Oct 13, 2001
LOS ANGELES - For the second time this season, Arizona State (3-2, 0-2) was unable to secure its first Pac-10 victory on the road, falling to the Trojans of USC (2-4, 1-3) 48-17 in front of 43, 508 at the L.A. Coliseum Saturday.
A second-quarter injury to ASU starting quarterback Jeff Krohn proved to be costly for the Sun Devils, who were unable to recover from the loss of their play-caller. Krohn left the game in the second frame after injuring his ankle and did not return. In turn, USC scored three touchdowns in that same quarter, earning a commanding lead it would not relinquish.
"This is two years in a row now, and it's getting pretty old," said Krohn after the game, who split open his thumb on someone's helmet last season in the Devil-Trojan battle.
The Devils actually got on the board first on a 36-yard Mike Barth field goal that was set up by solid rushing from backs Mike Williams and Tom Pace. ASU's defense held USC scoreless through the first quarter, but the Trojan offense exploded for three scores in the second quarter.
The Trojans's first touchdown of the game was a 21-yard scoring pass from Carson Palmer to Kori Dickerson. Minutes later, Carson fired another 20-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Landrigan, giving the Trojans a 14-3 lead.
With about a minute remaining in the half, the Trojans intercepted an ASU pass and one play later, USC's Sunny Byrd ran for a three-yard touchdown to put the Trojans up 21-3. But Coach Dirk Koetter and his quick-striking offense jumped downfield in four plays to close the gap before the half.
Pace broke loose for a 33-yard scamper before the Devils called a timeout with 23 seconds. On the very next play, backup quarterback Matt Cooper hit Donnie O'Neal for a 41-yard gain to set up a Skyler Fulton four-yard TD reception just as the half ended.
The Trojans ended up running away from the Devils in the second half. "Anytime you structure your offense around your quarterback, there aren't many teams who are not going to miss a beat," Coach Koetter said.
USC attacked quickly, scoring on their very first drive of the second half on a four-yard pass from Palmer to Alex Holmes. The Devils answered with their final points of the evening on a Shaun McDonald rush for six yards to bring the score to 28-17 in favor of USC.
The Trojans broke the game open for good, scoring on their next three consecutive possessions--another Byrd rush and two David Davis field goals. USC then secured its first conference win for good with a seven-yard Darryl Poston rush at the one-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
SUN DEVIL GAME NOTES: Krohn, the nation's No. 2-rated passer, left the game early in the second quarter with a sprained right ankle...ASU rush end Terrell Suggs landed five of his six solo tackles for losses, including two sacks...Suggs is now tied for first in the Pac-10 with eight sacks...The Devils averaged 21.7 yards (9-195) per kickoff return against the Trojans...The Devils' five starting offensive lineman have totaled together 100 starts...ASU leads the Pac-10 in protecting the quarterback by only allowing five sacks so far this season...ASU ranks second in the Pac-10 and eighth in the nation in points per game (39.8 points per game).