USC 48, Arizona 41 (final)

It was a day for records but not for defenses.

USC quarterback Matt Barkley passed for a school-record 468 yards during the Trojans' 48-41 victory over Arizona on Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum, with receiver Robert Woods collecting 255 of them on the way to his career high.

The teams combined for a whopping 893 passing yards -- and 1,136 total -- and if it wasn't for two first-half interceptions by USC's T.J. McDonald, Arizona could have easily emerged with a victory.

Arizona quarterback Nick Foles completed 41 of 53 passes for 425 yards and four touchdowns and was outplayed by his counterpart; Barkley was that impressive. The USC junior completed 32 of 39 passes with four touchdowns and one interception.

The Wildcats actually rushed for 129 yards, 15 more than the Trojans. That's a stunning development considering Arizona had struggled mightily to move the ball on the ground before the game.

USC 48, Arizona 41 (1:00 left in fourth quarter)

Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Arizona momentarily made a game of it after Nick Foles connected with Austin Hill in the back of the end zone on a four-yard touchdown reception.

But the Wildcats couldn't recover the onside kick and USC will run out the clock.

The teams have combined for 893 yards, by the way. Where's a defensive coordinator when you need one?

USC 48, Arizona 34 (2:08 left in fourth quarter)

USC's defense got the stop it needed and now the Trojans are near midfield attempting to run out the clock.

It won't be a memorable day for the Trojans' defense. Besides safety T.J. McDonald's pair of first-half interceptions, Arizona has pretty much driven at will against USC.

USC 48, Arizona 34 (9:28 left in fourth quarter)

Matt Barkley now stands alone atop the USC single-game passing chart.

The junior broke Carson Palmer's record of 448 yards with a 25-yard completion to Brice Butler that gave Barkley 453 yards. Trojans running back Curtis McNeal then scored on a nine-yard touchdown run to restore USC's two-touchdown edge over pesky Arizona.

Barkley has completed 30 of 36 passes for four touchdowns with one interception. A stop by the USC defense would likely seal the outcome.

USC 41, Arizona 34 (11:09 left in fourth quarter)

It's shaping up as one of those games where whoever has the ball last is going to win.

Arizona continues to have its way with the USC defense on drives during which Nick Foles doesn't float a pass into the Trojans secondary. Foles just connected with Juron Criner on a 12-yard touchdown pass that has again made it a one-touchdown game.

The Wildcats defense has stopped USC only once and is going to need to come up with at least one more stand to help its team draw even.

UCS 41, Arizona 27 (14:39 left in fourth quarter)

The fourth quarter got off to a rousing start for USC, with quarterback Matt Barkley connecting with Marqise Lee on a 45-yard pass that gave the Trojans a first and goal at the Arizona one-yard line.

Officials initially ruled that Lee's leaping grab was a touchdown before reviewing the play and giving USC the ball at the one.

Barkley then plunged into the end zone on the next play to put the Trojans back in control. Barkley has completed 28 of 33 passes for a career-high 427 yards, the second-highest total in USC history.

USC 34, Arizona 27 (0:52 left in third quarter)

Arizona's offense kicked into high gear after its defense finally got a stop.

Brett Simpson is eliminated at Nike U.S. Open of Surfing

When the horn sounded, Brett Simpson pounded his fist against his surfboard. His time was up. He had become yet another local legend who failed to three-peat this year.

The two-time defending champion at the Nike U.S. Open of Surfing had placed third in his heat and was eliminated Wednesday at the Huntington Beach competition.

Simpson finished with 10.24 points, trailing first-place Thiago Camarao of Brazil (13.17) and second-place John John Florence of Hawaii (12.26). The top two finishers in each heat advance to the next round.

"I had opportunities, you know, I made a mistake on a decent wave that I was setting up good and I freaking barreled," Simpson said. "Out there right now, you don't get a ton of opportunities, and when you get them, you've got to make them count. I didn't do that."

X Games: Taddy Blazusiak wins Enduro X title

Taddy Blazusiak owned the course that claimed so many dirt bikes and their riders’ speed. Blazusiak may not have gotten off to the greatest of starts in the Moto X Enduro X race, but he moved up through the field and then capitalized on Geoff Aaron’s fall to take the lead and, soon thereafter, the gold medal.

Aaron held the lead for the first five laps, with Blazusiak and Mike Brown giving chase. Aaron got caught on a fallen tree with a pile of rocks after it, and the two chasers blew past him.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

The obstacle that ended Aaron’s medal hopes joined a water pit, tires, a pile of split lumber, log paths and a large mound of dirt in the Staples Center-altering course.

