USC quarterback John David Booty suffered a fracture to the middle finger of his throwing hand in the second quarter of the game Saturday. Booty sustained the injury when he hit his finger on a helmet.
The prognosis after the game was that the injury would not require surgery and would not hamper Booty's ability to play the remainder of the season.
"Oh, I'm playing. I don't know what we're about to do to it or what the doctor's plan is," he said.
He made it clear that he did not think the injury affected his performance on the field.
"I felt like I could still play with it, so that's what I did," he said.
Despite his confidence and the green light given by Carroll, all four of Booty's interceptions came after he suffered the injury, with two in the third quarter and two in the fourth quarter.
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Senior Hershel Dennis saw his first significant playing time since the 2004 season against the Cardinal.
Dennis, who has suffered multiple season-ending knee injuries in his time at USC, has been with the team since the 2002 season.
His 19-yard carry on first down with 9:31 remaining in the third quarter pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark for his career.
Dennis finished the night with seven carries for 36 yards, putting him at 1,016 yards for his career.
Afterward, Dennis couldn't help but find the night bittersweet.
"It's not how I wanted my opportunity, [my] debut to turn out," he said. "It happens sometimes. Stuff happens in football, especially in the Pac-10. There's a lot of good teams.
"Of course I wanted to go out there and run for 200 yards and win the game, but things don't turn out that way."
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The Trojans' special teams unit has had its share of struggles this season, and they finally took center stage in Saturday's loss.
Junior kicker David Buehler had an extra point blocked after the 1-yard touchdown run by Chauncey Washington in the second quarter.
Carroll said that the block was something the coaches could have seen coming.
"I'll tell you this: It did happen in practice this week," Carroll said. "It's classic. We got one blocked. [USC linebacker] Clay Matthews got one on us."
The block highlighted a string of problems for Buehler dating back to USC's Sept. 22 victory over Washington State.
In that game Buehler missed a extra point attempt late in the third quarter following an Allen Bradford touchdown. The following week against Washington, Buehler failed to connect on a 33-yard field goal attempt - his longest kick of the season stands at 36 yards.
The unit's problems, however, have extended beyond placekicking. Against the Huskies, punter Greg Woidneck had a punt blocked late in the fourth quarter that led to a Washington touchdown.
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A bright spot for USC was the play of senior defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, who recorded six tackles, three of them sacks for a total of 18 yards lost.
Ellis, despite his exceptional personal performance, was quick to take the blame for the loss."I take full responsibility," Ellis said, who went on to describe the role he believes the defense needs to be playing.
"It's our job to give the offense the ball as many times as they need it. We have to work harder on creating turnovers."
Ellis had a total of 14 tackles heading into Saturday's game - eight solo and six assisted.
