Trojans carve up Arizona State 44-24

TEMPE, Arizona – If you were looking for the ultimate Trojan Thanksgiving Day feast, then your USC Trojans (9-2, 6-2 Pac-10) provided all the trimmings, as the Men of Troy carved up the Pac-10 leading Arizona State Devils (9-2, 6-2 Pac-10) 44-24 in front of 71,706 stunned and angry Sun Devil fans.

The impressive win by Pete Carroll’s boys propelled the Trojans deep into the Rose Bowl picture and possible Fiesta Bowl insurance if Oregon beats UCLA on Saturday and the Trojans defeat the Bruins on Dec.1. On this night, the Trojans showed the nation, thanks to ESPN’s request to play on Turkey Day, why they were once considered the heavy odds-on favorite to win the BCS national title.

Thursday was a Trojan whipping of Arizona State in every sense of the word. Although it was an offensive fireworks extravaganza by both teams in the first half, the Cardinal and Gold sealed the deal in the second half by schooling Dennis Erickson’s Cinderella Sun Devils in every way possible. For Pete Carroll, it all came together on Thanksgiving evening, serving notice to the country that his powerful program is alive and kicking. And kicking is what they did to ASU, knocking the Sun Devils into a tie with the Trojans for first place in the Pac-10 standings.

“This was really a sweet win,” Pete Carroll said afterwards. “We’ve been looking forward to the time where we really felt we were all together and had everything going in the right direction. We had a sense it would happen, and it is just a great statement for our guys that they know we’re capable of playing great football.

“The week off helped us get all the pieces in place again. It’s taken awhile to get back. This was the No. 6 team in the country, and we would love to have people wonder who really is the best team in the nation at the end of the year.”

There was no disagreement from Arizona State head coach Dennis Erickson.

“They played like they haven’t played all year, and obviously they’re healthy,” Erickson said. “But the bottom line is they did a nice job of preparing and a good job of coaching. They played hard and we didn’t play well.”

The Trojans made mincemeat out of the Sun Devils as the Steve Sarkisian’s offense and Nick Holt’s defense flexed their muscles. The Trojans dominated in total offense 508-259, while the Cardinal and Gold tightened the screws at halftime and shut down ASU for the balance of the second half.

How efficient were the Trojans on offense on Thursday? In six trips into the red zone, the Trojans scored six times.

The Trojans’ defense certainly flexed its considerable muscle holding the ASU ground game to only 16 yards, marking its lowest total since a 24-yard total in the Coliseum back in 2004.

“We played to the best of our ability,” said Lawrence Jackson, the Trojans’ senior defensive end who had a sterling four-sack evening. For the evening, the Trojans had eight sacks.

“Tonight, we played a team that was more like an NFL team. They ran longer pass routes and it takes time for plays to develop. We didn’t have to play those pitch-and-watch teams. We knew that they were going to throw the ball deep and we took advantage of the rush.”

The Trojans’ defensive line was ferocious and the Sun Devils knew they had met their Pac-10 makers.

“Credit USC’s defensive line,” said Rudy Burgess, ASU’s all-purpose offensive standout. “They played a good game. They were able to get to our quarterback, and Rudy wasn’t able to get the ball off in time.

“Everything we planned for the season they did. They just out hustled us in the defensive line aspect. It was hard to regain momentum after they got up on us. We were just unable to get back and come out on top.”

The Trojans were led on defense by junior Kaluka Maiava, who was making his first meaningful start, with ten tackles, and, of course, senior Lawrence Jackson who had eight tackles to go along with those four sacks.

Nobody had a bigger night than returning All-Pac-10 senior quarterback John David Booty, who had his own Thanksgiving gridiron meal compliments of the ASU defense. Booty (26-of-39) passed for 375 impressive yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Was this John David Booty’s best game in his Trojan career?

“I feel I’ve had better games in consistency,” Booty said. “As far as yardage and the magnitude of tonight’s game, I think it ranks right up there. I just want to help our team win.”

John David could sense that tonight’s performance was in the making, as the Trojans looked again like that preseason top-ranked team that so many expected to see in New Orleans in January.

“We have been counted out in so many ways,” Booty said. “We’ve had so many injuries and a bulls eye on our backs. Our young receivers had to be brought along and our seniors have hung together. With only one game left, a lot can happen. Tonight, we couldn’t have written it any better. We kind of jelled this week.”

The Trojans elected to ride the torrid arm of their senior quarterback rather than pound away with their running game.

“We didn’t necessarily come out to pass, “Booty said. “ It just kind of just turned out that way.”

