One game doesn't make a Heisman Trophy winner, but it can sure dash the hopes of a contender.
Sam Keller came into Saturday's game with USC leading the nation with 1,443 passing yards and 16 touchdowns. But the highly anticipated date with No. 1 is something he would like to forget.
Keller threw five interceptions in the 38-28 loss to the Trojans, including four in a nightmarish second half that saw ASU's 18-point lead evaporate.
"We were moving the ball all over them," Keller said. "A couple bad plays by me, if those don't happen, we're in a great position to win. But you don't have a chance when you turn the ball over that much."
Dating back to the first game of the season against Temple, Keller had thrown 131 consecutive passes without an interception before he was picked off by USC linebacker Oscar Lua inside the ASU 18-yard line to start the second quarter. The Trojans managed only a field goal, and the Sun Devils went into halftime leading 21-3.
The 131 attempts without a pick were five off the school record.
But things began to unravel for Keller and ASU in the second half.
A fumble by USC wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett gave the Sun Devils great field position at the Trojan 42-yard line, but Keller gave the ball right back.
On the Sun Devils' first play from scrimmage after the fumble, Keller was intercepted by Justin Wyatt, which set up a Reggie Bush 24-yard touchdown run to narrow the gap to 21-17 and kill ASU's momentum.
"In games like this you have to go for the jugular, and we went for the quick score," coach Dirk Koetter said. "You can't not force the action downfield. That's what we do, and we got burned on it a couple times today."
USC took its first lead 24-21 on a Matt Leinart keeper from the goal line with 8:45 remaining in the game.
"When they finally went ahead, I told Sam, 'What better situation for you to be in than this right here,'" Koetter said.
Always confident, Keller shook off his previous mistakes to lead ASU on a 10-play scoring drive in which he completed seven of nine passes for 80 yards. He gave the Sun Devils the lead momentarily when he hit Lee Burghgraef in the end zone for a touchdown.
But thunder and lightning struck again as it did so many times in the game.
Running backs Bush and LenDale White ran through and around the ASU defense, and the Trojans regained the lead on a 34-yard run by Bush.
Keller almost brought ASU back again on the Sun Devils' next possession with just under four minutes remaining, but USC safety Kevin Ellison intercepted a pass that bounced out of Derek Hagan's hands.
"That was just an unusual play," Koetter said. "Sam overthrew Derek a little bit on that post route. Derek was way, way up there to get his hands on it. The ball popped out funny right into the other guy's hands."
ASU had a glimmer of hope when Keller marched the Sun Devils inside the USC 10-yard line.
But down 10 points with under a minute remaining, the Sun Devils had to score quickly. In a desperate heave into the end zone, Keller was picked off for the fifth time.
"Our whole mentality was to be really aggressive and not back down from them," Keller said. "But maybe sometimes I got over-aggressive and tried to make some throws I shouldn't have."
USC outscored the Sun Devils 35-7 in the second half. Keller's interceptions set up 17 Trojan points.
"There are going to be days like this," Koetter said. "That's part of the learning curve. He's not going to be Joe Montana every single game."
Reach the reporter at derrik.miller@asu.edu.
