Cody Kessler threw for 375 yards and five touchdowns and the USC Trojans avenged last season's shocking loss to Arizona St. with a 42-14 slaughtering on Saturday Night in Tempe.
Nearly one year ago, Arizona State QB Mike Bercovici threw a Hail Mary to receiver Jaelen Strong as time expired and the Sun Devils schocked the Trojans 38-34 at the LA Memorial Coliseum.
Kessler remembers that heart breaking loss well and revenge was on his mind as he threw early and often against ASU on Saturday.
Both Adoree' Jackson and JuJu Smith-Schuster had over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown on the night as four different players caught touchdown passes thrown by Kessler.
Two-way sensation Jackson had three catches for 131 yards and a touchdown, scoring on an 80-yard screen pass in the first quarter to open up the scoring.
Cody Kessler to Adoree' Jackson. 80 yards. See ya. http://t.co/tmoGxzQMw6 — ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) September 27, 2015
Smith-Schuster went over 100 yards receiving for the third consecutive game, catching five passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns.
USC marched down the field to start the game, but Kessler threw his first interception of the season after a miscommunication with Steven Mitchell Jr. in the end zone.
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The Trojans would stay poised however, capitalizing on four first half turnovers by the Sun Devils to take a stranglehold on the game, leading 35-0 at the half.
With the score 21-0 and the Sun Devils threatening to score at the end of the second half, Bercovici fumbled from his own four-yard line and safety Chris Hawkins recovered the fumble and ran 94 yards untouched for the score.
On the ensuing kickoff, Grump Hayes made an egregious mistake by returning the ball out of the Sun Devils end zone where he was crushed by USC's Quinton Powell on his own four yard line, fumbling the ball, setting up another score for Southern Cal.
Calabasas native, Bercovici threw for 272 yards, with one interception and no touchdowns for ASU. Demario Richard was the one silver lining for the Sun Devils rushing for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
One week after a disappointing performance by the Trojans defense allowing 41 points in a loss to the Stanford Cardinal, the Trojans held Arizona State to just 14 points, forcing four turnovers, as they kept the Sun Devils off the field stopping them on third down 8 of 13 times.
Up next for the Trojans will be a home game against head coach Steve Sarkisian's former team the Washington Huskies on Thursday, October 8th at the Coliseum.
