Pick and roll

Bing's first quarter interception sets tone for USC

By John Donovan, SI.com

Matt Leinart connected with Mike Williams (right) shortly after the interception. AP

AUBURN, Ala. -- The Auburn Tigers knew, almost from the start, that they'd have trouble running the ball against Southern California on Saturday night.

It didn't take them long to figure out they couldn't throw the ball, either.

The No. 6 Tigers came into their showdown with No. 8 USC boasting one of the most heralded running attacks in the nation. The Trojans, as much as anyone, knew what Auburn could do. Last season, against this same USC team, the Tigers ran for 97 yards in the first half alone.

OK, so the Tigers actually managed to lose 2 yards running in the second half of that loss to USC. But that's another story.

When Southern California came out this year and stopped the Tigers on the first play from scrimmage, a run, then forced an incompletion on the second play, a lot of people at Jordan-Hare Stadium shifted on their aluminum seats. Things didn't look good.

Things really started to look bad on the next play, which turned out to be a critical one for the Trojans on a steamy Southern night.

Faced with a third-and-12 on his own 18, Tigers quarterback Jason Campbell scrambled out of the pocket and tried a little dumpoff pass. But USC cornerback Kevin Arbet tipped the errant throw, allowing freshman safety Darnell Bing to swoop in for the interception.

"I was actually on someone else," Bing said in a buoyant Trojans locker room after the game. "Arbet tipped it, and it just fell into my hands. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

Bing was responsible for covering the Auburn tight end on the play, who was running a slant off the line. When Bing followed him in, Arbet's tip popped right to him.

"A good defensive line can dominate a football game," Campbell said. "That is exactly what happened tonight. They did it in the second half to us last year, and did it the whole night tonight."

Four plays later, including what turned out to be a huge pass interference play on Auburn, USC quarterback Matt Leinart found wideout Mike Williams in the back of the end zone with a 4-yard pass.

And before anyone could say "War Eagle," it was 7-0 on the way to a 23-0 Trojans win.

"It set the tone for the rest of the game," Bing said. "We used it as a motivator and never looked back."

Trojans coach Pete Carroll couldn't have agreed more.

"As you look back," he said, "it was huge to get ahead like that."

Auburn ended up with only 43 yards rushing, but the Tigers' air attack wasn't any better. Campbell completed only 12 of his 26 passes -- he completed better than 63 percent of his passes last season -- for only 121 yards.

If there were any regrets on the USC side, they came, surprisingly, from Bing. When he picked off Campbell's pass, he had immediate visions of glory.

"I wanted to keep the ball and run for the end zone. I would have loved to score," he said, "but my shoe fell off."

It may have been the Trojans' only trip all night.

John Donovan is a senior writer for SI.com.