(Tempe, AZ) The Sun Devils (5-3) came into tonight’s game with USC (4-4) having a lot of question marks.
This was a game ASU wanted to redeem itself in front of a national ESPN audience and with the induction of David Fulcher into the College Football Hall of Fame.
The offense had basically shut itself down and the ASU defense is having to spend too much time of the field.
Lots of grumblings during the week, including a long time podcast announcer losing his job. Ironically he was a former player.
With all the turmoil this week had sustained, Arizona State came in as nine point favorites.
Southern Cal was driving off the opening kickoff around midfield when Trojan quarterback Kedon Slovis threw an interception to the Devils’ Soelle Kyle but Jayden Daniels and the offense still in their lack of production funk went three and out.
Both teams went back forth until around 6:48 left in the quarter SC pinned the Devils back in the six yard line.
In five plays, compliments to Ricky Peaersall anda Racshad White, ASU was at midfield and maybe the offense had exorcised their demons for the time being.
Photo – list23.com
Even a wayward fox got into the stadium and lightened up the atmosphere. A Sun Devil player was quoted as saying, “The fox was funny, he can come back against U of A. We’ll need him!”
Daniels went under center and combined this with the more familiar shot-gun set. He also went no-huddle trying to keep the Trojans’ defense off balance.
Facing a fourth and three from the SC thirty three, Daniels hit Bryan Thompson on a short crossing route for eleven yards to keep the drive alive.
Two plays later, Trayanum DeaMonte powered in off tackle from the left fourteen yards to score. Devils up 7-0 with under a minute left in the opening quarter.
Arizona State’s defense held the Trojans to seven yards rushing in the first quarter.
The SC running game tripled their rushing total on one play when Keaontay Ingram blasted through the Sun Devil front line for twenty four yards to begin the second quarter.
Suddenly, the men of Troy were down in the ASU red zone. A key holding penalty scudded their drive and they settled for a Lewis Parker thirty eight yard field goal to get Southern Cal on the board, ASU 7-3 with 11:28 left in the half.
The Devils first play after the kickoff, DeaMonte got through the first line of defense but a nice strip by Tuli Tuipulotu grave the ball back to USC on the thirty one yard line.
ASU would have gotten the ball back on an interception in the end zone but they were called for a face mask penalty and the Trojans retained possession.
That’s all SC needed as Dart Jaxson scored from nine yards out to give Southern Cal their first lead 10-7 at the 8:39 mark.
Daniels took his team seventy five yards in just three plays to get the Devils back on top 14-10 highlighted by a White forty seven yard run to the house.
Just before the half ended, SC attempted a fifty one yard field goal that sailed just right after a low snap.
After an active first half by both teams, the Devils hit the locker room up 14-10.
Photo – seattletimes.com
Southern Cal had their success via the pass as Slovis racked up 113 yards passing and held the possession time advantage 17:45 to 12:15.
Arizona State was run happy with 132 rushing yards, but stil had 85 yards through the air with their offense seemingly off the schneid.
ASU this year was 5-1 when leading at the half, but the memory of last years last second loss to the Trojans still was in the back of their minds.
Out of the locker room the Devils continued to run their offense better than the previous two games. They were aided by a pass interference penalty that put the ball on the USC eighteenth. They came away with a twenty nine yard Cristian Zendejas field goal to extend their lead to 17-10.
The Trojans came back on their first possession of the second half with a forty five yard field goal from Lewis Parker to get SC closer at 17-13 at the 9:23 mark of the quarter.
The Trojans edged even closer with a long fifty two yard Parker field goal, 17-16 ASU with 3:09 left in the third quarter.
The Devils struck at the 8:13 mark with a nifty fifty yard run up the middle that surprised the SC defense as they had bottled up Daniels and the ASU offense in the first half of the final quarter. ASU 24-16.
The running game had enjoyed big yardage plays that were absent against Utah and Washington State.
Now ASU with the ball again started shaving time off the clock, but still got a long twenty nine yard run from Daniels in the middle of the drive.
With USC forced to use a timeout the Sun Devils were knocking at the door from the seven yard line.
Photo – SeattleTimes.com
Out of the timeout, White did the rest and made it look easy and dashed the hopes of a last minute Trojan victory.
That was the nail in the coffin of the Trojans, as they were now down two possessions 31-16 with only 1:58 left on the clock and that’s the way it ended.
Arizona State racked up 427 yards of total offense, with 282 coming by way of the rushing game.
Basically, the Trojans’ defense got worn down almost single-handedly by White and his game high 202 yards.
Daniels had a modest passing game with 145 yards, but that complimented the run and kept SC off balance.
The season’s largest crowd tonight was 53,926.
Up next ASU goes back on the road for two games in the Pacific Northwest. Next Saturday at Washington and the following week in Corvallis to play Oregon State.
With this win, ASU becomes Bowl elegible and will try to enhance their record in the final three games.
