USC avoids collapse, survives ASU to stay unbeaten

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• USC Remains Undefeated

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Chauncey Washington ran it in 2 yards for a touchdown with 4:29 remaining in the fourth quarter to put USC up 28-21. Arizona State was a constant threat in the second half. Gameball goes to... Washington, who finished with 109 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries, as well as a 28-yard reception. In his first game back, Dwayne Jarrett caught six passes for 60 yards. Stat of the game... 94: This was not the disciplined Pete Carroll teams of old. The Trojans let ASU back in it with two turnovers and nine penalties (giving up 94 yards). Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	13	18
Total Yards	245	307
Passing	124	148
Rushing	121	159
Penalties	12-97	6-61
3rd Down Conversions	6-13	4-13
4th Down Conversions	0-0	2-2
Turnovers	1	2
Possession	31:01	28:59

Individual Leaders

Arizona State Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Carpente... 12/21 124 1 0	USC Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Booty 12/25 148 2 1
Arizona State Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Torain 20 57 1 9 Carpenter 8 49 0 38 Herring 4 12 0 7	USC Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Washington 22 108 1 23 Moody 6 29 0 9 Gable 5 26 1 12
Arizona State Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Miller 4 36 1 15 Torain 3 39 0 36 Herring 2 10 0 8 Jones 1 18 0 18	USC Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Jarrett 6 60 1 18 Reed 2 32 0 20 Washington 1 29 0 27 Bradford 1 17 1 17

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				ASU	USC
	TD	10:05	ALLEN BRADFORD 17 YD PASS FROM JOHN DAVID BOOTY (MARIO DANELO KICK) Drive info: 9 plays, 75 yards.	0	7
	TD	3:25	C.J. GABLE 2 YD RUN (MARIO DANELO KICK) Drive info: 1 plays, 11 yards.	0	14
SECOND QUARTER				ASU	USC
	TD	12:33	DWAYNE JARRETT 14 YD PASS FROM JOHN DAVID BOOTY (MARIO DANELO KICK) Drive info: 8 plays, 67 yards.	0	21
	TD	1:34	RYAN TORAIN 6 YD RUN (JESSE AINSWORTH KICK) Drive info: 11 plays, 84 yards.	7	21
THIRD QUARTER				ASU	USC
	TD	9:45	ZACH MILLER 8 YD PASS FROM RUDY CARPENTER (JESSE AINSWORTH KICK) Drive info: 7 plays, 30 yards.	14	21
	TD	3:18	KENO WALTER-WHITE 37 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (JESSE AINSWORTH KICK)	21	21
FOURTH QUARTER				ASU	USC
	TD	4:29	CHAUNCEY WASHINGTON 2 YD RUN (MARIO DANELO KICK) Drive info: 14 plays, 74 yards.	21	28

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- No. 3 Southern California barely resembles the juggernaut the Trojans have been over the past four seasons -- with one exception.

USC is still undefeated.

Trouble ahead for the Trojans?
At 6-0, and ranked No. 3 in the country, it's tough for any team to complain. But USC has barely scraped by the past two weeks, and its offensive numbers should give the Trojan coaching staff some cause for concern. Gone, seemingly, are the days when USC would regularly blow out mediocre opponents and, perhaps more alarmingly, the big-play potential that helped the Trojans out of so many jams in years past.
	2005	2006
PPG	49	30
Pass yards	319	233
Rush yards	260	163
Total offense	579	395
TDs of 20+ yds	52	1*
* -- Came on a fake field goal

Chauncey Washington did nearly all the work on a 74-yard fourth-quarter touchdown drive that lifted the Trojans to a 28-21 victory over Arizona State on Saturday night.

"This is a different year, and this is a different team," Trojans coach Pete Carroll said. "I think we're fortunate to be 6-0. It's really hard to win. How many teams have won all their games? We're really, really young. I'm thrilled we're 6-0 and we feel OK about ourselves."

Among those no longer unbeaten are Texas, Notre Dame, Auburn and Florida -- all ranked No. 2 at the time they lost. There's a chance USC will fill that spot when the new AP poll comes out Sunday.

"Just win, baby," Carroll said, stealing a line from Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. "I think we just need to keep getting better."

Washington, a junior tailback, scored the winning touchdown on a 2-yard run with 4:29 remaining to cap the 14-play drive that ate up nearly seven minutes. He gained 64 yards on 10 carries as the Trojans went strictly with a power running game following an ineffective performance by quarterback John David Booty.

ASU got only one first down after that, and the Trojans ran out the clock after a punt.

Washington, academically ineligible the last two seasons and slowed earlier this year by a pulled hamstring, made his first career start a big one, finishing with a career-high 108 yards on 22 carries.

"They saw me getting in that groove, so they just kept feeding me," Washington said. "Coach Carroll challenged me during the week."

Booty completed 12 of 25 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. He threw one interception and Keno Walter-White returned it 37 yards for a touchdown with 3:18 left in the third quarter to tie the game 21-all.

USC (4-0 Pac-10) was coming off six-point victories over Washington State and Washington in games that came down to the final play. It appeared the Trojans would have much easier time against the Sun Devils when they took a 21-0 lead in the first 17½ minutes, but it wasn't to be.

"We gave them an opportunity to get back in the game, and they did," Carroll said.

The win was the Trojans' 30th in a row at the Los Angeles Coliseum and their 27th straight over a Pac-10 opponent. USC has won 38 consecutive regular-season games and 51 of 53 overall dating back to the 2002 season.

The Sun Devils (3-3, 0-3) routed by No. 10 California and No. 18 Oregon in their previous two games, were lethargic and mistake-prone in the early going. But suddenly, the ASU defense clamped down and turned in a pair of big plays, and the offense did its share.

"We had a lot out there go against us early," ASU coach Dirk Koetter said. "I'm pleased we were able to come back. This was the hardest we have competed all year. Apparently, it took us six weeks to find our personality. Tonight, we played like a team."

ASU's Rudy Carpenter completed 12 of 21 passes for 124 yards and one touchdown, and rushed for 49 yards on eight carries. Ryan Torain gained 57 yards on 20 carries for the Sun Devils.

"I'm just happy we stood toe-to-toe with USC," Carpenter said. "If we could carry this over, we should be 9-3 at the end of the season."

Booty threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to freshman Allen Bradford on USC's first possession.

Then Arizona State returner Terry Richardson couldn't handle a punt and Shareece Wright recovered at the ASU 11. The turnover set up a 2-yard scoring run by freshman C.J. Gable.

USC went up three TDs on a 14-yard pass from Booty to Dwayne Jarrett. It was the 33rd touchdown reception of Jarrett's career, breaking the Pac-10 record he shared with Stanford's Ken Margerum.

USC wouldn't cross midfield again until its game-winning drive.

Torain scored on a 6-yard run with 1:34 left in the second quarter to cap an 84-yard drive and make it 21-7.

With the help of two USC mistakes, the Sun Devils scored again early in the third quarter on an 8-yard pass from Carpenter to Zach Miller, making it 21-14. Booty fumbled when sacked by Kyle Caldwell on the first play of the second half, and ASU's Gerald Munns recovered at the Trojans' 30. An offside penalty against Brian Cushing on a third-down play gave ASU a first-and-goal at the 5.

Then came the interception return by Walter-White. Booty's pass for Jarrett was underthrown and right to Walter-White, who ran untouched into the end zone.

"He misread it," Carroll said of Booty. "It's a thing you have to read. It was just a horrendous mistake."