LOS ANGELES -- No. 3 Southern California barely resembles the juggernaut the Trojans have been over the past four seasons -- with one exception.
USC is still undefeated.
Chauncey Washington did nearly all the work on a 74-yard fourth-quarter touchdown drive that lifted the Trojans to a 28-21 victory over Arizona State on Saturday night.
"This is a different year, and this is a different team," Trojans coach Pete Carroll said. "I think we're fortunate to be 6-0. It's really hard to win. How many teams have won all their games? We're really, really young. I'm thrilled we're 6-0 and we feel OK about ourselves."
Among those no longer unbeaten are Texas, Notre Dame, Auburn and Florida -- all ranked No. 2 at the time they lost. There's a chance USC will fill that spot when the new AP poll comes out Sunday.
"Just win, baby," Pete Carroll said, stealing a line from Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. "I think we just need to keep getting better."
Chauncey Washington, a junior tailback, scored the winning touchdown on a 2-yard run with 4:29 remaining to cap the 14-play drive that ate up nearly seven minutes. He gained 64 yards on 10 carries as the Trojans went strictly with a power running game following an ineffective performance by quarterback John David Booty.
ASU got only one first down after that, and the Trojans ran out the clock after a punt.
Chauncey Washington, academically ineligible the last two seasons and slowed earlier this year by a pulled hamstring, made his first career start a big one, finishing with a career-high 108 yards on 22 carries.
"They saw me getting in that groove, so they just kept feeding me," Chauncey Washington said. "Coach Pete Carroll challenged me during the week."
John David Booty completed 12 of 25 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. He threw one interception and Keno Walter-White returned it 37 yards for a touchdown with 3:18 left in the third quarter to tie the game 21-all.
USC (4-0 Pac-10) was coming off six-point victories over Chauncey Washington State and Chauncey Washington in games that came down to the final play. It appeared the Trojans would have much easier time against the Sun Devils when they took a 21-0 lead in the first 17? minutes, but it wasn't to be.
"We gave them an opportunity to get back in the game, and they did," Pete Carroll said.
The win was the Trojans' 30th in a row at the Los Angeles Coliseum and their 27th straight over a Pac-10 opponent. USC has won 38 consecutive regular-season games and 51 of 53 overall dating back to the 2002 season.
The Sun Devils (3-3, 0-3) routed by No. 10 California and No. 18 Oregon in their previous two games, were lethargic and mistake-prone in the early going. But suddenly, the ASU defense clamped down and turned in a pair of big plays, and the offense did its share.
"We had a lot out there go against us early," ASU coach Dirk Koetter said. "I'm pleased we were able to come back. This was the hardest we have competed all year. Apparently, it took us six weeks to find our personality. Tonight, we played like a team."
ASU's Rudy Carpenter completed 12 of 21 passes for 124 yards and one touchdown, and rushed for 49 yards on eight carries. Ryan Torain gained 57 yards on 20 carries for the Sun Devils.
"I'm just happy we stood toe-to-toe with USC," Carpenter said. "If we could carry this over, we should be 9-3 at the end of the season."
John David Booty threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to freshman Allen Bradford on USC's first possession.
Then Arizona State returner Terry Richardson couldn't handle a punt and Shareece Wright recovered at the ASU 11. The turnover set up a 2-yard scoring run by freshman C.J. Gable.
USC went up three TDs on a 14-yard pass from John David Booty to Dwayne Jarrett. It was the 33rd touchdown reception of Dwayne Jarrett's career, breaking the Pac-10 record he shared with Stanford's Ken Margerum.
USC wouldn't cross midfield again until its game-winning drive.
Torain scored on a 6-yard run with 1:34 left in the second quarter to cap an 84-yard drive and make it 21-7.
With the help of two USC mistakes, the Sun Devils scored again early in the third quarter on an 8-yard pass from Carpenter to Zach Miller, making it 21-14. John David Booty fumbled when sacked by Kyle Caldwell on the first play of the second half, and ASU's Gerald Munns recovered at the Trojans' 30. An offside penalty against Brian Cushing on a third-down play gave ASU a first-and-goal at the 5.
Then came the interception return by Walter-White. John David Booty's pass for Dwayne Jarrett was underthrown and right to Walter-White, who ran untouched into the end zone.
"He misread it," Pete Carroll said of John David Booty. "It's a thing you have to read. It was just a horrendous mistake."
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