Brown could not quite catch Blazusiak, settling for silver. Justin Soule snagged the bronze medal, passing Joakim Ljunggren in the final lap.

RELATED:

Garrett Reynolds remains unbeaten in BMX Freestyle Street

Brian Deegan takes down the heavy hitters in RallyCross

Ryan Decenzo captures the S-K-8 gold medal

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo: Taddy Blazusiak celebrates after winning the Moto X Enduro X final on Sunday evening at X Games 17. Credit: Harry How / Getty Images

X Games: Garrett Reynolds makes it four BMX Street golds

When Garrett Reynolds gets on a BMX bike at the X Games, one thing seems to be for sure: He will win.

Reynolds claimed his fourth BMX Freestyle Street gold Sunday. Since it's only the fourth running of BMX Freestyle Street, he has claimed every gold medal since its beginning in 2008.

Reynolds was the only rider of the day to break 45 points, with a 47 in a qualifying run and two 46s in the finals. He bypassed a complete third run since he already had clinched the gold medal, and simply gave the fans a few thrills before accepting congratulations from his competitors.

For the second consecutive year, San Diegan Dennis Enarson finished second to Reynolds. Along with his silver medal in the BMX Freestyle Park competition Saturday, Enarson matched his haul from last year. Enarson’s total of 85 points in the final edged out Huntington Beach native Dakota Roche’s 84.

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo: Garrett Reynolds spins his handlebars while catching air on the BMX Freestyle Street course on Sunday afternoon. Credit: Harry How / Getty Images

X Games: Brian Deegan takes gold; Pastrana crashes in final lap

Brian Deegan crossed the finish line first in the RallyCross final Sunday, and to Deegan, that is all that mattered.

To fans, though, the question was how did Travis Pastrana do? Pastrana, who had a broken right leg and ankle, drove with a customized steering wheel complete with a gas pedal and was in position for a bronze medal before crashing with less than half a lap left.

Tanner Foust claimed the silver medal and Marcus Gronholm slipped by the sidelined Subaru of Pastrana for bronze.

Liam Doran took the lead off the starting line, but a sloppy first turn relegated him to the back of the field.

Fourteen-time X Games gold medalist Dave Mirra spent most of the race in fourth, holding off a charging Pastrana, before spinning out on the sixth lap.

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo: Brian Deegan leads Travis Pastrana through the RallyCross course on the streets of downtown L.A. on Sunday afternoon. Credit: Harry How / Getty Images

X Games: Travis Pastrana advances to RallyCross final

With one functioning foot, Travis Pastrana advanced to the RallyCross final through a last-chance qualifier heat Sunday.

Pastrana took second in his initial heat, but capitalized on the last-chance opportunity to reach the seven-car final with a 6.46-second cushion.

Pastrana broke his right foot and ankle in the Moto X Best Trick competition Thursday night, forcing his crew to design a steering wheel with a gas pedal control attached to it.

After his first heat, Pastrana admitted he had trouble both steering and working the hand control. Every time he fumbled the steering wheel throughout the street course at L.A. Live, he also lost his grip on the throttle.

By the last-chance qualifier, though, Pastrana appeared to have worked out the kinks. He got out to a poor start, but after a nifty move on the first lap, Pastrana mainly raced himself throughout the five-lap race.

-- Douglas Farmer

X Games: Julian Christianson wins amateur skateboard title again

Julian Christianson won the Hometown Heroes Amateur Skateboard Street final for the fourth time in five years with a final run score of 88.33 points to edge Poway’s Brendon Villanueva.
 
It was a battle between Christianson and Villanueva down the stretch as the two skaters posted top scores in their third runs. Villanueva had a three-point lead heading into the final round of runs, when Christianson put an exclamation point on his winning skate by landing a huge ollie off a set of eight stairs. Villanueva had one chance left to top Christianson, but crashed twice and was buzzed off the course.
 
The 22-year-old Christianson won $5,000 and Chipotle for a year.
 
Dan Coe took third place with a run of 80 points.

The top three skaters finished in the same order in the final as they did in the elimination round.  

--Matt Stevens

X Games: Travis Pastrana will race RallyCross with hand controls

Three days after breaking his right leg and ankle in a crash during the Moto X Best Trick competition Thursday night, Travis Pastrana will take part in the RallyCross race Sunday at X Games 17.

