The anatomy of ASU’s defeat in the closing minutes against USC

With 2:59 to go in the game on Saturday afternoon, ASU had USC on a fourth-and-13 at the 26-yard line and led by 13 points. The broadcasters were talking about how good the Sun Devils’ defense had been.

Then the Trojans scored a 26-yard tip touchdown. From that point on, ASU allowed two touchdowns in less than two minutes and could not complete a drive downfield to regain the lead.

ASU fell 28-27 to USC in the opening game of the season.

While the Sun Devils dominated for the majority of the game, there were cracks throughout. They were impacted by injuries, including to cornerback Jack Jones and wide receiver Frank Darby, the latter of whom did not play in the second half. The defense gave up 556 total yards, but had managed to hold USC to 14 points until the final minutes of the fourth quarter due to timely interceptions and sacks.

These struggles culminated in the closing drives, when ASU gave up 14 points and couldn’t find a passing game of their own.

When the Trojans stopped allowing ASU to take advantage of their mistakes — and maybe got a little luck, with that fourth-and-13 touchdown — they snatched back a game that looked to be firmly in Sun Devil control.

On that touchdown, Kedon Slovis had a free play due to an offsides call. He tossed it up to Amon-Ra St. Brown in the end zone, who tipped the ball up. His former high school teammate, Bru McCoy, came down with the first touchdown of his collegiate career.

Then, without any timeouts remaining, USC elected to go for the onside kick. The ball bounced off Ricky Pearsall’s hand and the Trojans recovered.

“With about four minutes left, we had multiple chances to get off the field,” ASU head coach Herm Edwards said. “We had an onside kick, they recover it, then they score.”

ASU gave up some yardage but again found themselves in favorable position. A false start pushed USC back to fourth-and-nine from the 21, and the Trojans were down to their last gasp.

Slovis threw a perfect dart to Drake London in the end zone, who caught it between two Sun Devils.

“(Kejuan) Markham was in really good shape. Just went for it with the wrong hand … and it was a great throw,” Edwards said.

“The throw was right on time on the fourth-down situation — you break that up, you get the ball and you probably can milk the clock and win it. But that was not the case.”

These missed opportunities weren’t only at the end of the game. In the first half, Kyle Soelle dropped an interception and USC scored later in the drive. It was a play that was quickly overlooked when ASU took back the lead and extended it in the second half, but Edwards hadn’t forgotten about it after the one-point loss.

So, come the fourth quarter, the Trojans are within striking position. They recover an onside kick and score. ASU has 1:20 to get the ball back downfield and in position for Cristian Zendejas to kick a field goal.

The problem was, ASU was ill-equipped in the passing game.

As good as Slovis was, finishing 40-for-55 with 381 yards, ASU’s Jayden Daniels struggled through the air. He went 11-for-23 with 134 yards, and 55 of those yards were on a single short catch-and-run that resulted in a touchdown.

ASU’s ground game dominated, with three players rushing for more than 75 yards, but the team was unable to rely on that in a situation where time was of the essence.

Then, without Darby, ASU had no experience in the receiver corps.

“At the end of the day, they had a game plan, we had a game plan, we didn’t want to turn over the ball and didn’t want to force anything and we wanted to take what the defense gave us,” Daniels said.

Yet ASU’s drive started strong, with two straight apparent completions. The Sun Devils lined up, took the snap on second-and-three and completed the first down.

Then the whistle blew.

The second completion was under review. Unbeknownst to the players on the field, the referees had wanted to review the second catch made by Geordon Porter. It was overturned.

Offensive coordinator Zak Hill expressed confusion after the game about that call.

“We were definitely talking about that after the game. We got that first completion, we got things rolling, and then all of a sudden they’re reviewing a play that was happening two plays earlier. … I don’t know how that happens,” he said.

“It is what it is. It took us out of some momentum, and we tried to recover from there … game over.”

Pushed back, ASU lost its momentum. Daniels, who finished three game-winning drives last season, could not complete another pass.

The Sun Devils gave up their 13-point lead and fell apart in the final four minutes.

That overturned play wasn’t the reason they lost, and Hill didn’t try to make it out to be. ASU ran out of big defensive stops. Darby’s absence appeared to hurt them. Most importantly, USC got hot and the Sun Devils continued allowing big yardage, which had been a theme throughout the game, not just in the closing minutes.

“You’ve got to make the plays. You guys watched the game, it wasn’t like we weren’t in position to make the plays,” Edwards said. “It’s just that you have to make the plays when they present themselves.”

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