As for Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter, who was 21-of-30 for 240 yards, it was a gruesome night of punishment, as the Trojans’ defense saw blood in the water and came in search of quarterback prey.

“I felt the same really as every other week,” Carpenter said in discussing the status of his body. “They (USC) came to hit tonight. That’s is one thing they did do. They hit me and they hit me good. They’re a good team.

“USC is so deep. They are deep on both sides of the ball, offense and defense. They rotate so many plays and they rotate so many guys. They’re fresh. They had a great game plan and those guys played really hard. Tonight, we were just a little overmatched.”

Quite a statement from Rudy Carpenter considering his Sun Devils earlier destroyed Stanford 41-3 in Palo Alto while the Trojan blew away the football world with a stunning 24-23 loss in the Coliseum.

At least for this game, the Trojans rushing attack was returned to the mediocre vault. Both teams mounted unimpressive rushing attacks as the Trojans were held to 133 yards on the ground. On this night, the air game was the clear road to a victory here in the desert.

“We didn’t need to run tonight because the opportunity to pass was there,” Pete Carroll said.

For the record, the Trojans’ leading rusher was senior Chauncey Washington, who had 81 yards. ASU was lead by sophomore Dimitri Nance, who had a whopping 23 rushing yards. Neither team demonstrated any proficiency although the Trojans at least looked capable.

In the end, it was a team effort, and quite a night for Trojans’ senior tight end Fred Davis, who lead all receivers with five receptions for 119 yards, including one sterling 34-yard touchdown pass in which he broke tackles and sprinted into the end zone, putting the final dagger in the Sun Devils in a third quarter that saw the Trojans ring up 17 points.

“We’re now in Rose Bowl contention,” Fred Davis said in the Trojans’ locker room. “ Tonight puts us back in the race. It was great to go out and make plays.

“Tonight was a good, solid win against a pretty good second half team. Everybody tonight was great and making plays. We felt their secondary was soft and they weren’t good tacklers. They tend to get down when they’re behind. When we have a bye week to prepare for another team, it’s a wrap.”

Despite all the positives, the Trojan continued to hurt themselves with head-scratching penalties such as delay of game on a kickoff. For the evening, the Trojans, who rank last in the Pac-10 in penalty yardage, managed 74 more yards. For the season, the Trojans came into Thursday night’s game averaging 67.7 yards per game.

You knew in the first half the type of game the Trojans were into. In the first half both teams accounted for 44 points in offense and a total of 401 offensive yards. The first half breakdown saw the Trojans dominate on total offense 269-132, as John David Booty had 227 yards passing (17-of-24) for a touchdown and no interceptions.

The first half was tight because the Trojans gave up a kickoff return touchdown by ASU’s Rudy Burgess and then hurt their cause badly with another half of lethal penalties. As for those costly first half penalties, the Trojans had 59 yards in flags compared to the Sun Devils 10 yards. You do the math. At this rate, the Trojans were aiming for the century mark in yellow cloth.

One thing this ASU team as done all season is not quit. It was a reminder that Pete Carroll needed to address at halftime.

The Trojans opened the game in fine fashion by marching 51 yards in seven plays with sophomore receiver Vidal Hazelton all alone in the back of the end zone to take a 7-0 lead over the Sun Devils, thanks to a David Buehler extra point.

Turn around was fair play as ASU senior Rudy Burgess took the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. Even though the play was reviewed for a possible out-of-bounds violation, the play stood. With a Thomas Weber extra point, the game was tied 7-7, and fans were still digesting their turkey dinners. It was a wild beginning to be sure. Not the type of beginning the Trojans were hoping for.

Continuing the first quarter scoring binge, the Trojans continued to assault the Sun Devil defense by moving 45 yards in eight plays, capped by a 42-yard field goal by David Buehler. The fans were still getting seated and the Men of Troy were already up 10-7.

Buehler again was magnificent, as his three field goal night would attest.

“We came together as a team tonight,” Buehler said. “We knew everybody in the country was watching us. Our seniors really made a point of getting us going. You know guys like Sam Baker and T-Will (Thomas Williams.) This is my favorite stadium to kick in. The uprights are really high and the kicking surface is like a putting green. It’s just ridiculous.”

Like a runaway train, the Trojans’ offense was relentless in the opening quarter as Pete Carroll’s offensive unit went 54 yards in seven plays as Booty found fullback Stanley Havili, who bullied his way into the end zone for a 5-yard scoring reception. For whatever reason, the Trojan offense was in high gear and the first quarter was just less than half over. At 17-7 the writing was on the wall, at least up to this point.

