Trojans to clash with Sun Devils in Tempe

The USC football team will travel to Tempe, Ariz., this weekend to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils Saturday.

USC leads the all-time series 21-13, including a 10-7 advantage in Tempe. The Sun Devils enter with a 5-3 overall record and a 2-3 mark in the Pac-12. 

A win this weekend is crucial for USC, as it would render the Trojans (5-4, 4-2 in the Pac-12) bowl-eligible after failing to reach a bowl game last season. Additionally, a victory on Saturday is necessary for the team to maintain any chance at a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

USC is coming off a beatdown on its home turf at the hands of No. 7 Oregon last week and will now hit the road, where it has struggled this season. The Trojans have won only one of four games this season away from the Coliseum — the one win being a 4-point nailbiter against Colorado, a game in which USC faced multiple 10-point deficits.

Despite the inconsistency and the deflating loss to the Ducks, head coach Clay Helton remains at the helm of the ship — for now. Helton said that the team has done a good job of bouncing back from the recent home loss and getting back to work on the practice field. 

Offensive coordinator Graham Harrell spoke to USC’s inconsistent offense, which will need to limit turnovers this weekend. 

“I think consistency can obviously help with the turnovers but also, across the board, just doing your job,” Harrell said. “We move the ball really well up and down [the field] and then get killed because of one small inconsistent play.”

The Arizona State offense is led by true freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has rushed for 273 yards this season. USC has struggled to control mobile quarterbacks, and Daniels will put the Trojan defense to the test. 

USC defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast said one of the biggest takeaways from the Oregon game that USC will have to improve against ASU is second half mistakes. 

USC is No. 130 — dead last in the nation — in forcing opponents into three-and-outs. To solve that, the Trojans will need to be precise in their assignments, execute and finish tackles, which they have struggled with occasionally this year. 

USC is led by a true freshman quarterback of its own: Kedon Slovis. Slovis will continue to work on reading the field this week, and Harrell said his quarterback must play smart against the Sun Devils and not try to make plays that aren’t there. 

“He has to have a sense [that] taking a sack is not always the worst thing, or throwing the football away is not always the worst thing,” Harrell said. 

The Trojans’ offense this season has been driven by its wide receivers. Senior Michael Pittman Jr., redshirt junior Tyler Vaughns and sophomore Amon-Ra St. Brown have kept USC in several games this year, and the Sun Devils know they’ll have to slow them down this weekend. 

“They have a good wide receiving corps, so we all have to be on our A-game,” Arizona State sophomore safety Aashari Crosswell told AZ Central. “They’re playmakers, all three of them.”

The Trojans plan to keep it simple, though, as they have all season. Despite the big loss last weekend, USC is preparing for this upcoming matchup as it would for any other game. 

“They’re a talented group, they do a lot of different things defensively to try to trick you,” Slovis said of ASU. “But as we’ve said all year, if we execute, we’ll be successful.” 

This upcoming game will take place just days after USC announced the hiring of its new athletic director, Mike Bohn. The hire marks a new chapter for USC Athletics, and perhaps the Trojans will gain some much-needed stability both on and off the field. 

It will be Bohn’s decision to keep or release Helton, and unless USC can crack the Pac-12 championship game and make a run at the Rose Bowl, many expect Bohn will ultimately choose the latter. 

Helton must start winning if he wants a better chance to keep his job, starting this weekend.

The game kicks off in Sun Devil Stadium at 12:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ABC.