Trojans trounce Sun Devils in the desert to notch first Pac-12 victory
The No. 19-ranked Trojans bounced back from last week’s loss to Stanford in a dominant fashion, blowing out Pac-12 South foe Arizona State 42-14 on the road in Tempe, Arizona.
The rout not only gave the Trojans their first conference and road wins of the season, but it also produced their first victory over the Sun Devils since 2012 — finally avenging two of the program’s toughest losses in recent years.
“In all three phases, I’m just proud of the guys,” Sarkisian said. “They played a really good football game, and they came right off the bat ready to go.”
USC (3-1, 1-1 Pac-12) was able to jump out to a 35-0 lead heading into halftime behind four passing touchdowns by redshirt senior quarterback Cody Kessler, who continued to substantiate his Heisman Trophy campaign by throwing for 375 yards and five total touchdowns, though he did throw his first interception of the year.
Arizona State (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) struggled to put the ball in the end zone against USC, largely in part to its inability to take care of the ball. USC capitalized off four Sun Devils first half turnovers that resulted in its 28-point second quarter explosion.
“Last night as a team, I probably went on a 30-minute barrage of about how to create turnovers and how we want to play defense and just getting after the football,” Sarkisian said. “It was so cool to come out tonight to get four of them.”
The Sun Devils were knocking on the door of USC’s one-yard line before quarterback Mike Bercovici fumbled a hand off that would be recovered and taken 94 yards to the end zone by redshirt sophomore safety Chris Hawkins.
On the subsequent kickoff, the USC special teams unit was able to force another fumble that set up a 10-yard passing touchdown from Kessler to sophomore wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to cap the team’s scoring barrage. The tandem also connected earlier in the quarter for a four-yard touchdown pass.
Smith-Schuster, who is currently third in the nation in receiving yards with 434 on the season, broke out for over 100 yards receiving for the third consecutive game.
Do-it-all sophomore Adoree’ Jackson also dazzled when he transitioned from defense to offense on Saturday night.
“He’s pretty good,” Sarkisian said. “The hardest thing about dealing with Adoree’ is when and how and how many times, and it’s a challenge because he’s so good in all three phases.”
Jackson racked up 131 receiving yards on just three connections from Kessler including an 80-yard touchdown in the first quarter that gave USC an early 7-0 lead. The three-way player also broke out for a sensational 45-yard catch and run that took everyone off of their feet, as he broke tackles and sped by defenders down the sidelines.
“Even when he’s not getting the ball, everyone’s aware of it on defense, and I think it just speaks volume to the type of player he is,” Kessler said.
The Trojans wouldn’t look back after that, as Kessler would next find redshirt sophomore wide receiver Steven Mitchell Jr. for a 27-yard passing touchdown early in the second quarter to put USC up by two scores.
Redshirt junior wide receiver Issac Whitney also got into the scoring action with a 10-yard touchdown reception in he fourth quarter — USC’s lone score of the second half.
The Sun Devils would eventually get into the end zone late in the third quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by running back Demario Richard, who punched in Arizona State’s only other score as well. Arizona State’s ground game was the team’s bright spot, as they compiled 182 rushing yards on the night.
Bercovici struggled in the passing game for the majority of the night, completing only 23 of his 44 passes while throwing for 272 yards and an interception. He was picked off by sophomore safety John Plattenburg, who recorded the first interception of his career.
While USC was able to improve its third down efficiency, converting 10 out of 16 times when it needed to move the chains, penalties continue to plague the Trojans.
The team tallied 10 penalties for 91 total yards against the Sun Devils, more than they accrued during last week’s loss in their conference opener to Stanford.
“[We’ve] got a little time now to kind of prepare for some bumps and bruises and then get ready for a stretch here that’s going to be tough,” Sarkisian said.
Going back to last year, USC is now 5-0 coming off a loss from the previous week.
“I think that we’ve got a resilient team,” Sarkisian said. “The key is to take this game and then build from it.”
The Trojans now enter a bye week, where they will have a chance to rest before returning to the Coliseum to take on Sarkisian’s former team, the Washington Huskies, on Oct. 8 in a Thursday night affair.