Pastrana's injured leg prompted his team to develop a steering wheel with hand controls for the gas pedal and clutch pedal. Thus, Pastrana's cast-bound leg will remain motionless during the race.

Pastrana first tested the altered car Saturday morning on the RallyCross course. Saturday night he took it to the Los Angeles Police Academy for test runs on the LAPD's road course.

Sunday morning, word became official that he would be allowed to take part in the RallyCross races. The first RallyCross heat is scheduled to take place in downtown Los Angeles at 2 p.m.

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X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo: Travis Pastrana injures his right leg and ankle during a crash in the Moto X Best Trick competition on Thursday. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

X Games: Travis Pastrana finishes second in RallyCross heat

Travis Pastrana can now add another unique accomplishment to his lengthy list of X Games' firsts: He finished a RallyCross race without using the gas pedal.

Pastrana’s broken right leg and ankle forced his team to create a steering wheel with an accelerator control attached to the back of it. Thus, while flying through the turns of downtown Los Angeles, Pastrana not only turns the wheel but also uses the hand controls to hit the gas.

Pastrana (pictured at left) has only driven the newfangled car a few times, and he struggled in his initial heat Sunday, finishing second by 4.18 seconds.

Brian Deegan, who won two silver medals in last year’s X Games, won Pastrana’s heat, and the man who beat him twice last year, Tanner Foust, claimed the first heat.

Pastrana will race in a last chance qualifier heat later this afternoon. If he can figure out how to race most effectively with his new device and win that heat, he’ll move on to the final.

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for Michael Waltrip Racing

X Games: Julian Chistianson leads amateur skateboarders in qualifying

The results from the eighth Hometown Heroes Amateur Skateboard Street elimination are in.
 
Brendon Villanueva of Poway had a large cheering section in house and finished second in qualifying to three-time winner Julian Christianson. Ke’Chaud Johnson, who won the event two years ago, finished seventh.
 
The following 10 teenagers are headed to the final with a shot at $5,000. In order of finish:
 
 1. Julian Christianson
 2. Brendon Villanueva
 3. Dan Coe
 4. Tyson Bowerbank
 5. Anthony Estrada
 6. Miles Silvas
 7. Ke’Chaud Johnson
 8. Ryan Thompson
 9. Wyatt Milhollan
10. Maurio McCoy  

X Games: Amateurs hit the street for some skateboarding

The Hometown Heroes Amateur Skateboard Street elimination round is in full swing on the final day of X Games 17 in downtown Los Angeles.

Though it's not on TV, fans in the stands get to see some of the best teen skaters from across the nation coverging in L.A. for this signature final event.

A spokeswomen for the tour said that Hometown Heroes takes place over three months in major cities across America. In each city, a skate competition features all the best amateurs in the area, and the winner of each local event gets a spot in the X Games event. A handful of other standouts come by special invitation to the field of 32.

Skaters are currently performing one-minute individual intro runs, then five-minute jam sessions that judges will score. The top 10 skaters will advance to the final later this afternoon, with the winner taking home a $5,000 check.

Julian Christianson has won this event three of the last four years and currently leads the elimination round with a score of 91 points.

This is the third year the X Games has hosted the Hometown Heroes final.

--Matt Stevens

Photo: Pedro Barros takes part in amateur skateboarding during X Games 15. Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times

X Games: Nate Adams adds Speed and Style gold to his haul

Nate Adams took home his second gold medal in X Games 17 by leaving all-comers behind in the Moto X Speed and Style competition Saturday.

Adams topped Mike Mason in the final race of the night, leaving Mason with the silver medal Adams won last year. Adams won thanks to his style, more than his speed, earning 90 points for his tricks throughout the race, while Mason tallied 87. Although Mason crossed the finish line first, his buffer of 1.53 seconds was not enough to overcome the three-point deficit from the style element.

Adams won the Moto X Freestyle competition Friday night, his first gold medal since winning the same event in 2004. Seven years later, he has now tripled his total gold count.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Adams beat Adam Jones and Ronnie Faisst on his way to the final. Mason topped Todd Potter and Carey Hart.

Faisst beat Hart handily in the bronze medal race to reach the podium.

