Arizona State 43, USC 22 (final)
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No championships were won for Arizona State on Saturday night, but Sun Devils football Coach Dennis Erickson got a Gatorade shower anyway.
USC’s dominance of Arizona State is over.
The Trojans, who had won 11 straight over the Sun Devils -- the last loss, 26-15 in 1999 -- were crushed under the weight of their own mistakes in the second half.
USC sputtered on offense in the first half, managing just three field goals. And while the Trojans moved the ball at will for much of the second half, they had a lot of trouble keeping it.
Turnovers on three consecutive possessions -- two fumbles and an interception -- led to 22 unanswered points by Arizona State after USC had taken a 22-21 lead.
USC’s five possessions to start the second half:
Six plays, 65 yards for a touchdown.
Nine plays, 80 yards for a touchdown.
Two plays, 24 yards ending in a fumble.
Ten plays, 73 yards ending in a fumble.
One play -- an interception returned 41 yards for an Arizona State touchdown.
Arizona State quarterback Brock Osweiler was terrific, completing 25 of 32 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. Cameron Marshall did the ground work, rushing for 141 yards and three touchdowns in 25 carries.
Matt Barkley completed 21 of 33 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown for USC. But he also lost a fumble and had two passes intercepted -- one that was returned 41 yards for a touchdown by Corona Centennial High product Shelly Lyons.
Marc Tyler led USC in rushing with 149 yards and a touchdown in 22 carries, but he also lost a fumble.
Robert Woods had eight catches for 131 yards.
Arizona State 43, USC 22 (6:37 left in the fourth quarter)
The Sun Devils have used USC’s third turnover of the second half to turn a close game into a rout.
With his leg in the grasp of Arizona State defensive end Jamarr Jarrett, Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley threw a floater and Sun Devils linebacker Shelly Lyons grabbed it and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown. Arizona State 36, USC 22 (6:48 left in fourth quarter)
Brock Osweiler used to be a highly regarded basketball player.
Now he’s a pretty darn good quarterback.
The 6-foot-8, 240-pound junior is having a field day against USC. He has completed 24 of 31 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns.
He completed four of five passes for 46 yards on an 11-play, 82-yard march that might have spelled the end for USC.
Cameron Marshall finished the drive with a four-yard touchdown run.
Arizona State 28, USC 22 (early in the fourth quarter)
USC has three turnovers -- all in Arizona State territory.
The latest came at the Sun Devil 14-yard line, when Matt Barkley fumbled after getting hit from behind by defensive end Greg Smith. Tackle Bo Moos recovered.
USC has moved the ball at will in the second half, but has two costly turnovers in its last two possessions.
Arizona State 28, USC 22 (start of fourth quarter)
USC is having no trouble moving the ball against Arizona State in the second half, and the Trojans’ defense just came up with a key stop.
It had to because Marc Tyler, who ran for yardage in large chunks throughout the third quarter, fumbled at the end of a 17-yard gain late in the quarter.
Arizona State linebackere Colin Parker stripped Tyler of the ball and the fumble was recovered by cornerback Deveron Carr.
The Sun Devils couldn’t move on offense, though, and now USC has the ball back and in its first three plays has moved from its own nine-yard line to the 29.
Arizona State 28, USC 22
USC’s first lead of the game didn’t last long.
Two minutes 30 seconds to be exact.
That’s how much game time it took Arizona State to drive 76 yards in eight plays, with Cameron Marshall scoring on a three-yard run.
Quarterback Brock Osweiler completed five of six passes for 51 yards on the drive.
USC 22, Arizona State 21 (6:41 left in the third quarter)
Matt Barkley got it going on USC’s first possession of the second half.
Marc Tyler got it going on the Trojans’ second possession.
Tyler had 26 yards in 11 carries in the first half. He ran for 55 yards in six carries, including a 10-yard touchdown, as USC just took its first lead of the game.
The Trojans have scored two touchdowns in 15 second-half plays.
Tyler was stopped just shy of the goal line on a two-point conversion try.
Arizona State 21, USC 16 (early third quarter)
New life for USC’s offense.
Turned away for only field goals in the first half, USC needed just six plays to score a touchdown on its first possession of the second half.
Quarterback Matt Barkley completed all five of his passes on the drive, the last a 24-yard strike to freshman wide receiver Marqise Lee.
Arizona State 21, USC 9 (halftime)
Some halftime statistics:
USC is averaging 2.4 yards a carry with Marc Tyler leading with 26 yards rushing in 11 carries.
Matt Barkley has completed 10 of 17 passes for 106 yards with one interception. Robert Woods has a relatively tame three catches for 73 yards.
Arizona State’s Brock Osweiler has completed 13 of 16 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns. He’s connected with six different receivers.
Cameron Marshall leads the rushing attack with 93 yards in 10 carries -- 70 of those yards on a touchdown run.
Arizona State is three of seven on third down. USC is zero for six.
--Mike Hiserman
Arizona State 21, USC 9 (Halftime)
Where would USC be without Andre Heidari?
The freshman from Bakersfield kicked a 33-yard field goal with 47 seconds left in the first half to keep the Trojans within striking distance.
It was the third field goal of the game for Heidari.
USC has failed to capitalize on a long punt return by Nickell Robey and a long pass completion from Matt Barkley to Robert Woods.
Arizona State 21, USC 6 (late second quarter)
USC blew an opportunity to get back into the game after Nickell Robey returned a punt 45 yards to the Arizona State 13-yard line.
On second and nine from the 12, Arizona State linebacker Vontaze Burfict intercepted a pass by Matt Barkley and returned it 36 yards.
That gave Arizona State quarterback Brock Osweiler an opportunity to find his rhythm.
Osweiler completed five of six passes, including a three-yard touchdown strike to receiver Jamal Miles with 2:07 left in the half.
Arizona State 14, USC 6 (midway second quarter)
USC drove 67 yards in 13 plays and pulled to within eight points on Andre Heidari’s 29-yard field goal.
The Trojans nearly scored a touchdown, but Sun Devils cornerback Deveron Carr tipped away what would have been a 12-yard scoring pass from Matt Barkley to Robert Woods.
Barkley and Woods earlier connected on a 12-yard pass on a fourth-and-seven play that kept alive the drive.
Arizona State 14, USC 3 (early in second quarter)
A dust storm foiled a late first-quarter possession by USC and Trojans penalties enabled Arizona State to increase its lead.
Safety T.J. McDonald’s second personal foul of the game gave Arizona State a first down at the USC 20-yard line.
Three plays later, Sun Devils running back Cameron Marshall appeared to fumble, the ball recovered by USC defensive lineman George Uko. But a review of the play showed that Marshall’s knee had hit the ground before he lost the ball.
On third and goal from the two, quarterback Brock Osweiler passed to the corner of the end zone, where 6-foot-4 receiver Gerell Robinson outmuscled 5-8 Nickell Robey for the ball and a touchdown.
Arizona State 7, USC 3 (5:42 left in first quarter)
The second time is apparently the charm.
USC kicker Andre Heidari missed a 46-yard field-goal attempt, but Arizona State was penalized for being offside.
Heidari got another chance from 41 yards and nailed it to pull the Trojans to within four points.
Arizona State 7, USC 0 (early first quarter)
Well, that’s not exactly the way USC wanted to start.
Arizona State tailback Cameron Marshall took a handoff from quarterback Brock Osweiler, ran to his left and then bounced outside around the end on his way to a 70-yard touchdown.
USC safety Jawanza Starling had a clean shot at Marshall at the 20-yard line, but missed the tackle.
Osweiler scrambled for a first down to set up the scoring play.
--Gary Klein