Carroll still wants balance

Sanchez has passed for 26 touchdowns this season, with only seven interceptions.

"He's doing fine," Carroll said. "I think he's playing really good football. We're lucky he's on our side."

100 and counting

Saturday's game marked Carroll's 100th with the Trojans.

Carroll is 85-15 and has won two national titles, but when asked what came to mind when he thought of his time with the Trojans, he said: "A handful of games that had we won, we would've done a whole lot better.

"There were three or four that [could have] made an enormous difference as far as being out ahead of the pack."

Sending a message

Carroll said he called a timeout with three seconds left because the Trojans had too many players on the field when Stanford lined up for a field goal. The Cardinal then executed a pass play for a touchdown. Carroll said Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh "was trying to score points and keep battling. He sent a good message to his team.". . . . McKnight aggravated his right big toe while rushing for 72 yards. . . . The 230 yards in kickoff returns by Gable and Ronald Johnson moved the Trojans into first nationally at 30.1 yards per return.

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gary.klein@latimes.com