The Trojans started out flat but finished furiously Saturday against ASU in a 37-17 USC win, largely due to a courageous effort from sophomore quarterback Matt Leinart.
Leinart returned in the second half from an injury suffered in the second quarter to lead the Trojans on scoring drives in five of USC's seven possessions in the half. The sophomore finished with 289 yards on 13-of-23 passing.
"I knew my team needed me, and I just went out there and got the job done," Leinart said. "Sometimes, you just have to block out the pain and go."
The Trojans responded to ASU's opening touchdown drive in the second half by answering with their own drive in which Leinart completed all three of his passes for 32 yards. The drive was punctuated with a 25-yard touchdown run by freshman running back LenDale White, the game's other star.
"I was running blind for a second, and I made a cut to the left and sprinted up the sideline," White said. "I looked up on the Jumbotron and saw [safety Ricardo Stewart] chasing me from the back, and I had to tuck it high and tight or else he would've stripped it."
The defense followed the drive by stopping ASU at midfield, aided by junior defensive tackles Shaun Cody and Mike Patterson combining to sack ASU quarterback Andrew Walter. Cody said the previous drive by the USC offense had given the defense a lift.
Once the offense got the ball back, the Trojans marched the ball down the field 75 yards with Leinart finding sophomore fullback Brandon Hancock for a 33-yard touchdown on fourth and one. The touchdown would prove to be the game winner for head coach Pete Carroll's Trojans.
"We knew they thought we were going to run the ball, and we just came out and threw a little flat route, and Brandon made an awesome play," Leinart said.
The Trojans managed to outlast ASU the rest of the game with two field goals from junior kicker Ryan Killeen on two of USC's next three drives.
The Trojans controlled the ball for most of the second half, running almost at will against a defense that was visibly fatigued.
"That's the kind of ball that we got used to last year with guys carrying it and pounding it away," Carroll said.
For White, Saturday's game was the first time he saw a substantial number of carries for the Trojans, and he made most of it gaining 141 yards on 21 carries.
"You always know there's a chance that when you get in; you might only get the ball once or twice," White said. "When you get in, you've got to prove that you're ready."
In the first half, ASU's offense moved the ball effectively against the Trojan defense, gaining 209 total yards. Yet ASU scored only 10 points, missing one field goal and squandering a fumble in USC territory on the opening kickoff.
After giving up the go-ahead score to open the first half, the USC defense yielded only 67 yards the rest of the game behind a front four that was constantly in ASU's backfield.
"Most teams would have folded, but I think our team has a lot of resiliency," Cody said.
Reach the reporter at matthew.schubert@asu.edu.