In the quarterfinals, Jeremy Stenberg suffered a nasty fall on his third lap. Stenberg hit the main dirt-jump with plenty of speed, and appeared to be attempting a backflip when he separated from his bike. Stenberg, the defending bronze medalist, fell to the dirt feet-first and was carted out of the arena. An ESPN spokeswoman said he suffered a foot injury and would get X-rays.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo: Nate Adams during the Moto X Freestyle final on Friday night. Credit: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

X Games: Speed and style explained

For anyone wondering what exactly “speed & style” means in the X Games' Moto X Speed and Style competition, let’s take the quarterfinal race between Ronnie Faisst and Matt Buyten as our example:

Faisst finished the four-lap race first, but he was not assured to advance simply because he took the checkered flag. Each of the racers is required to perform one trick per lap, excluding the first lap when the course does not include the largest dirt-jump.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Based off those tricks, the judges assign the racers a score for style. In this instance, Buyten tallied 86 style points, while Faisst recorded 84. Hence, the uncertainty as to who would advance.

But since Faisst won by 4.40 seconds, his final score was 88.80, edging Buyten’s 86.

Hopefully now it makes a bit more sense.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold

-- Douglas Farmer

X Games: Jeremy Stenberg is latest crash victim at X Games 17

Jeremy Stenberg became the latest victim of an X Games 17 competition accident when he crashed during the quarterfinals of the Moto X Speed & Style event on Saturday night.

Stenberg was in the third of the four-lap race against Carey Hart when he lost control of his motorcycle as he was going up a ramp to perform a trick. Stenberg was separated from his cycle and fell from several feet in the air, slamming feet-first onto the dirt before crashing onto his side.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Paramedics tended to him for several minutes before he eventually waved to the crowd and was carried off on a stretcher.

An X Games spokeswoman said there is no official word on the nature of Stenberg’s injury.

Nate Adams, Ronnie Faisst and Mike Mason will join Hart in the semifinals.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold

--Matt Stevens

X Games: Ashley Fiolek and Jessica Patterson knocked out of Moto X

A crash in practice prevented two-time defending gold medalist Ashley Fiolek (pictured at left) from holding onto her spot atop women’s Moto X Racing.

Her main rival then joined Fiolek on the sidelines in the elimination races. Jessica Patterson crashed on the fifth lap of her six-lap heat, ending her hopes of capitalizing on Fiolek’s absence.

Vicki Golden and Sara Price advanced from the first heat to the final, and Tarah Gieger and Livia Lancelot joined them from the second heat.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Fiolek, 20, suffered a concussion during Saturday’s practice, but still hoped to compete. Doctors and her parents advised her against it, and the competition went on without her, presumably to Patterson’s benefit.

But Patterson appeared to injure her shoulder during her accident, and was helped off the track by a medical team.

Fiolek is well-known not just for her success on the track, but also for achieving it without hearing. She was born deaf and relies on her bike vibrations and shadows around her as she races.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Daniel Dhers rallies to win BMX Freestyle Park gold medal

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo credit: American Honda Racing / Associated Press

X Games: Travis Pastrana practices at LAPD road course

Rarely does the Los Angeles Police Department encourage high-speed driving. Saturday night, they are doing just that.

According to Travis Pastrana’s Twitter account, @travispastrana, he is test-driving his altered rally car at the Los Angeles Police Academy.

“At the police academy where the LAPD was nice enough to let me practice with the hand controls at their road course,” Pastrana tweeted shortly after 6 p.m.

Saturday morning, Pastrana informed the world that his team had put together a steering wheel with hand controls for the accelerator and clutch -- that may allow him to race in Sunday’s RallyCross competition at X Games 17. Pastrana broke his right ankle and foot in a crash during the Moto X Best Trick competition Thursday night.

The ankle prevented him from making his Nationwide Series debut in Indianapolis on Saturday. Instead, he drove his hand-controlled rally car around the course at L.A. Live.

And now, he’s testing it with L.A.’s finest.

-- Douglas Farmer

X Games: Nyjah Huston breaks through, grabs Skateboard Street gold

Mitchie Brusco isn’t the first 14-year-old to compete at the X Games. Nyjah Huston broke that barrier in 2009, claiming silver in the Skateboard Street competition. Last year, Huston duplicated that feat.

Huston upgraded to gold Saturday after his high run of 91.66 was enough to win the Skateboard Street finals at X Games 17.

The Huntington Beach native barely topped Luan Oliveira’s 91-point run. Huston’s opening run of 89.66 appeared as if it could win the event on its own until Oliveira provided the only other run to top it.
Defending gold medalist and San Clemente native Ryan Sheckler took bronze with a run worth 89.00.

Ryan Decenzo and Chaz Ortiz rounded out the final grouping. The five skaters made the most of an 18-minute heat with 45-second runs on the concrete plaza complete with five sets of stairs, numerous ramps and even a mock-construction site.

