Cody Kessler and USC must rebound on the road. (James Snook-USA TODAY Sports)
LOS ANGELES — USC heads to Arizona State this week in desperation mode.
It might be too early to press the panic button after the Trojans were upset in the conference opener, 41-31 at home to Stanford, but their margin of error in the chase for the College Football Playoff very likely has vanished.
So, too, might hopes of the winning the Pac-12 South if it drops to 0-2.
“There’s obviously still a bad taste in our mouth but I think our players understand there’s plenty left out there for us this season, a great deal that we can accomplish,” coach Steve Sarkisian said.
USC still has the pieces to be great, and Sarkisian was in a stay-the-course mode, even after the defense was gashed by Stanford.
“The natural thing is to panic, to all of a sudden scrap all the things you’ve been doing for the last year and a half and try something new,” Sarkisian said. “And that’s a dangerous thing to do. We have to believe and trust in the work we’ve put in to get to this point.
“That doesn’t mean we’re not going to make adjustments, that doesn’t mean we’re not going to play to the strengths of our team. … “We’ve got good schemes. We need to prepare our players better so they can go out and perform better.”
Sarkisian might be on thinner ice than he typically would because of his embarrassing preseason alcohol-fueled incident at a booster event, but he’ll lean on some recent history to boost his case for the possibility of resiliency.
“I made a point to the team that at just about this point last year, Ohio State has already lost at home to Virginia Tech and Arizona is about to beat Oregon at home,” Sarkisian said. “And those two teams go on to play for the national championship. So we can rebound from this.”
NOTES, QUOTES
PLAYERS TO WATCH
–WR JuJu Smith-Schuster has been unstoppable so far. The sophomore has 22 catches for 434 yards and four touchdowns. ASU likes to be aggressive in its defense, which means that Smith-Schuster might have to make just the first man miss on his way to a big gain.
–CB Iman Marshall has played well as a true freshman, making 14 tackles (third on the team) and breaking up two passes. His ability to make an impact right away can lessen the burden on multi-purpose threat Adoree’ Jackson and allow the talented sophomore to play more at wide receiver, as coach Steve Sarkisian sees fit. Marshall got the start last week when CB Kevon Seymour (knee) couldn’t go.
–RB Tre Madden is the team’s leading rusher, but he’s nursing a knee injury suffered in last week’s game against Stanford, when he rushed nine times for 64 yards and a touchdown. He was limited in practice early in the week. USC has a lot of depth behind him, but he’d be nice to have at full strength, as the oft-injured senior is off to a good start, having carried 28 times for 206 yards and four scores.
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads Arizona State 19-12, which includes one victory that was later vacated because of NCAA sanctions. The Sun Devils have won three of the past four meetings, including a 38-34 win last year on a Hail Mary pass in the Coliseum.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “They’ve got a quarterback who’s got a gunslinger mentality. He’s going to stand back there and let it rip.” — USC coach Steve Sarkisian, on ASU QB Mike Bercovici
