October 14, 1978
Southern Cal at Arizona State
Arizona State’s first year as a member of the new Pac-10 was a memorable one. Coach Frank Kush had his 4-1 Arizona State Sun Devils fired up to meet the 3rd ranked, 4-0 Southern Cal Trojans of coach John Robinson. Arizona State’s All-American DE Al Harris anchored the defense & QB Mark Malone guided the offense as the 13-point underdog Sun Devils surprised the Trojans & claimed their first Belt reign with a 20-7 victory. Malone starred in the game as he rushed for a touchdown & threw for another. Southern Cal’s QB Paul McDonald did not have as good a day as he fumbled 4 times & threw 2 interceptions. Southern Cal had to play without starting C Chris Foote who was injury during practice & back-up C Brad Green was injured in the 1st quarter. The Trojans played the rest of the game with C Dave Anderson, who never got in-sync with McDonald, & Ray Peters who had been playing primarily nose guard. Late in the 1st quarter, Arizona State’s DE Bob Kohrs recovered one of McDonald’s fumbles which led to a 40-yard field goal by PK Steve Hicks just 11 seconds into the 2nd quarter giving the Sun Devils the 3-0 lead they held through intermission. In the 3rd quarter, Kohrs recovered another McDonald fumble at the Southern Cal 34-yard line & five plays later, Malone used a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown to give Arizona State a 10-0 lead. Later in the quarter, Arizona State’s All-Pac 10 CB Kim Anderson intercepted McDonald giving the Sun Devils the ball at the Southern Cal 46-yard line. It took the Sun Devils just 4 plays to get into the end zone again as Malone threw a 16-yard touchdown pass the WR John Mistler for a 17-0 lead. The 3rd quarter might have been a bigger rout after Malone broke off a 63-yard run early in the quarter but RB Newt Williams fumbled to end that threat. Another McDonald fumble, this one recovered by Arizona State’s LB Jeff McIntyre, set-up a 28-yard field goal by Hicks which pushed the lead to 20-0. Southern Cal finally got on the board on a 31-yard touchdown pass from McDonald to All-Pac 10 WR Kevin Williams with just 0:23 left in the game. Malone threw for 167 yards with a touchdown as well as an interception & rushed for 139 yards with a touchdown. McDonald finished with 180 yards passing with a touchdown but 2 interceptions to go with his 4 fumbles in the loss. Southern Cal finished the season 12-1; Pac-10 Champions & ranked 2nd nationally while the Sun Devils finished 9-3. Southern Cal would play for The Belt again in 3 weeks.
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