It was the kind of play all the elite Hollywood special effects teams couldn’t duplicate with a limitless budget and a deadline of infinity.

Showing up in the box score as an interception, it was the highlight of the best game of the season for ASU’s secondary — a unit that held highly touted USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley to his worst game of the season.

Barkley completed just seven of his 22 passes for 112 yards, one touchdown and an interception: “The interception.”

The play was nearly beyond description.

With just under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Sun Devils once again forced to make a quick stop against the Trojan offense, Barkley went back to pass from his own 35-yard line.

Rolling to his right on a play fake, Barkley saw sophomore tight end Rhett Ellison dragging 20 yards across and down the field, nearing USC’s sideline. ASU senior linebacker Mike Nixon got deep in his drop, and as Barkley released the ball, stepped into the passing lane and batted it up in the air.

Sun Devil Stadium then turned into a theater of the absurd.

Nixon, like a setter in volleyball, pushed the ball up toward two converging USC receivers — the intended target Ellison and freshman wide receiver Brice Butler. The ball bounced out of Ellison’s hands and into Butler’s hands. Butler bobbled the ball three times in succession and was leveled by ASU senior safety Ryan McFoy.

McFoy’s hit blasted the ball out of Butler’s hands and sent it on a line drive, like a homing missile, downward toward ASU senior cornerback Terell Carr’s foot. The ball, acting like it was under the direction of a pinball wizard, then bounced directly off the front of Carr’s foot into the hands of ASU sophomore safety Clint Floyd.

It wasn’t over.

Floyd reversed field twice, finally getting his bearings set toward the end zone. He was then caught from behind by USC junior running back Allen Bradford at USC’s 28-yard line. Just as Floyd came to the ground, Bradford stripped the ball from Floyd, sending it into the air.

Once again, it was Carr at the fortuitous spot, catching the ball. Like a kid lost in a Halloween maze, Carr, discombobulated, went back toward ASU’s end zone, losing 10 yards.

That happened.

“That interception was, I don’t know how many times that thing got hit,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said.

ASU’s offense wasn’t able to take advantage and eventually fell to the now-No. 11 Trojans 14-9, but while the play could go down as one of the great college football bloopers, it also put an exclamation point on the secondary’s nearly perfect performance.

Redshirt freshman cornerback Deveron Carr, who had two pass breakups on the night, and Floyd each made their first start of the season in the contest and played a vital role for a Sun Devil defense that allowed just 258 yards of total offense.

“It’s as good as we’ve played all year,” Erickson said of his defense.

While ASU’s front seven has been considered one of the best units in the country, the secondary has often lagged behind this season.
That changed Saturday.

Consider that of USC’s 112 net yards passing, 75 came on a touchdown pass that was almost stopped near the line of scrimmage.

Though Erickson had not yet seen the film when he addressed the media following the game, it’s likely ASU has found its starters in the secondary for the remainder of the year in Deveron Carr and Floyd.

“They played really well from what I can see,” Erickson said. “The one that jumps out on me from Deveron was the play he made across the field from our bench. The crossing route — you could see Deveron close.”

Reach the reporter at nick.ruland@asu.edu.