 "Photo: Joel Zink | Daily Trojan")
SEATTLE - After stopping Washington's offense on fourth down with 2:29 left in the game, junior linebacker Rey Maualuga bounded to the sidelines, pumping his chest.
Maualuga was one of only a few Trojans who walked away feeling like they contributed to the team's win.
When everything else seemingly went wrong for USC, the three men in the middle did everything right - standing tall amid a team that appeared more poised to give the game away than take it for itself.
"I think we rose to the occasion," senior linebacker Keith Rivers said.
For Rivers and Thomas Williams, Saturday's game was their last against Washington. It's not out of the question that it also could have been Maualuga's final game against the Huskies.
"[The linebackers] got together, put our arms around each other and said, 'This is the last time we're gonna play Washington, [man up] and play for each other,'" Maualuga said. "I'll play my best for them, and I know they'll play for me."
After it was all said and done, the linebackers had amassed a combined 22 tackles (two for loss) and one crucial interception.
During the Huskies opening drive, Williams intercepted quarterback Jake Locker's pass on 2nd-and-7 from USC's 8-yard line - stalling an offense that appeared determined to jump on the Trojans early.
"I dropped back underneath one of the receivers, and [Locker] threw it right to me," Williams said.
But no matter how many times the linebackers gave the ball back to the offense, the responsibility to keep USC ahead fell back on them.
After Williams' takeaway, quarterback John David Booty threw his own interception eight plays later.
At halftime, the Trojans were clinging to a 3-point lead after amassing eight penalties for a total of 75 yards and turning the ball over three times.
During the break, the linebackers huddled and laid down a precedent for the remainder of the game.
"There's something that clicked," said Maualuga, who had a game-high 10 tackles. "We locked hands and told each other, 'We gotta go out there and stop them ourselves. The offense can't score so we just gotta go out there and make turnovers and make plays.'"
With 9:11 remaining in the third quarter, after kicker David Buehler had missed a 33-yard field goal, the defense gathered in the middle of the field and jumped up and down to psych itself up.
Three out of the next four Washington drives were stalled no more than four plays after they started. Save for the final touchdown - the result of a blocked punt - the defense held the Huskies to three points and only 66 second-half yards.
"We're the heart of this team," Rivers said.
"When it came down to it, we did what we had to do."
Locker, the source of much praise from Carroll throughout the week, was neutralized by the linebackers' speed.
He finished the day with 50 yards on 18 carries. Both his total rushing yards and rushing average (2.8 yards per carry) were by far his lowest of the season.
Taking away the mobile quarterback's ability to run - something the Trojans have had trouble with in the past - was a key to preserving the victory.
"I don't really think [Locker] was a factor," Williams said. "We got to him early on tonight."
Carroll echoed Williams' sentiment: "Jake's banged up a little bit. You can see it - he's hobbling a bit out there and it took a bit of the edge off of him."
Carroll said the team's success against Locker was about the only thing USC did right.
USC's secondary committed two pass interference penalties on the same drive and added two personal fouls to its laundry list of mistakes. The defensive line sacked Locker only once and likely dodged greater criticism thanks to the redshirt freshman's penchant for overthrowing receivers.
The offense rolled up 460 yards but committed numerous false start and holding penalties in addition to the turnover problem.
The 27-24 final score was indicative of a game that could have gone either way.
"We had a good locker room [session after the game]," Carroll said. "We understand we just survived."
Maualuga's take on the game was similar to Carroll's.
"It came down to the last yard," he said. "This game was all about inches."
Thanks to USC's linebacking crew, the team found itself on the right side of the stick.
