Click here to watch Lane Kiffin and Matt Barkley's press conferences.
Several stats underlined the stories of the game...
- Freshman starters: USC 5, ASU 0. The Trojans played like a young team on the road for the first time. "We had a lot of mistakes and issues there with guys that haven't played very much," Kiffin highlighted the freshmen as a group. LB Dion Bailey said his class will learn from the experience. "In a hostile environment, we've got to keep our poise," said Bailey, who had a team-leading 10 tackles and a sack. "We can't make mistakes and turn the ball over because it just fuels them and the crowd. You don't want to be playing against both the whole game."
- Turnovers: USC 4, ASU 0. Of course, the miscues were not limited to the neophytes. In fact, veterans Matt Barkley (two INTs and a fumble) and Marc Tyler accounted for all four turnovers. Most notably, Barkley was picked off by his opposite number Vontaze Burfict (photo by Arizona State athletics) in the red zone. "I assumed that he was going to be pressuring, but he slipped off and dropped into coverage," Barkley explained. "We didn't see that coming."
- Red zone offense: 6 trips (2 TDs, 2 FGs and 2 turnovers). Several times, USC ceded the momentum by coming away with three points or no points deep in ASU territory. "You're not going to go on the road against a really good team and win the game with a bunch of field goals and red zone turnovers," Kiffin said.
- Penalties: 10 for 87 yards. T.J. McDonald was flagged for three 15-yard personal fouls, but the head coach wondered aloud how the junior safety is supposed to tackle without being physical. "I don't know how you coach out of the first two," said a frustrated Kiffin. "When a runner is running at you, isn't it his job to get out of the way?" The Sun Devils picked up four first downs on Trojan penalties.
- Brock Osweiler: 25 for 32 and sacked only once. The mountainous quarterback was roughed up by Illinois for six sacks in a loss last week, but he used a series of short passes to eliminate the Trojans defensive line. "So many balls were thrown either behind the line of scrimmage or within five yards of it," Kiffin complimented the adjustment made by ASU, but he lamented that his defense failed to contain the same horizontal pass over and over again. "It's a tough play to defend. You've got to make the first tackle and so many times we missed the first tackle."
- Marc Tyler: 22 carries for 149 yards. When the Trojans stormed back to take the lead in the third quarter, the power run game was in full effect. "We just regrouped at halftime and we knew we had to come out and be physical," Tyler said. Linebacker turned fullback Ross Cumming was inserted into the contest to crack some helmets. "He's a good blocker," Tyler praised. "I wish he was with us since last year."
- Kicking game: Andre Heidari made all three field goals and booted two touchbacks, while Kyle Negrete punted to a 47.5 yard average, including pinning the Sun Devils inside the five.
- Weather report: Forget the heat, the dominant weather story of the night was a wild dust storm, which created a tornado of stadium garbage in the first half. "I've never seen anything like that," Barkley said. "That was bizarre."
