came together. The leadership of this program is really coming to the forefront.''
Tyler Gaffney rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns for Stanford, which had won three straight while closing in on the chance to host the Pac-12 title game for the second straight year. Kevin Hogan went 14 of 25 for 127 yards, but the Cardinal couldn't regain the lead after trailing 17-10 at half, despite repeatedly getting close.
"I think this is the first time anyone on this team has lost to them,'' Gaffney said. "It's a tough thing to swallow.''
Stanford tied it with Gaffney's 18-yard TD run on the first drive of the third quarter, but couldn't score on six drives in the final 23 minutes, managing just 88 yards -- 75 on a single drive ending in Dion Bailey's interception. USC's offense also struggled throughout the second half, but the Trojans' sanctions-depleted defense kept it close despite using just two substitutes for most of the night.
"They're a good team, and they got healthy at the wrong time for us,'' Stanford coach David Shaw said. "In the second half, we did a heck of a job defensively. We just didn't make enough plays on offensively. That's not going to win on the road in this conference.''
Bailey intercepted Hogan's third-down pass at the USC 6 with about 10½ minutes to play, killing what seemed certain to be Stanford's go-ahead drive. Su'a Cravens then intercepted a tipped pass at the USC 44 with 3 minutes to play, giving another chance to the Trojans' offense.
After Lee caught a 13-yard slant pass over midfield on fourth-and-2, the Trojans reached the Stanford 21 before two straight yardage-losing plays pushed them back to the 30 -- and Heidari still nailed his kick.
"This is definitely the most electrifying game I've been a part of in the four years I've been here,'' Bailey said.
[+] Enlarge
Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
Trojans QB Cody Kessler celebrates Andre Heidari's game-winning field goal against Stanford on Saturday night.
USC hadn't beaten a ranked opponent since 2011, but the Trojans have played with ever-increasing fire and confidence for Orgeron, the longtime defensive line coach whose raw enthusiasm has worn off on the program. Orgeron wasn't thought to be a serious candidate for the Trojans' full-time job when he took over for Kiffin, but his players are pushing his name deeper into the discussion with each victory.
"Obviously there's going to be some decisions made here after we play UCLA (on Nov. 30),'' Orgeron said. "That's out of my hands.''
Stanford betrayed a few nerves early. The Cardinal burned two timeouts and committed an illegal-snap penalty on the game's first drive, and Ty Montgomery dropped two passes in the opening minutes.
USC's opening drive was smooth, with Lee making a tiptoe sideline catch before Vainuku came out of the backfield for a play-action 1-yard TD catch just 6:13 in. Gaffney scored on a 35-yard run moments later when he popped out the back of a scrimmage pile and sprinted past the slumbering USC defense, but the Trojans answered with another long drive capped by Allen's 1-yard TD run and a 2-point conversion catch by Lee.
Kessler was outstanding in the pocket and on the run, completing 10 straight early passes before Heidari's first field goal put the Trojans up by 10 points early in the second quarter. Stanford added a field goal with 17 seconds left in the first half. After Gaffney capped a 92-yard drive after halftime with his TD run up the middle, Stanford forced a fumble by Kessler at the USC 19 _ but the Cardinal's field goal attempt was blocked.
Former Stanford lineman Jonathan Martin watched the game from the sideline in a backward Cardinal cap. Martin left the Miami Dolphins last month after accusations of bullying from teammates.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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Photo Wire
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 16: Wide receiver Marqise Lee #9 of the USC Trojans catches a pass for a two-point...
(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
Top 25 Overview
It was over when... The Trojans snuffed out the Cardinal's final drive after Andre Heidari's 47-yard field goal broke a 17-17 tie with 19 seconds left.
Gameball goes to... Trojans QB Cody Kessler. Kessler showed maturity while throwing for 288 yards and only one turnover to keep USC in the game.
Stat of the game... 17. Stanford was held by the rugged USC defense to its lowest score of the season. The Cardinal scored at least 21 in each game previous.
Team Stat Comparison
| 1st Downs | 18 | 18 |
| Total Yards | 337 | 311 |
| Passing | 127 | 288 |
| Rushing | 210 | 23 |
| Penalties | 6-70 | 4-45 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 4-12 | 4-14 |
| 4th Down Conversions | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 1 |
| Possession | 30:34 | 29:26 |
Receiving Leaders
| Stanford | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rector | 2 | 44 | 22.0 | 0 | 28 |
| Montgomery | 4 | 23 | 5.8 | 0 | 12 |
| USC | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LG |
| Agholor | 8 | 104 | 13.0 | 0 | 26 |
| Lee | 6 | 83 | 13.8 | 0 | 27 |
Scoring Summary
| FIRST QUARTER | STAN | USC | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | TD | 08:47 | Soma Vainuku 1 Yd Pass From Cody Kessler (Pat Failed) Watch Highlight  | 0 | 6 |
 | TD | 06:46 | Tyler Gaffney 35 Yd Run (Conrad Ukropina Kick) Watch Highlight | 7 | 6 |
| TD | 02:34 | Javorius Allen 1 Yd Run (Cody Kessler Pass To Marqise Lee For Two-Point Conversion) Watch Highlight | 7 | 14 |
| SECOND QUARTER | STAN | USC | |||
| FG | 09:05 | Andre Heidari 23 Yd Watch Highlight | 7 | 17 |
| FG | 00:17 | Conrad Ukropina 27 Yd Watch Highlight | 10 | 17 |
| THIRD QUARTER | STAN | USC | |||
| TD | 08:22 | Tyler Gaffney 18 Yd Run (Conrad Ukropina Kick) Watch Highlight | 17 | 17 |
| FOURTH QUARTER | STAN | USC | |||
| FG | 00:19 | Andre Heidari 47 Yd Watch Highlight | 17 | 20 |
Research Notes
USC's 8 first downs in the first quarter Saturday were more than Oregon had in the first HALF last week at Stanford (7).
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This is the first time USC has beaten a AP-ranked Stanford team since Oct. 25, 1986 (Stanford was No. 19).
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Stanford scored a touchdown on its first drive of the second half to tie the game at 17. In their six drives after tying the game, the Cardinal had more turnovers (3) than points scored (0).
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USC is looking to defeat a ranked opponent for the 1st time since it knocked off No. 4 Oregon on Nov. 19, 2011. That Oregon team had just won an emotional Top-10 matchup the week before facing USC (No. 6 Oregon def. No. 3 Stanford on Nov. 12, 2011). Like 2011 Oregon, AP No. 5 Stanford -- USC's opponent on Saturday -- won an emotional Top-10 matchup last week (Then No. 6 Stanford def. No. 3 Oregon on Nov. 7).
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Stanford's Tyler Gaffney had a school-record 45 carries in last week's win over Oregon recent history suggests he can bounce back. The last three FBS players with at least 45 carries in a game rushed for more than 150 yards in his next game that season.
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ESPN Stats & Information
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