“Tonight we executed on offense,” said junior offensive guard Chilo Rachal. “We stayed consistent and kept scoring. It was a real physical game and only one team could come out with the victory. We need to hit the practice field on Monday and get ready for UCLA.”

Again, ASU didn’t take much time in answering the Trojans’ dominance as the Sun Devils sliced and diced Nick Holt’s defense for 74 yards in 12 plays with Rudy Carpenter connecting with wide receiver Michael Jones for a 4-yard scoring strike. Weber added the extra point and the Sun Devils were back at the Trojans down 17-14.

The first quarter ended with the emphasis on offense, as the Trojans had 153 yards to ASU’s 63 yards. Trojan penalties and a special teams blunder allowed the Sun Devils to erase whatever advantage the Cardinal and Gold had in the first stanza.

Beginning the second quarter, ASU maintained its offensive mastery with the Trojans’ defense by moving 60 yards in ten plays to knot the game at 17-17 courtesy of a 25-yard field goal by the Pac-10’s finest in Thomas Weber. At this point, one questioned whether either team was defensively ready for the offensive onslaught that each club was bringing. It was probably a wakeup for Pete Carroll’s club.

The Trojans managed to continue hammering the Sun Devil defense by moving to a field goal themselves as David Buehler knocked home a 20-yard field goal to increase the USC lead to 20-17 with five minutes left in the half.

Not done yet, Steve Sarkisian’s offense left a lasting first half statement with 54-yard drive in six plays with John David Booty getting the surprise call from a yard out. With Buehler’s extra point, the critical drive sent the Trojans into their locker room with a 27-17 margin.

The second half saw the Trojans continue their scoring attack, taking their first possession and moving 35 yards in six plays, scoring again on David Buehler’s third field goal of the evening, a 37-yard effort. The Trojans increased their lead to 30-17 with tons of time remaining in the third quarter.

Not even seemingly taking a breath, the Trojan poured it on with 6:24 left in the third quarter by going 53 yards in nine plays as John David Booty found freshman tailback Joe McKnight out of the backfield for a 7-yard scoring reception. With David Buehler’s leg still in tact with so much activity, SC expanded their lead to 37-17. The defense continued to shut down the Sun Devils.

“We stopped their run and made them a one-dimensional team,” nose tackle Sedrick Ellis said.

Adding insult to injury, the Trojans eliminated any doubt about this baby late in the third quarter when Booty drove his team 71 yards in seven plays to make the statements of statements by completing a 34-yard touchdown to tight end Fred Davis, who broke tackles along the path to the “house.” At his point it was 44-17, and Sun Devil fans wanted to know what their chances were of being selected for their backyard Fiesta Bowl. Cinderella had finally been exposed and the underachieving Trojans had finally flexed their muscles big time.

Even halfway into the fourth quarter and the game decided, ASU did keep pushing. Following a blocked Greg Woidneck punt, the Sun Devils moved 20 yards in six plays with Dimitri Nance running it into the Trojans’ end zone from two yards out. Weber’s PAT was good, and at this point, the Trojans were still comfortably ahead 44-24.

So, the Trojans must now wait for the results of the Oregon/UCLA game on Saturday to find out if their game with the Bruins will be the big one to Pasadena. For ASU, their dreams of Pasadena are now just nightmares.

“The most frustrating thing for us is that a lot of these guys, our whole dream is to go play in the Rose Bowl,” Rudy Carpenter lamented. “We had a chance for that tonight.”

For Pete Carroll’s Trojans, the Rose Bowl is now the object of their affection and as tight end Fred Davis said, “I don’t look ahead, but I would love to play Ohio State, I have friends on that team.”

But first UCLA a week from Saturday, dear Freddie.

Trojan Pigskin Notes – The Trojans scored 17 points in the third quarter, marking the most points that ASU has allowed in the third quarter this season…The four sacks by Lawrence Jackson are the most for a Trojan since Tim Ryan did it against UCLA in 1989…After the game, linebacker Keith Rivers said he expects to start against UCLA…In honor of Thanksgiving, there was a turkey leg attached to the pitchfork of the Sun Devil, who resides in the middle of the field…Legendary rock and roll performer Little Richard performed at halftime…Defensive tackle Fili Moala suffered a mild concussion…Thursday night’s holiday game was the first Thanksgiving game since 1938. However, the Trojans have played on Thanksgiving 19 times before 1938…USC WR-S Brent Yoshida celebrated his 23rd birthday on Thursday…Referee Michael Batlan was the same referee that officiated the scorching noon game two years ago between the two teams…Although the game was listed as a sellout, there were a number of sections in the stadium that weren’t close to being filled…Temperature at kickoff was 77 degrees.