Trojans settle down to beat Arizona State

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (News4usonline) – After playing two quarters against Arizona State, No. 7 USC was clearly locked in a tight Pac-12 matchup with the Sun Devils at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Trojans walked into halftime, holding a 21-17 lead.

The Sun Devils were fighting the Trojans tooth and nail in the first half. It seemed like every time that USC would score, Arizona State would counter. All of that changed in the second half. The Trojans gave up just eight points to pull away from Arizona State and earn a 42-25 win.

After the game, USC coach Lincoln Riley was just happy his team was able to pull away with the win.

“We’re really excited about the win; it’s great to be 5-0,” Riley said in a postgame press conference. “It was a game of momentum. We had some momentum early, but we didn’t do a very good job finishing in the first half. We didn’t stop them, and they had that huge touchdown pass called back.

Riley continued, “They had a chance to get some separation there, and that didn’t happen. So just a few too many errors. I’m proud of the way we played in the third quarter. The offensive drives were quality. We really stopped them defensively, and we challenged their guys.”

The story of the game for the Trojans was the play of their defense in the third and fourth quarters. The Trojans blanked the Sun Devils in the third quarter and only allowed eight points in the fourth period. This allowed USC to get separation in the Pac-12 Conference game.

Kyron Hudson’s first TD of the season!

?: @ESPN
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— USC Football ?? (@uscfb) October 2, 2022

The Trojans had to wait until the fourth quarter when they scored two touchdowns to eventually put the game away. Before then, however, it was almost anyone’s guess who would come away victorious. The Trojans have played two straight tough Pac-12 games, with more to come.

USC travels to play a 4-1 Washington State team before coming back home to play the Utah Utes, the preseason pick to win the Pac-12 title. Riley didn’t quite like the way his ballclub played in the first half against the Sun Devils, but he’ll take the win.     

“We didn’t play the way we needed to in the first half,” Riley said. “We didn’t play that attacking, relentless style that we want to play on both sides. Our offense had some really good quality drives, but it just wasn’t quite us. It wasn’t the edge that we’re used to playing with and that we expect to play with.”

“I thought our guys responded well in the third quarter and made some key plays when it mattered to win the game,” Riley added. “ Lots to improve on, no question about it. We’re going to have to build and have to play a lot better. We’ve got some really good opponents coming up, so we certainly need to improve.”

Defensively, the Trojans gave up 243 yards through the air to Arizona State quarterback Emory Jones. The Sun Devils were also able to run the ball effectively, going for 123 yards on the ground. The Trojans’ saving grace was having quarterback Caleb Williams, who passed for 348 yards and three touchdowns in the game.

Williams also added another 52 yards running the football. Coming into the game, Williams said his mindset was no different than any other game this season.  

“Same mindset I always have,” Williams remarked after the game. “Sometimes things just don’t go your way. We’re still 5-0, so I went through the week how I normally go through the week. Going over the game plan, watched some film, consistently studied them and our game plan, and tried to help prepare myself and the guys for the week. Just focusing on being more consistent, and getting a few more reps. Getting some extra reps isn’t extra if you need it; we needed it obviously. We got a few more extra passes with the wide receivers, a few more reps throughout the week with the O-line, running backs, and it paid off.”

On several plays, Williams managed to escape Arizona State defenders from making sacks with his ability to create space with his feet.

“I thought he played well,” said Riley. “I thought he saw the field well, with very minimal mistakes. He did a great job in some of the scramble situations again and got us out of trouble a couple of times. Him being able to evade people in the pocket the last two weeks have been really impressive. I thought he really threw the ball well tonight. The balls were on target, on the money, and gave our guys a lot of chances to make plays. So he was a tremendous playmaker.”