USC vs Arizona State final score: Trojans lose on Hail Mary to Sun Devils, 38-34

The USC Trojans looked like they had the game in complete control against the Arizona State Sun Devils, but backup quarterback Mike Bercovici had his prayers answered as his Hail Mary as time expired was caught by Jaelen Strong resulted in a miraculous 38-34 win for Todd Graham and Arizona State.

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USC got the scoring started after forcing Arizona State to punt to Nelson Agholor who returned the punt 53 yards for the touchdown at the 9:46 mark of the first quarter.

Arizona State responded in the second quarter after the two Pac-12 south teams traded a pair of punts to close out the first period and Bercovici, making his second start in place of the injured Taylor Kelly, found Strong for a four-yard touchdown to tie the game at seven.

The Sun Devils held the Trojans on a fourth-and-two from the ASU 23 and on the next play it was Bercovici who connected with Strong for the team’s longers play of the day as he went 77 yards for the touchdown and put Arizona State up 15-7 after the two-point pass was successful

USC would answer on the ensuing possession after a running into the kicker penalty extended the drive for the Trojans where a 36-yard reception to running back Javorius Allen on third-and-seven put the Trojans at the five and USC went back to Allen on fourth down from the one where he punched it in to make it 15-14.

A quick three-and-out by the USC defense allowed Cody Kessler to drive in position for a field goal at the end of half as Andre Heidari booted a 35-yarder to put USC up 17-15.

The teams traded field goals in a quiet third quarter before setting the stage for a dramatic fourth quarter as USC held a 20-18 lead in the final 15 minutes.

Kessler scored on an eight-yard run where he ran right through the heart of the Sun Devils defense and pounded his way in to the end zone for a 27-18 lead and it looked like that would be the final score before the final four minutes saw a lot of fireworks.

With 3:53 in the fourth, Bercovici found D.J. Foster for a 21-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to two but after failing to recover the onside kick, Allen would rumble 53 yards for his second touchdown of the game and put him over 100 yards on the night in what looked like the game-clincher.

However, on ASU’s first play on the ensuing possession, Bercovici found Cameron Smith on the right sideline for a 77-yard touchdown to make it a 34-32 game with 2:43 remaining and no timeouts left.

The Sun Devils were unable to recover the onside kick and after USC bled the clock to the waning seconds of the game, ASU got the ball back with a glimmer of hope and a shot at a Hail Mary where Bercovici found a streaking Strong to win in the most unlikely of scenarios.

ASU HAIL MARY TO BEAT USC!!! https://t.co/WTtBo6T32o
— Breaking News GO (@BreakingNews_GO) October 5, 2014

Strong finished with three touchdowns on 10 catches for 204 yards, but none bigger than the 46-yarder he hauled in as time expired as he was simply dominant on the evening.

Bercovici passed for 512 yards and five touchdowns in the remarkable comeback that saw them score three touchdowns in the final 3:53. Not bad for a backup quarterback on the road as he helped lead ASU to a 4-1 record and a 2-1 record in the Pac-12.

USC drops to 3-2 and 3-1 in the conference with the stunning loss.

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