Folk A Hero As Washington Stuns USC

Sports Betting News - September 20th, 2009 - Written by John

USC head coach Pete Carroll couldn't get to Steve Sarkisian. Not even a glimpse.
There were too many fans swarming the field.

Seconds earlier, Washington's Erik Folk stole the headlines when he knocked through a 22-yard field goal with three seconds left to spurn the no. 3-ranked USC, 16-13, and a sea of purple engulfed the field within seconds.

"It's unbelievable," Sarkisian told ESPN on the field. "It's a great moment for our program and hopefully sends a message of where we're headed."

"I can't really describe it," a teary Jake Locker said, after being on a team that went 0-12 last year. "It's an amazing feeling to go through what all of us have gone through and to experience what everyone wants to experience when they play college football."

Carroll, who hired Sarkisian as an assistant at USC in 2001, eventually found his mentor after the game and spoke about his program-changing win.

"A lot of people might think I didn't try but I couldn't," said Carroll. "But I found him in the tunnel afterwards to congratulate him. This is a fantastic accomplishment for this program and now that this is over, I'm proud of him."

For many people it was a question more about when than if. USC has stumbled at least once in the regular season recently, including losses to unranked UCLA, Stanford and Oregon State in the previous three years. The Trojans couldn't muster enough offense to break the trend, throwing for only 110 yards, the fewest since Carroll took over the program in '01.

"Washington wasn't the better team. They just outplayed us," said Joe McKnight on ESPN.com. "Clearly, we have superior athletes. But hard work beats athleticism any day."

He had his team's only touchdown and ran for 100 yards on 11 carries. But he couldn't pick up the yards when USC needed them most. The Trojans were 0-for-10 on third downs and had three turnovers inside Washington's 35-yard line. It was a staggering stat, considering BetUS labeled the Huskies as 20-point underdogs heading in.

But with three minutes left, the game was locked at 13-apiece and Washington was driving. Locker hit Jermaine Kearse for 21 yards on 3rd-and-15. He then connected with Kearse once again with a minute left to take the Huskies down to the 16. The rocking stadium watched Washington run one more play before setting up Folks game-winner.

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