Springing the Trap : Arizona State Takes Advantage of USC’s Blitz, Which Had Worked Against Penn State

USC fell into several traps against Arizona State on Saturday at the Coliseum.

Not only were the Trojans upset, 32-25, they were fooled on three key plays.

Arizona State had an 11-3 lead in the second quarter when tailback George Montgomery ran 43 yards for a touchdown.

It was a third-and-five situation, normally a passing down, and Montgomery said the Trojans were in a virtual eight-man line, with the defensive backs crowding the linemen.

“It was a ‘Chicago’ defense,” said Montgomery, who was running alone after he burst through the line.

“I wasn’t even touched. I took two steps and nobody was in front of me. We knew they’d be blitzing a lot, so we were working all week on trap plays to bust open something big.”

USC’s blitzing tactics disrupted and confused Penn State last week in a 21-10 victory. The Sun Devils took note of the tactic and profited from it.

Montgomery, who gained 136 yards in 22 carries, scored later in the second quarter on an eight-yard run, another trap play, as Arizona State took a 25-10 lead.

A 20-yard run by Montgomery preceded the touchdown. Up the middle, of course, on a trap play.

“I think our offensive line was the key to the game,” said Montgomery, a 6-foot-1, 204-pound junior. “I felt they really dominated, especially in the first half.”

Montgomery, who grew up in Gary, Ind., said he was enthralled as a youngster watching the USC-Notre Dame games.

“It was always something big,” he said.

Montgomery said he was recruited by several schools, including UCLA, before choosing Arizona State.

Last season, 18 Sun Devil starters were inactive at various times because of injuries and 27 players had to have surgery.

All of this contributed to a 4-7 record.

“We were a patched-up team,” Montgomery said, “but I knew coming into the season we would be a better team.”

It was Montgomery’s first 100-yard rushing day, and the unbeaten Sun Devils, who were a consensus pick to finish no higher than eighth in Pacific 10 Conference, could be a factor now.

Arizona State will play Nebraska next Saturday in Tempe, Ariz., and the Sun Devil players seem calm about their improved status.

“It will just be business,” said split end Eric Guliford of the Nebraska game.

“Today’s win gives us a lot of confidence. I think we earned some respect.”

He added that the Sun Devils lined up in formations to take advantage of USC’s blitzing schemes.

Larry Marmie, who is in his fourth season as Arizona State’s coach, also was calm about the victory even though his job is reportedly in jeopardy because of a three-plus year record of 18-16-1.

However, he acknowledged the significance of the game when he said: “You check the record. I’m sure not a lot of teams come in here and beat USC.”

Memphis State already had done it this season.

“Offensively, I though the key play was our touchdown (that made the score 25-10) at the end of the first half. I’m just very proud of our team,” Marmie said.

“We expected a lot of pressure from the USC defense, so we knew we’d have to get rid of the ball fairly quickly. A lot of quick pass plays worked well for us.

“We knew they had a great pressure defense, and we wanted to stay out of long-yardage situations.”

Arizona State had 456 yards to USC’s 350, thanks in large part to those trap plays.

“With USC’s pressure, it was part of our game plan to pop something in there and maybe get some big gains on the traps,,” Marmie said.

“We did the trap primarily when they were in their blitz game.”