CBS SportsLine wire reports
Oct. 3, 1998
LOS ANGELES -- Southern California finally found its offense, an ingredient missing in the Trojans' first four games.
Ifeanyi Ohalete returned a
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"That qualifies as a big win," first-year USC coach Paul Hackett said. "We did our typical wallow around offensively. We're making progress. It's slow on offense, but it's there."
J.R. Redmond had a school-record 350 all-purpose yards and scored a touchdown for the Sun Devils (2-3, 1-2 Pac-10), who were outscored 22-0 in the final period.
"It feels so good to finally go out and beat Arizona State. We haven't beaten them in two years," USC's R. Jay Soward said. "We came back in the second half and we had fun and a lot of energy."
ANTUAN SIMMONS BLOCKED STEPHEN BAKER'S punt, and Ohalete scooped it up and ran untouched into the end zone with 13:16 remaining to give USC (4-1, 2-0) a 28-24 lead.
"We needed a big play at the time and I got it," Simmons said. ``We just wear on you and wear on you and finally knock you out."
David Gibson intercepted backup quarterback Chad Elliott's pass and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown with 8:27 left to complete the scoring.
"The quarterback rolled out and pretty much gave me the ball. He was looking at me the whole time," Gibson said. "I thought I was the receiver.''
Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder said, "Two plays stand out -- the blocked punt for a touchdown and the interception for a touchdown. That's 14 points and it ended up being the difference in the game."
USC was coming off a 30-10 loss at Florida State last week in which the Trojans completed just three passes for 23 yards. The Seminoles had twice as many yards, first downs and time of possession as the Trojans.
THEY TRAILED ASU 17-7 AT HALFTIME,
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Despite setting a school record with 350 all-purpose yards, J.R. Redmond couldn't help ASU upset USC.
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Redmond scored on a 2-yard run with 5:03 to play in the third quarter, putting ASU ahead 24-13. Courtney Jackson intercepted a pass by Mike Van Raaphorst on the previous series to give the Sun Devils the ball.
Redmond, a junior tailback, ran for 214 yards on 33 carries and surpassed the 200-mark in all-purpose yards for the third time this season.
"That's as fine a runner as we'll play all year," Hackett said. ``This guy is sensational."
Redmond had 254 all-purpose yards and a touchdown in a season-opening loss to Washington that dropped the Sun Devils from their No. 8 preseason ranking. ASU fell out of the rankings the following week with a 26-6 loss to Brigham Young.
"EVERY GAME MEANS A LOT, but when you come here and play in front of family and friends, it means that much more," said Redmond, a native of nearby Carson.
The Trojans drew within three points on the first play of the fourth quarter when freshman quarterback Carson Palmer threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Soward and a 2-point conversion pass to Ted Iacenda.
"I went to Carson and told him if you really want to play, if you want to be the starting quarterback, you have to go out and make something happen," Soward said. "He did that and proved me right."
Palmer, who replaced Van Raaphorst near the end of the third quarter, was 4-of-7 for 69 yards and a touchdown and was sacked three times.
"I'm not endorsing him as a starter," Soward said of Palmer. ``I don't have that kind of power. Maybe coach Hackett will."
Soward caught a 23-yard pass from Van Raaphorst in the opening minute of the third quarter to cut ASU's lead to 17-13.
THE SUN DEVILS LOST STARTING QUARTERBACK Ryan Kealy 1½ minutes into the game on a hit by USC's Chris Claiborne. Kealy sustained a mild concussion and didn't return, but he provided advice to Elliott during the game.
"We had a quarterback out there who only had 10 percent of the snaps in practice and I thought he did an admirable job," Snyder said.
Elliott, a redshirt freshman, stepped in and nearly threw an interception on his first pass. But he settled down, and completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Mitchell with 11 seconds left before halftime, extending ASU's lead to 17-7.
Elliott was 16-of-32 for 157 yards with one interception and was sacked six times.
Van Raaphorst, whose brother, Jeff, was MVP of the 1987 Rose Bowl for Arizona State, was 11-of-23 for 191 yards with one interception and two sacks.
He rushed for his first career touchdown -- an 8-yarder that tied the game 7-7 in the second quarter, and returned to play the final minute of the game.
USC played without starting tailback Chad Morton, sidelined with a bruised back.