(Photo: Zac Pacleb/WCSN)
In what most were predicting to be a close game, No. 19 USC made sure that was the furthest thing from that as the Trojans blasted Arizona State by a score of 42-12.
The game opened with a pair of explosive plays and demoralizing turnovers from both teams. On the first play from scrimmage, USC redshirt senior Cody Kessler found sophomore receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on a 52-yard bomb before Kessler was picked off in the end zone by freshman safety Kareem Orr.
ASU sophomore running back Demario Richard found daylight on ASU’s first play and dashed for a 61-yard carry before ending the drive with a fumble.
That was about the brightest moment of the game for ASU as USC absolutely trounced the Sun Devils in every aspect in the game. On a 3rd-and-13, Kessler found sophomore wide receiver Adoree Jackson on a screen pass for an 80-yard touchdown.
From there, the Trojans never looked back and went into halftime up 35-0 as a product of a mixture between ASU mistakes and explosive plays on USC’s end.
With 30 seconds left on the clock, ASU found itself on USC’s 1-yard line and primed to cut into the 21-0 deficit to gain some momentum going into the half. That never happened. USC redshirt senior defensive tackle Delvon Simmons raced into the ASU backfield, forced a fumble, and redshirt sophomore safety Chris Hawkins took it 95 yards the other way for a Trojan touchdown.
ASU redshirt junior De’Chavon Hayes fumbled on the kickoff return, essentially giving USC another touchdown. Kessler found Smith-Schuster in the end zone for the second time, and all of a sudden, the game was essentially over.
ASU would tack on 14 points in the second half, but make no mistake, this game was all USC.
Player of the game: Cody Kessler
This is an easy one. The Heisman-candidate looked every bit the part as he carved the Sun Devils for 375 yards and five touchdowns, and he was a big part of converting as many third downs as the Trojans did. People came into this game wanting to see how ASU fared against Kessler and his myriad of weapons on the outside, and the Trojans were able to continuously bust ASU’s coverage, and much of that is credit to Kessler for putting his teammates in positions to do that.
Stat of the night: USC 9-15 on third down
No matter how well ASU’s defense played on first and second down, it couldn’t stop USC and get off the field. USC converted third down after third down, and a good chunk of those came on third-and-long. ASU had similar issues stopping New Mexico on third down in the first half, and those issues were highlighted by the Trojans.
Biggest concern: Everything
ASU could not get into the red zone, and when it had chances to put points on the board, junior Zane Gonzalez was off the mark twice. The defense couldn’t get off the field, and USC pretty much had its way when it wanted to. It was by far the ASU’s poorest display of tackling.
The Sun Devils characteristically got into the Trojan backfield on numerous occasions and put themselves in positions to make tackles for loss, but uncharacteristically, ASU failed to wrap up properly and finish the job once it got there.
Essentially, ASU has very few thing to positively take away from this one.
What’s next?
ASU doesn’t get much time to lick its wounds as it travels to Los Angeles to take on UCLA, who is fresh off a 56-30 win over Arizona. It’ll be an obviously critical one for the Sun Devils if they still want to have any hope of sniffing a chance at the Pac-12 South title.
You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com
