CHARLOTTESVILLE | Perhaps college football found a new No. 1 at Scott Stadium.
Dispelling any lingering questions about his health and abilities, Southern California quarterback Mark Sanchez conducted a clinic at Virginia’s expense Saturday, leading the third-ranked Trojans to a 52-7 demolition of the Cavaliers.
“Mark played awesome,” said USC tailback Joe McKnight after Sanchez completed 26 of 35 passes for a career-high 338 yards and three touchdowns. “I think he answered every possible question out there with that performance.”
The football public entered the game well aware of USC’s defensive prowess. Coach Pete Carroll’s squad returned seven starters from the crew that finished second in the nation last season in both scoring (16.0) and total defense. So when the Trojans forced four turnovers and limited Virginia to 187 yards of offense, few of the record 64,947 spectators could feign surprise.
But the USC offense was supposed to be somewhat shaky and unsettled, largely because of Sanchez. Though the redshirt junior made three starts last season in place of injured John David Booty, his results (a 2-1 record and 7-5 touchdown-interception ratio) proved somewhat forgettable by the lofty USC standards established recently by Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.
With Booty gone, Sanchez was expected to blossom during summer camp and cement himself as a Trojans stalwart. But Sanchez dislocated his kneecap Aug. 8 and missed virtually the rest of preseason practice.
However, any uncertainty about the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Mission Viejo, Calif., native vanished in short order. Sanchez connected on 15 of his first 17 passes and found nine different receivers as USC compiled 558 yards of offense.
“It feels really good,” said Sanchez, who tossed touchdown passes of 10, 20 and 49 yards. “I have so many playmakers around me that I don’t have to do anything too special. And I can’t say enough about my O-line. They gave me unreal protection. I don’t know if I’ll even turn in my jersey, because I barely got touched.”
The hardest shot Sanchez absorbed was somewhat self-inflicted. Sanchez jumped out in front of McKnight on one third-quarter run when the elusive sophomore reversed field. Though the Trojans led 38-7 at the time, Sanchez reacted immediately to McKnight’s cutback, leading his tailback around left end and hurling his frame at Virginia’s backside defensive end to spring McKnight for a 23-yard gain.
“That’s just me,” Sanchez said. “Coach Carroll wasn’t too happy about it, given score and situation. But I wasn’t going to let a teammate get blown up.”
That’s the same sort of team-first toughness that made Leinart, who guided USC to two straight national titles, beloved among his teammates. Leinart enjoyed a similar season-opening debut as the USC starter at Auburn in 2003. Perhaps college football witnessed on the beginning of USC’s Sanchez Era on Saturday.
The only question remaining concerning USC is whether the Trojans will be ranked No. 1 when No. 2 Ohio State (1-0) visits the Los Angeles Coliseum on Sept. 13 in the regular season’s marquee nonconference matchup.
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