 "Photo: Joel Zink | Daily Trojan")
In just four hours, USC quarterback Mark Sanchez made his first collegiate start, threw his first interception, experienced his first fourth quarter deficit, tossed his first touchdown and, ultimately, walked away with his first win.
It was almost too much to digest for the redshirt sophomore.
In light of all the commotion, Sanchez turned to doing what he does best: embracing the situation.
He ran over to the southwest corner of the Coliseum and jumped into the stands, pulled up by the Thundering Herd who, for the moment, had found a new hero.
"I don't think it's hit me yet," Sanchez said. "That's exactly how [the game] feels: A blur of Arizona helmets, a blur of USC helmets, and it was over."
Up until halftime, the game had unfolded more like a slow motion disappointment for Sanchez. Going into the break, he had only completed 8 of 16 passes for 56 yards and two critical interceptions.
"It was ugly. It was a mess," Sanchez said of his first half performance. "Your first start, you throw a couple of picks - it's easy to get down."
But a USC team that had been beaten down all week, and was facing the prospect of back-to-back home losses for the first time since 2001, wouldn't let its quarterback hang his head.
"I made sure he was aware that the defense was playing really good," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "If we have to punt the football, it's OK. I kept dropping those [thoughts] on him to make sure he wasn't pressing too hard and trying too hard to do something."
Quarterback John David Booty transitioned from team leader to coach by encouraging Sanchez at every turn.
"John David was in my ear the whole game," Sanchez said. "Loving me up, making sure things are going well, asking if I'm seeing things OK, asking if my bell's a little rung."
Sanchez minimized mistakes in the third quarter, completing 6 of 10 passes, but couldn't provide the spark USC needed, as the team fell behind 13-10.
But with just under 11 minutes to go in the game, Sanchez made the throw that instantly rid the fans' consciousness of any previous wrongdoing.
Immediately after a 45-yard Joe McKnight punt return gave the Coliseum crowd something to roar about, Sanchez gave tight end Fred Davis the ball he dreams about.
"I knew it was a linebacker [covering me], so I'm going to beat him," Davis said of what he saw before the play. "I thought, 'Please hope the ball comes, because I'm going to score."
"[The pass] was right over his head, right into my hands - so it was perfect to me."
Sanchez put the team ahead with the first touchdown pass of his career and kept it ahead with a series of wild scrambles and quarterback sneaks for first downs.
Perhaps the defining moment of the game came on a third-and-7 with less than two minutes to go.
Sanchez dropped back to pass, found no open receivers, and decided to run for it.
He bounced off one tackler, collided head-on with Arizona safety Nate Ness and somehow still found a way to stretch for the first down, slamming the ball authoritatively on the ground in the process.
"Instinctive," Sanchez said of the decision to run. "I don't know where those crazy legs came from. I probably looked like a running fool."
Carroll partly agreed with this assessment, joking about Sanchez's arms flailing around as he scrambled.
"Ridiculous," Carroll said of Sanchez's unorthodox path to a first down. "I'm gonna kill him for the way the ball was flying all over the place … The exciting thing was he was able to make big plays."
And that - making big plays - is ultimately what fans will remember about Sanchez's first start.
He pulled out the magic when he needed to and looked like the classic example of the guy who will never quit.
"Effort-wise [I give my performance] a 10," Sanchez said. "I came to play. I wanted to make sure this offense felt me and understood that if there's any problem at the quarterback position, I can play."
And considering Carroll's statement that Booty "won't be healthy" by next week, it appears Sanchez will get at least one more chance to run around and have some fun.
