USC won its conference opener in convincing fashion against the Cougars, 50-16. Stanley Havili lead the way, putting on a show with two touchdowns and 187 all-purpose yards.

Washington State started off strong, moving the ball down the field with relative ease scoring a touchdown on a trick play. USC has had bad luck in the last two conference openers on the road against underdog opponents. Was this game any different? It was enough for Trojan fans to worry of another conference opener letdown… for 5 minutes.

USC responded immediately, scoring on its first play of the drive. On the Cougars’ subsequent possession, true freshman cornerback Nickell Robey scored on a pick-6 (one of his two interceptions), intercepting Cougar quarterback Jeff Tuel’s first pass of that drive. Before you knew it, the Trojans were up 21-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Cougars scored one more touchdown cutting the lead to 8, 21-13, but the Men of Troy never looked back.

Up 28-13 at halftime, USC went on a 22-3 run in the second half. The defense showed improvement from the first half, allowing no touchdowns and just a field goal. They forced the Cougars to be one-dimensional by stifling their running game, which also hurt their passing game.

Also worth mentioning is Mitch Mustain entering the game and throwing his first touchdown pass of the season and his third career touchdown pass as a Trojan. And how about him scoring on a two-point conversion attempt? Good stuff right there.

Although there are much bigger fish to fry, USC coaches and fans alike should be happy that the team had a complete game, dominating in all aspects. Winning was not enough in the first four games, which is why there was a bittersweet feeling after the first three wins. Winning with style and leaving no doubt was far more important. USC did just that against Washington State.