COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : USC : Sun Devils Hold an Edge in Series

Arizona State, which will play USC Saturday at the Coliseum in the Pacific 10 Conference opener for both schools, is the only team in the Pac-10 that has a series advantage over the Trojans.

Since the series started in 1978, the Sun Devils are 5-4 against USC, including a 2-1 record at the Coliseum. Arizona State, however, has lost the past two meetings between the teams--50-0 in 1988 and 13-6 last year--and has lost seven in a row to teams coached by USC’s Larry Smith.

When Smith was at Arizona, his last five teams beat Arizona State, twice knocking the Sun Devils out of the Rose Bowl and another time--in 1986--ending an unbeaten season for the Rose Bowl-bound Sun Devils.

Arizona State’s Shane Collins, a 6-foot-4, 275-pound defensive tackle and former NCAA shotput champion, was cleared to practice by doctors Monday and is expected to play Saturday. Collins, a fifth-year senior who had 11 sacks in his first two seasons, underwent major reconstructive surgery on his right knee last season and hasn’t played since Oct. 6.

Arizona State cornerback Eric Crawford, a senior from Venice High and a son of former Dodger Willie Crawford, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on the opening kickoff Saturday against Oklahoma State and is out for the season.