Arizona State Hail Mary Beats USC at the Buzzer, 38-34
By Jason McIntyre
Arizona State trailed USC by nine points with just under three minutes remaining, but rallied with two late touchdowns, including this Jaelan Strong Hail Mary catch at the end to shock the Trojans, 38-34
Strong, a 6-foot-3 star receiver who caught 10 passes for 212 yards and three scores, and will be a 1st round pick in the 2015 draft, leaped in the air and grabbed the final pass as USC defenders watched, stunned.
Oddly, this is the second Pac-12 game game this season to end on a Hail Mary. Arizona beat Cal with one on September 21st.
USC actually led this game by nine twice in the fourth quarter. The second time it led 34-25 after a 53-yard TD run by Javorius Allen. But Arizona State backup QB Mike Bercovici (512 yards passing, five TDs) led the Sun Devils down the field quickly, and the defense got a stop, setting up Strong’s game-winning catch.
The loss pushes USC to the brink of elimination from the College Football Playoff. It looked so promising for the Trojans a few weeks ago when it beat Stanford, but then the Trojans gagged at Boston College, and now this. USC still has to play at Arizona, at rival UCLA, and vs. Notre Dame to end the season.