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USC beats Arizona State 42-25: Live updates recap, highlights from Pac-12 football matchup

The Trojans improved to 5-0 with a victory over the Sun Devils Saturday night

Caleb Williams threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns to lead USC to a 42-25 victory over Arizona State in a Pac-12 football matchup Saturday night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Trojans (5-0, 3-0) are one of two Pac-12 teams still undefeated, along with UCLA (5-0, 2-0). 

The Trojans were heavy favorites to beat the struggling Sun Devils, but they were never able to put ASU away. The Sun Devils hung around until the end, keeping it a two-score game.

Here's a game recap featuring every scoring play and all the big-play highlights:

4TH QUARTER UPDATES

FINAL: USC 42, ARIZONA STATE 25

INTERCEPTION USC! Calen Bullock picks off Emory Jones to put this game on ice.

TOUCHDOWN USC! Travis Dye punches it in from the one-yard line to extend USC's lead to 42-25 with 3:46 to play. Dye has 13 carries for 62 yards and two touchdowns.

TOUCHDOWN ASU: Aided by two pass interference penalties, the Sun Devils put together a 10-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a two-yard TD run by Xazavian Valladay, to cut USC's lead to 35-25. ASU went for two and converted.

TOUCHDOWN USC! Caleb Williams throws his third touchdown pass of the night, a two-yard dart to Kyron Hudson to give USC a 35-17 lead with 10:54 left in the game. Williams is 25-of-35 for 331 yards and three TDs.

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3RD QUARTER UPDATES

TOUCHDOWN USC! Travis Dye dives over the pile for a 2-yard touchdown to give USC a 28-17 lead with 1:10 left in the quarter. The touchdown capped a nine-play, 50-yard drive that was aided by a defensive holding penalty against Arizona State's special teams unit.  

CALEB WILLIAMS INTERCEPTION: Williams throws his first interception of the season on a fade route to Jordan Addison in the corner of the end zone. Addison did not make a play on the ball and it looked like he never saw it. The pick snuffs out a promising drive for USC. The Trojans still lead 21-17.

Arizona State has the ball to start the second half. The Trojans finally get a stop and force the Sun Devils to punt.

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HALFTIME STATS

Caleb Williams is 15-of-23 for 217 yards and two touchdowns. He is also USC's leading rusher with five carries for 33 yards and a touchdown.

Williams really spread the ball around in the first half as seven different players caught passes. Brenden Rice has two catches for 56 yards, Mario Williams has four catches for 46 yards and a TD, Kyron Hudson has two catches for 44 yards and Jordan Addison has three catches for 41 yards.

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2ND QUARTER UPDATES

HALFTIME: USC 21, ASU 17

The Trojans' final drive of the half stalled after a long touchdown pass to Mario Williams was negated after a holding penalty.

TOUCHDOWN ASU: Emory Jones scores on a 6-yard run to cut USC's lead to 21-17 with 2:27 left. The Sun Devils already have 212 yards of total offense and are gashing USC's defense with big plays.

TOUCHDOWN USC! Three drives, three touchdowns. Caleb Williams throws his second touchdown pass of the game, a four-yard laser to Malcolm Epps, to give USC a 21-10 lead with 6:05 left.

FIELD GOAL ASU: The Trojans' defense bends, but doesn't break on ASU's second drive, forcing a 40-yard field goal. USC leads 14-10 with 9:53 left in the first half.

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1ST QUARTER UPDATES

TOUCHDOWN USC! Caleb Williams looks like a different player tonight. He just fired a dart across his body to Mario Williams in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD to give USC a 14-7 lead with 1:52 left.

TOUCHDOWN ASU: The Sun Devils strike right back, scoring on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Emory Jones to Xazavian Valladay to tie the scored at 7-7 with 6:28 left. Valladay was wide open on the play - clearly a blown coverage by USC's secondary.  

TOUCHDOWN USC! Caleb Williams scores on a quarterback sneak to give USC a 7-0 lead with 10:28 left. The 1-yard TD run capped a 9-play, 75-yard game-opening drive. Great start for Lincoln Riley's offense.

The game kicked off at 7:41 p.m. and USC will have the ball first.

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PREGAME UPDATES

Here are all of the details on how to watch USC vs. Arizona State. The game is scheduled to kick off at 7:39 p.m. on ESPN. If the LSU vs. Auburn game runs long, then the USC vs. Arizona State game will air on ESPNEWS until that game finishes.