On the first play of Arizona State’s (4-4, 3-2 Pac-12) crucial Pac-12 South matchup against USC (7-2, 5-1) Saturday night at Sun Devil Stadium, Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold stepped back into the pocket and was sacked by D.J. Calhoun.
It was a familiar sequence for a defensive unit that emerged as a dominant force the last two weeks, holding opponents to less than 13 points in back to back matchups.
The rest of the night, however, reminded the program of everything it had been on the defensive side of the ball for the last two years: poor tacklers, prone to giving up the big play and at times, full of mental mishaps.