No. 10 USC 37, Arizona St. 17

No. 10 USC 37, Arizona St. 17
By MEL REISNER
AP Sports Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Matt Leinart shook off a leg injury that proved more scary than damaging to rally No. 10 Southern California to a 37-17 victory over Arizona State on Saturday.
LenDale White, a freshman with 17 carries coming in, ran for 140 yards and two touchdowns on 21 attempts.
Ryan Killeen had three field goals for the Trojans (4-1, 1-1 Pac-10), who kept their slim national title hopes alive by winning after a triple-overtime loss at California last week.
Southern Cal's defense, which allowed a 100-yard rusher for the first time in 17 games at Cal, held the Sun Devils (2-3, 0-2) to 61 yards rushing and stopped Andrew Walter when it counted. Walter was 19-of-38 for 305 yards, but couldn't prevent Arizona State's third straight loss and fourth in a row to the Trojans.
Walter passed 12 yards for a score to Skyler Fulton in the first quarter, and Loren Wade scored on a 1-yard dive for the Sun Devils in the third.
Leinart completed 13 of 23 passes for 289 yards, with scoring strikes of 57 yards to Keary Colbert and 33 yards to Brandon Hancock, in about three quarters on the field.
The left-hander, who won the job of replacing Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer last spring, hurt his right knee and ankle when linebacker Justin Burks sacked him on USC's first play of the second quarter.
USC trailed 10-7 when he left and 17-10 when he returned for the Trojans' first possession of the third with 9:25 remaining.
To begin with, Leinart mostly handed off to White, who capped the drive that tied it at 17 with a 25-yard run.
But it was clear the entire team was energized by Leinart's return.
The defense sacked Andrew Walter twice on Arizona State's next possession, and he passed the Trojans into the lead with a 33-yard throw to Mike Williams at the start and another to Hancock, who finished it by catching the ball in the flat and reaching the end zone thanks to a strong block by Colbert.
Colbert scored with 1:30 left in the third.
Killeen ran the score to 30-17 with fourth-quarter field goals of 28 and 38 yards, and USC clinched the win when defensive lineman Kenechi Udeze stopped Hakim Hill for no gain on fourth-and-1 at the Sun Devils 29. White covered the last 23 yards in four carries, scoring on a 6-yard run with 5:12 left.
The Sun Devils squandered an early opportunity when Reggie Bush fumbled the opening kickoff. Jesse Ainsworth recovered on the USC 34, but three plays resulted in a net loss of five yards, and Arizona State punted.
Colbert took care of most of the yardage on USC's ensuing 95-yard drive, taking a short pass 34 yards on third-and-6 and then catching the bomb from Leinart to make it 7-0 just 3:17 in.
The Sun Devils tied it on Fulton's TD grab minutes later and took a 10-7 lead on Ainsworth's 25-yard field goal 23 seconds into the second quarter.