Arizona State Sun Devils

ASU Football: Arizona State at USC Preview

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Arizona State, off to their best start since 2007, heads into to the Coliseum to face an underachieving USC team in a big Pac-12 South divisional game.

The Sun Devils are coming off a 51-41 win vs Cal, outscoring the Golden Bears 41-17 in the second half to pick up their first conference win of the season. Manny Wilkins had another great performance, combining for 362 total yards and four total touchdowns, but it was really the defense who stepped up big.

The defense essentially put the game on ice as Laiu Moeakiola returned a Davis Webb interception to the house to give the Sun Devils a 10 point lead with less than three minutes remaining. D.J. Calhoun secured the victory for ASU, returning an onside kick 42 yards for a touchdown.

It was another sluggish first half for the Sun Devils, but once again they made adjustments at halftime and came out as a new football team. Halftime adjustments, something they didn’t do enough of last season, have been highly effective and successful, playing a part in all four wins.

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The Sun Devils head to Los Angeles for a crucial game vs USC. The Trojans, ranked No. 20 in the preseason rankings, have failed to live up to expectations as they are 1-3 and 0-2 in conference play. USC is coming off a tight loss at Utah as it took a late touchdown from the Utes to down the Trojans.

USC’s offense is led by quarterback Sam Darnold, who threw for 253 yards in his first start of the season, and running back Justin Davis, who rushed for a game-high 126 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster also had eight receptions for 98 yards last week versus Utah.

Despite their poor start, there is still elite talent on this USC team. The aforementioned Smith-Schuster is the star player on offense while Adoree’ Jackson headlines the USC defense. Jackson is an extremely gifted defensive back, who also has a knack of creating big plays as the kick returner. Jackson returned a kickoff 100 yards last week versus Utah after the Utes scored the first points of the game.

USC is very tough to beat at home, and it’s going to be crucial for Arizona State to get off to a quick start. After the game last week, Wilkins said the onus was on him for the offense’s slow starts. As the games get tighter and more meaningful, it’s a risky proposition to keep relying on strong second halves to get a victory.

ASU needs to establish a running game early. Demario Richard is work-horse running back for the Sun Devils and will get the majority of the carries, with Ballage coming in as a power and goal-line back. Ballage should be good to go this week after missing a large portion of the game with an injury.

The defense should have a good game as they face an inexperienced quarterback. The Sun Devils will have to be timely on their blitzes, but a big improvement this season is their 4-man pressures. Last season, ASU had to rely on six to seven players to put any pressure on the quarterback. The defensive line has been stellar this season, and will need to keep up their high performances.

Prediction:

Arizona State 34, USC 27. For Arizona State’s standards, this will be a low-scoring game. It will be a back-and-forth game, but Arizona State’s offense is clicking on all cylinders and the balanced attack will be too much to handle for USC. The defense will make the necessary plays and will get multiple sacks on Sam Darnold.

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