Los Angeles, CA. Kickoff at 7:30 PST. Going into the game, USC Football was (4-0) and Arizona State was (1-3). After a startling game in Corvallis last week, USC went back home to play a game in the coliseum against the Sun Devils. USC quarterback Caleb Williams is looking to bounce back after a poor performance against Oregon State last weekend. On the defensive side of the ball, USC linebacker Eric Gentry is playing an homecoming game against his former team Arizona State. In this article, I will give a game recap of USC vs ASU.
First Half Recap of USC vs ASU
During the first half of the USC Trojans’ game against Arizona State, both teams scored heavily. USC had a 21-17 lead against ASU going into the half.
USC’s rushing defense struggled to stop running backs Daniyel Ngata and Xazavian Valladay of ASU. All season long, USC’s defense has played horrible against opposing running backs. In the first half, Arizona State scored two touchdowns against the Trojans. The first one came when USC linebacker Shane Lee was unable to defend an open wide receiver, and the second touchdown came after the inability of the defense to stop ASU quarterback Emory Jones from running into the end-zone.
On offense, USC quarterback Caleb Williams came back from last week to play a great game against ASU. Caleb Williams was able to pass and rush effectively against Arizona State’s offense. Caleb threw two touchdowns against the ASU defense: one touchdown to wide receiver Mario Williams and the other to Tight End Malcolm Epps. During the first half, multiple USC receivers were able to link up with Caleb Williams. At the end of the first half, four USC receivers had 40 plus yards: Jordan Addison, Brenden Rice, Mario Williams, and Kyron Hudson.
Second Half Recap of USC vs ASU
In the second half, USC’s defense came back and played remarkably against Arizona State. USC’s defense only gave up one touchdown against the opposing Arizona State defense. Also, it should be noted that the only reason ASU scored a touchdown in the second half was due to a bad pass interference call by the referees. At the end of the game, defensive back Calen Bullock sealed the victory with an interception late in the fourth quarter.
Alex Grinch has been vocal about his view of what went wrong in the first half of the game for the Trojans. In an interview after the ASU game, Grinch said “you will get punished when you have a gap. It doesn’t matter what the jersey on the other side looks like”. Grinch wasn’t afraid to speak his mind when he said “I was obviously disappointed with how we played football tonight”. It is clear here that Alex Grinch did not believe that the Trojans defense played to their potential. Going forward, I think Grinch will make changes to strengthen USC’s defense.
All in all USC’s offense played consistently well throughout the game. Caleb Williams threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns. Former Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison was the best receiver against ASU, compiling 105 receiving yards during the course of the night. It is encouraging to see that both Williams and Addison were able to make the adjustments necessary to excel against Arizona State, following poor performances against Oregon State.
USC ended the game with a 42-25 victory over Arizona State. Next week, USC will take on Washington State back at the coliseum in an effort to remain undefeated.
For More Great Football Content
Follow us on Twitter at @GridironHeroics for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Football news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE
For More Great Football Content
Follow us on Twitter at @GridironHeroics for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Football news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE
