It wasn’t always pretty, and the dynamic, high-scoring USC of old seems to be a distant memory, but the tenth-ranked Trojans (5-1, 3-1) managed a 20-13 victory over the Arizona Wildcats (2-5, 1-3) on Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum, recovering from a 13-10 fourth-quarter deficit and rebounding from a painful upset loss to Stanford last week. After 11 straight quarters of lackluster play, USC finally appeared to wake up and show some emotion, determination, and grit late in Saturday’s game, with the momentum–and perhaps the season–seemingly turning around when freshman Joe McKnight returned a punt 45 yards to set up the go-ahead touchdown. While the Trojans are happy to have the victory, it did come with a price: even more injuries to crucial starters. We catch you up on the latest injury developments and recap the game’s stats and storylines:

Storylines

• We’re not sure if it was intentional misdirection, or a last-minute change-of-heart, but when Pete Carroll announced this week that Hershel Dennis would be the primary backup to starting tailback Chauncey Washington in today’s game, he didn’t seem to mean it. Dennis barely played, and McKnight served as the primary backup to Washington, with the freshman almost single-handedly turning the game around for USC with two key fourth-quarter plays: a 45-yard punt return, and a 59-yard run. McKnight finished with a career-high 75 yards on 13 carries. Washington didn’t put up great numbers (17 carries for just 54 yards), but he had a nice 18-yard touchdown run in the first half.
• USC’s patchwork offensive line –which lost even more bodies on Saturday (see below)–had another mostly unimpressive performance, with the Trojan quarterback frequently forced out of the pocket and the running backs unable to do much on the ground other than the two highlights mentioned above. However, the line did seem to perform somewhat better than they did last week.
• QB Mark Sanchez, making his first career start in place of the injured John David Booty, started strong, had a very poor middle of the game (throwing two interceptions), and finished better, throwing a nice touchdown pass to a wide-open Fred Davis and showing his determination (and mobility) on a fourth-quarter scramble for a first down. He finished with decent, but not terrible, numbers: 19-31, 130 yards, 2 interceptions, 1 touchdown.
• The Trojan defense had another nice game, completely shutting down the Wildcat running game (Arizona ran for just 22 yards), giving QB Willie Tuitama no opportunities to complete long (or even mid-range) passes, and coming up with three takeaways. They also limited the Wildcats to converting just three of 15 third down tries. And unlike last week, the defense appeared to play stronger and tougher at the end of the game.
• Those takeaways mean that the Trojans finished with a +1 turnover margin. The team actually recovered four fumbles in total, including one recovered by WR Patrick Turner during an interception return by Arizona.
• Freshmen DE Everson Griffen had perhaps the best game of his young career, recording his first sack.
• On special teams, PK David Buehler made all four of his kicks (two field goals and two extra points), with nothing blocked. Punter Greg Woidneck did not have his best game, however, and looked even worse when compared against Arizona’s Keenyn Crier, who had an astounding 83-yard kick that was downed at the 1-yard line.
• USC played a much more disciplined game this week compared to the past two Saturdays, committing only five penalties.
• The Trojans’ 20-point total was their lowest score at the Coliseum since a 16-13 defeat of Oregon in 2001.

Injury update

• USC’s already-depleted offensive line took not one but two more hits on Saturday. All-American starting LT Sam Baker, who had tweaked his hamstring in practice this week, was forced to come out of the game after aggravating the injury early in the first quarter. And OG Zack Heberer, who was in the lineup as a replacement for injured starter Chilo Rachal, also was forced to leave the game early with a bruised shoulder and was seen afterward with his arm in a sling. The nature and severity of each player’s injuries is uncertain, so it is not yet known if they will miss additional games, although Heberer will have an MRI on Sunday to see if there was a tear (X-rays were negative, so at least there was no break). Alatini Malu, the other guard helping to replace Rachal (and Heberer), also has an injured hamstring, although he continued to play with the injury. And OT Butch Lewis, forced into action when Baker went down, also is suffering the effects of an ankle injury. Alex Parsons is the only remaining healthy backup offensive lineman.
• The Trojans also lost a starter on defense when LB Rey Maualuga was removed from the game with a hip pointer. His status for next week is not yet known. Luthur Brown–who was recovering from a shoulder injury–replaced him at MLB.
• Starting strong safety Kevin Ellison may have broken his nose during the game.
• As expected, RB Stafon Johnson (foot) was not available to play. He may return to practice this week.
• Matt Spanos got the nod at center, with Jeff Byers returning to his more familiar LG position (despite the fact that Byers practiced all week at center and Spanos has seven stitches in his finger).
• It is too early to tell if Booty will be able to play against Notre Dame, but after Saturday’s game, Carroll seemed to indicate that Sanchez will get the start for the second-straight week, and suggested that it could be up to three weeks before Booty is back at full strength. The injured quarterback actually tried throwing the ball Saturday morning, but the session didn’t go well.

More stats and articles on this game: TrojanUpdate’s Game Recap: USC-Arizona

USC uses McKnight’s 45-yard run to set up winning TD (AP via ESPN)
McKnight finally has his day (LA Times)
Plaschke: Near-misses are now the norm (LA Times)
Simers: It must be a good win if that’s what the coach says (LA Times)
Sanchez overcomes shaky start for USC (LA Times)
USC Report: Baker’s injury further depletes offensive line (LA Times)
No. 10 USC tops Arizona (OC Register)
USC tops Arizona in 20-13 win (Daily News)
Backup plan worked for Sanchez, USC (Daily News)
Coaches not optimistic for Booty (Daily News)
USC quarterback Sanchez keeps his cool (Daily News)
USC rallies past Arizona (Tucson Citizen)
Notes on a scorecard: Trojans edge Arizona (Rivals, $)