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X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Travis Pastrana may drive with hand controls on Rally Car

Daniel Dhers rallies to win BMX Freestyle Park gold medal

-- Douglas Farmer

X Games: Skateboard Vert elimination round saves best for last

Skateboard Vert saved the best for last.

Fourteen-time medalist Pierre-Luc Gagnon and X Games icon Shaun White showed an expanded field of 20 skaters how it’s done when they finally got their turns as the last and second-to-last skaters in the elimination round of the Skateboard Vert competition.

White exploded down the ramp and immediately got more air than any of the previous 18 skaters, putting together a nearly flawless run, good enough for 84.66 points and second place out of the gate. Not to be outdone, Gagnon responded with a technically sound run for 82.66 points to immediately crack the top 10. Then they both stepped it up another notch during their next run –- White stealing first with more aerial moves for 86.33 points, and Gagnon posting an even better 87.00 without flinching.

The ease with which the top two skaters glided through their routines was a sharp contrast to the rest of the field, which largely could not stay on their skateboards for the full 30 seconds. At least half the runs ended with crashes and low scores.

But veterans Bob Burnquist and Bucky Lasek survived, finishing fifth and seventh respectively. They will both compete in Round One of the Vert competition later tonight. 

Skateboard Vert qualifiers
Pierre-Luc Gagnon: 87.00
Shaun White: 86.33
Alex Perelson: 85.33
Sandro Dias: 84.00
Bob Burnquist: 83.33
Adam Taylor: 83.33
Bucky Lasek: 82.66
Andy Macdonald: 81.66
Elliot Sloan: 81.66  
Paul-Luc Ronchetti: 79.33

--Matt Stevens

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Daniel Dhers rallies to win BMX Freestyle Park gold medal

Photo: Shaun White warms up before the Skateboard Vert elimination round on Saturday at the Nokia Theater. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

X Games: Four days of organized chaos

Anyone who has dared to walk the streets around L.A. Live this weekend knows that the X Games represent one of the most organized four days of chaos on the planet.

With eight different event structures around a relatively small area of downtown, more than 31,000 sweaty spectators sat, stood in line and jostled with each other on Friday.

Perhaps even more striking, an X Games spokeswoman said that there are about 2,000 staff members to keep everything running smoothly. Those folks range from the security at every turn, to attractive vendors handing out free stuff, to the people serving and preparing the food.

The spokeswoman also noted that the X Games do not use any volunteers.

The “X-Fest” is perhaps the most eclectic of the areas, serving as the main walkway down Chick Hearn Court that connects all the event areas. It’s constantly filled with vendors, TVs, children and their watchful parents. At the same moment that one teenager is trying on a Hurley T-shirt, a smaller child is snatching up his Kick Buttowski foam hand from the Radio Disney booth. Dad is probably down the street, affixing his blue Shark Week fin to his head, courtesy of the Travel Channel.

All this is happening while rally cars race through the streets of L.A. and motorcycles are revving up for competition on the dirt track inside the Staples Center.

After a day or two, it all appears normal.

Only at the X Games.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Daniel Dhers rallies to win BMX Freestyle Park gold medal

--Matt Stevens

Photo: A look at downtown L.A. from atop the Big Air ramp next to Staples Center. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

X Games: 24-year-old Liam Doran wins Rally Car Racing gold in upset

On the streets of downtown Los Angeles, X Games rookie Liam Doran, 24, upset legendary European driver Marcus "Bosse" Gronholm, 43, to win the gold medal in the Rally Car Racing final Saturday.

Doran, from Kent, England, faced Gronholm, who hails from Inkoo, Finland, in a best-of-three final with each driver taking two laps around the 3,100-feet, six-turn course that also features a 52-foot jump.

Doran won the first race, which was fairly close, and then won second, which wasn't so close, to take the gold medal.

Doran's biggest hurdle was upsetting Capistrano Beach native Tanner Foust in the semifinals. 

Foust, one of only four drivers who have competed in every Rally Car event at the X Games, came up short in the bronze-medal race against Tanner Higgins when his car broke down shortly after the start. 

Foust, who won gold medals in both Rally Car events last year, is expected to compete in Sunday's RallyCross final, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. 

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Daniel Dhers rallies to win BMX Freestyle Park gold medal

-- Baxter Holmes

Photo: David Higgins leads Dave Mirra during their Rally Car Racing quarterfinal on Saturday on the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Credit: Harry How/Getty Images