Somewhat Remarkable

USC's bookstore has never sold a Mark Sanchez jersey, but you couldn't miss No. 6 on Saturday. Fans printed their own T-shirts and modified old Reggie Bush (5) and Dwayne Jarrett (8) jerseys to show their support for the until-now untested quarterback.

No. 6 was everywhere on the field, too. Though his stats were not overly impressive (19-of-31, 130 yards, 1 TD, 2 Int, 3 sacks), his mobility and passion were head-and-shoulders above injured starter John David Booty. Despite the sacks, Sanchez wound up with positive rushing yards. After his crucial 10-yard pickup in the last two minutes, the student section erupted and began chanting his name.

A minute later, Sanchez was screaming back to his fans. His impassioned pleas for more noise (pictured above) helped turn USC's smallest crowd of the year into an advantage for the Trojans' defense as Arizona took their final shots at adding on to the scoreboard.

Booty may be USC's two-time captain, but Sanchez could provide a leadership element that has been lacking all season. After his sideline fervor tapered off, he calmly told a friend outside the locker room, "That was a win ... I'll take it."

In the postgame press conference, Sanchez, freshman tailback Joe McKnight and senior linebacker Keith Rivers were the three Trojans selected to face the media. Just before it started, Sanchez leaned over to a shy-looking McKnight and cracked a smile. "You nervous? It's your first time or something?"

It was the first time for both of them. You would never know by Sanchez's poise.

More photos of Sanchez and his fans after the jump ...

The exact instant that Sanchez snapped into action to rally the crowd.

He leads ...

... he passes ...

... and he's mobile!

A hard-earned congratulations.

Sanchez warms up.

We're not explaining what Dirty Sanchez really means, other than to say it's a mustache ...

... which is why these beer-bonging revelers were rocking fake ones.

The caped crusader, err, wrestler, errr guy with too much time on his hands..

All photos by Adam Rose for latimes.com.

Comments

[24-23]

Sleepy time gal...........

Idaho...............yawn
Nebraska lost to Missouri 41-6; lost to Oklahoma State 45-14;
.....tell me about that "quality" road win in Lincoln, again.
Washington......yawn
Stanford..........yawn
Arizona...........yawn
if I missed something else, Southern Cal football must have
put me to sleep. Wake me in time for The Tonight Show.
Next week.....yawn

[RB '75]

What is with Bill Plaschke? All of his articles lately are super negative about SC football. The press doesn't seem to understand that SC has lost a lot of starters to injuries. Except for a few players, SC is really playing with its second and third team members.

[24-23]

It's 7 games into the season; every team has lost important players to injury. Southern Cal can't go to its water bucket on this one, alone. Cal and UCLA
are down to back-up QBs. Plaschke may not the a Southern Cal "homer."
TRUTH be known. TRUTH be told. Didn't Stanford beat Southern Cal with a
back-up? I'm sure Arizona can march out it's walking wounded for your inspection. Get over it. Southern Cal is just another football team.

[Lyle Arboni]

Let's be honest, SC hasn't played anybody good and they haven't played anybody well.

[24-23]

There are a number of train wrecks along the college football schedule this year:
LSU, Wisconsin, Boise State, Louisville, Michigan, Auburn, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Rutgers, Texas, Nebraska, Cal and USC. Misery loves company.