(Photo: Dom Contini/WCSN)
TEMPE – Superstition is something so prevalent within sports that isn’t realized until the truly unusual occurs.
Arizona State Football, fresh off of two demoralizing losses to Utah and Washington State, probably wasn’t looking for a good omen to will them back into the win column, but it certainly got one on Saturday night.
On USC’s first drive of the night, junior quarterback Kedon Slovis – with little idea of what was occurring behind him – misfired a pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Kyle Ford on 3rd and 3. The Trojans decided to keep the offense on the field for fourth-and-short, but before they could run a play, there was…. a fox.
After scampering onto the field and into the stands behind the USC bench, Slovis’ pass naturally found the welcoming hands of ASU senior linebacker Kyle Soelle for his eighth interception of the year.
The appearance from the wily creature and a return to the backfield for redshirt senior running back Rachaad White gave ASU enough luck to cruise past the Trojans on Saturday night in Tempe by a score of 31-16.
“The message I sent [the players] all week was about dealing with adversity,” head coach Herm Edwards said. “They reacted the way I thought they would react. We didn’t blink on either side of the ball.”
The Sun Devils snapped a two-game losing skid that likely cost them a shot at the Pac-12 Conference Championship, but nabbed their sixth win of the season to make them bowl-eligible. It took quite a bit for the Sun Devils to find a way to squeak past the Trojans, particularly in the second half, when junior quarterback Jayden Daniels struggled to find rhythm. However, ASU’s defense was there to bail him and the offense out time and time again.
ASU led by one at 17-16 heading into the fourth quarter after coming away with a field goal from redshirt junior kicker Cristian Zendajas and nothing more. Daniels tossed his second interception of the game during that frame to make it a total of four misfires over the past two weeks, putting him at seven for the season. Sophomore running back DeaMonte Trayanum also fumbled in the contest as well.
“When you turn the ball over like we did offensively at times, that’s tough to recover from,” Edwards said. “I think our guys had the mindset that when we hit adversity, we were gonna play through it.”
On ASU’s two scoring drives in the first half, the Sun Devils turned to what has worked well for them all season: the dynamic abilities of their backfield.
A 12 play, 94-yard drive ending in Trayanum’s fifth touchdown of the year and a three play 75-yard drive capped by a 47-yard scoring dash from White allowed the Sun Devils to walk into the locker room with the lead at the half.
“We’ve been through a lot,” offensive coordinator Zak Hill said. “I thought the offense in general stepped up. It was good to get a win.”
White was the X-Factor for the Sun Devils in his return to the lineup, rushing for a career high 202 yards on the ground and three touchdowns.
“All the guys welcomed me back and the team loves me,” White said. “I give a lot of credit to the guys up front and the [wide] receivers.”
But there were certainly the same shades of inconsistency in the first half that have plagued the Sun Devils over the past couple weeks, which included turnovers and penalties. After not committing a single penalty in the first quarter, the Sun Devils were flagged three times inside their own territory, which led to 10 unanswered points for the Trojans on drives led by freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart.
One such instance, a face mask call on redshirt sophomore defensive back Jordan Clark, cost junior defensive back Kejuan Markham his second interception of the season, and more importantly a chance to get the ball back into the hands of the ASU offense.
The defense as a whole tightened up from that point forward, allowing six points in the third and shutting the Trojans out in the fourth while the offense put up 14 in the final quarter.
“We knew we had to finish it and we knew we had to pound them,” Hill said.
The difference was finding answers for the Dart-led Trojan offense that clearly differed in production from the attack headed by Slovis.
Dart was involved on drives that led to 13 of USC’s 16 points on the night, providing some help on the ground with the Trojans’ lone touchdown – a nine-yard rush into the end zone in the second frame.
“It doesn’t matter who’s in, we gotta do our job,” senior defensive tackle D.J. Davidson said. “Both quarterbacks could throw and run a little bit so it doesn’t really change much.”
On its most crucial drive of the game in the fourth quarter, USC head coach Donte Williams went with Slovis to lead the huddle in an attempt to answer a 50-yard White touchdown dash.
It didn’t work. USC went three-and-out, and White found pay dirt once more for his third score of the game to seal it.
“Our defense played lights out,” senior cornerback Chase Lucas said of the win. “I think the message was, ‘Stay with what we were doing and finish the game.’ They got us last year and it hurt, I couldn’t sleep for a couple days.”
