USC keeps Pac-10 title hopes alive
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Almost seven weeks after an unimaginable upset, Southern California is back in the Rose Bowl hunt.
John David Booty threw for 375 yards and matched a career high with 4 touchdown passes as the 11th-ranked Trojans blitzed No. 7 Arizona State 44-24 on Thursday night, reviving their bid for an unprecedented sixth straight Pac-10 title.
That seemed unlikely after then-No. 2 USC, a 41-point favorite, lost 24-23 to Stanford on Oct. 6 in one of college football's biggest stunners. But now, the talented Trojans are rolling again.
Southern California (9-2, 6-2 Pac-10) will win the Pac-10 outright if it beats UCLA on Dec. 1 and Oregon loses to UCLA or Oregon State.
The Trojans needed no help in dismantling the Sun Devils (9-2, 6-2).
USC's defense overwhelmed Arizona State, sacking quarterback Rudy Carpenter six times. Defensive end Lawrence Jackson had 4 sacks, most in a game by a Trojans player since 1989.
Southern California broke open a 17-17 game with 10 points in the final five minutes of the first half, then pulled away from the Sun Devils with 17 more points in the third quarter.
Booty hit Joe McKnight for a 7-yard touchdown midway through the quarter, then connected with Fred Davis for a 34-yard score on fourth-and-2 to give USC a 44-17 lead entering the fourth.
ASU has staged some stirring rallies this season, but the Sun Devils had no chance against USC's defense, which allows 16 points per game -- sixth in the nation. ASU rushed 27 times for zero yards through three quarters.
It was USC's eighth straight win over Arizona State.
Arizona State trailed 17-7 midway through the first quarter. It was the sixth time the Sun Devils have faced a double-digit deficit in the opening quarter, and the only time they didn't rally to win was in a Nov. 3 loss at Oregon.
The Trojans opened the game with a 7-play, 51-yard touchdown drive, scoring on a 4-yard pass from Booty to Vidal Hazelton. Booty was 6-for-6 for 45 yards on the opening drive and he completed his first seven passes of the game.
ASU answered with a 98-yard kickoff return by Rudy Burgess to tie it 7-7. It was only the second kickoff return for a touchdown by a Sun Devils player at home in the last 21 years.
The Trojans scored the next 10 points, but then the Sun Devils woke up.
ASU cut it to 17-14 on a 4-yard pass from Carpenter to Michael Jones. The key play in the drive came when USC's Sedrick Ellis was assessed a personal foul after celebrating a sack at midfield. Instead of facing third-and-20 at the 50, ASU had third-and-5 at the 35, and it converted a fourth-and-inches to keep the drive alive.
Thomas Weber's 25-yard field goal tied it at 17 early in the second quarter, but David Buehler hit a 20-yarder to put USC ahead 20-17 with 5 minutes to go in the half.
The Trojans took a 27-17 halftime lead on a 1-yard sneak by Booty with 9 seconds left in the half.
Buehler kicked a 37-yard field goal to make it 30-17 early in the third quarter. On the next series, Jackson sacked Carpenter and forced him to fumble, and Everson Griffen of nearby Avondale, Ariz., recovered.