ASU Football: Sun Devils down big at the half against USC

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

It’s not looking good for ASU football at halftime in Tempe. USC is in total control with a 31-10 lead thanks in large part to the play of quarterback Sam Darnold.

ASU linebacker DJ Calhoun sacked Darnold on the opening play of the game, but the talented Trojan signal-caller bounced back with an impressive first drive. A 32-yard dime from Darnold to Deonta Burnett made it 7-0 USC early.

After the teams traded three-and-outs, ASU’s offense finally broke through and made a big play. N’Keal Harry’s 70-yard catch set up a 39-yard field goal by Brandon Ruiz, making it 7-3 Trojans.

The game fell apart from there for the Sun Devils as their offense stalled and defense struggled.

Late in the first quarter, Darnold led a scoring drive capped off by a 42-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Vaughns, putting the Trojans up 14-3. Less than three elapsed minutes later, they were in the end zone again, this time on a 67-yard run by Ronald Jones.

Big plays were the bugaboo for the ASU defense before its defensive turnaround. Those problems returned in the first half against USC as the Trojans picked up 387 yards. The first half included plays of 32, 42, 67, 39 and 37 yards.

A 19-yard pass from Darnold to Vaughns — the pair’s second scoring connection of the half — gave USC a 28-3 lead. The Trojans seemed to take a 31-3 advantage into the halftime break after a career-long 51-yard field goal by Chase McGrath.

If not for a controversial call in ASU’s favor on Manny Wilkins’ Hail Mary bomb to Kyle Williams to end the half, ASU would’ve trailed by 28 points.

This is ASU’s largest halftime deficit of the season. It will require an immense turnaround in the second half for the Sun Devils to make a comeback.