The USC Trojans got their first loss of the season with a 43-22 stomping at the hands of the Arizona State Sun Devils.
The Trojans out-gained the Sun Devils, but costly turnovers, penalties, and non-existent red zone offense helped ASU snap its 11-game losing streak against USC.
Senior Marc Tyler had 149 rushing yards and one TD that gave USC the lead, but penalties and turnovers helped ASU go ahead and stay there.
ASU’s Cameron Marshall ran for a 70-yard touchdown on the first possession of the game to put USC in a 7-0 hole before they touched the ball, and the Trojans’ inability to come up with a quick answer on offense kept the momentum going for the home team.
USC struggled on offense all night, particularly in the red zone. Their first trip ended with a lucky field goal – freshman kicker Andre Heidari missed a 46-yarder on 4th & 12 , but a penalty on ASU’s Vontaze Burfict gave him another shot, and the 41-yard second try was good to make it 7-3.
The Sun Devils quickly went back down the field to score again to make it 14-3, thanks in part to a 15-yard personal foul call against safety T.J. McDonald, the first of three in the game for the senior.
On the other side of the ball, Trojans’ quarterback Matt Barkley, last week’s Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, struggled through another poor showing in the desert, going 21 of 33 for 227 yards and one touchdown – but with two interceptions and a lost fumble.
The first interception was a momentum-killer after Heidari kicked his second field goal to make it a 14-6 game. The Trojans defense forced a three-and-out and USC’s Nickell Robey’s 44-yard punt return put the Trojans right back in the red zone, but Barkley threw it right to Vontaze Burfict, leading to a touchdown drive for the Sun Devils.
In the first half, Arizona State had three touchdowns, and USC had three field goals; if USC had been able to get in the end zone instead, it would’ve been a 21-21 tie at the half.
ASU’s offense wasn’t exactly whirring on all cylinders, but it was more effective on the ground thanks to Marshall, gaining 112 yards on the ground in the first half compared to USC’s paltry 36. The Trojans finished with 175 rushing yards to ASU’s 169, but unfortunately for USC, yards didn’t translate into points.
They came out strong to start the second half, scoring their first touchdown of the game on the first possession on a 24-yard touchdown pass to freshman Marqise Lee.
The defense forced a punt and senior tailback Marc Tyler found his legs, running for 55 yards on six carries to give USC its first – and only – lead of the game, 22-21. (USC unsuccessfully tried a two-point conversion, which kept it a one-point ballgame).
Arizona State quickly responded with a touchdown drive of its own to reclaim the lead, and there was no turning back. Tyler turned the ball over on USC’s next possession, but the defense was solid and forced an ASU punt. USC got back into the red zone but Barkley lost the ball on a sack and the Sun Devils recovered and quickly took it downfield for another touchdown and a successful (Lane Kiffin, take note) two-point conversion.
With the Sun Devils up 36-22, Barkley dug the Trojans’ in a little deeper after he was hit and threw the ball to ASU’s Shelly Lyons, who ran it back 41-yards for a touchdown to put the Sun Devils up, 43-22, before they mercifully ran out the clock. After mounting a comeback to start the second half, USC was outscored 15-0 in the final quarter, continuing the fourth quarter meltdowns that have become a recent Trojans’ tradition.
Barkley’s tendency to lock in on favorite target Robert Woods proved dangerous more than once in the game, but Woods is still one of the biggest playmakers on the offense, with 8 catches for 131 yards, including the 100th reception of his young career. The other options just weren’t working this week, as Barkley threw several incompletions each to Randall Telfer and Rhett Ellison.
The Trojans’ rushing attack also needs to become more balanced. Tyler got 22 of the team’s 33 carries, despite an ineffective first half and a third-quarter lost fumble. True freshman Amir Carlisle saw his first playing time of the season but didn’t have an impact, nor did Curtis McNeal (4 carries for 14 yards, all in the second half) or Dillon Baxter (one carry for a loss of two yards).
The defense had struggles of its own, though the offense didn’t give it much help this week. McDonald racked up more than half of USC’s 87 yards from penalties on his own, with three hard but not egregious hits. He was one of the only Trojans making anything happen on defense, though, as USC’s defenders repeatedly missed tackles and gave up big plays. CB Torin Harris left the game in the first half with an injury, and Nickell Robey and Tony Burnett struggled against the Sun Devils’ bigger, stronger receivers,. The defensive line, which was pretty strong between the tackles in the first few games, had what defensive line coach Ed Orgeron deemed their weakest performance of the year.
With the win, Arizona State and USC will likely flip-flop – again – in this week’s polls, and the Sun Devils will have a clear shot at winning the Pac-12 South and heading to the inaugural conference championship game.
