Arizona State senior cornerback Chase Lucas had never won against USC at home in his six-year career until tonight. Lucas played brilliantly in coverage, flew to the ball, and broke up three passes in an impressive individual effort. His contributions reflected a strong showing by the ASU defense in the second half, a period in which the Trojans only mustered six points.

After the team floundered a week ago against Washington State, Lucas took the criticism of ASU’s play personally. When Lucas left the field following ASU’s 31-16 win over USC, he harbored the same fire he came in with. In a passionate delivery during a postgame press conference, Lucas expressed his frustration with the current coverage of the team and emphasized the team’s unity.

“A city raises a football team, and what you guys say and what you guys tweet shows and people see that,” Lucas said. “I’ve seen people saying they like didn’t want to come to our games because we gave up on our coaches. We never gave up on our coaches, and our coaches never gave up on us.”

The accusations about a divided locker room point grew in prominence following ASU’s losses to Utah and WSU. At one point, the team was outscored 56-0 in almost four consecutive quarters of play. During the bye week, stories circulated about the significance of defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce clearing his social media pages of all relation to ASU football. The NCAA investigation into alleged violations made by the coaching staff during the college football recruiting dead period still looms.

Head coach Herm Edwards affirmed the team continued to believe in one another as it preserved through the aftermath of two straight losses to conference opponents.

“You know your house better than anybody,” head coach Herm Edwards said later. “The neighbors don’t exactly know what’s going on in there. They can assume some things, but they really don’t know. And as long as we stay together in our house, we’re going to be fine, and these kids have been able to do that.”

During an injury timeout in the second quarter, senior linebacker and team captain Darien Butler became visibly animated in the team’s huddle. In his reflection on the Utah game two weeks ago, Butler blamed himself for not speaking up and trying to fire up the team when the defense started to slip up. This time around, Butler meant business. It did not matter who heard his words, and his coach was not exempt from Butler’s emotional eruption.

Butler stuck his helmet in the face of Pierce, grabbed the jersey of nose tackle TJ Pesefea, and then affirmed his message as he fervently whirled around in the center of a cluster of yellow jerseys. As the team trotted back out and took their positions, Pierce adjusted his headset and put his hands on his hips as he returned to the sideline. But on his face was a smile stretching from ear to ear.

Saturday night’s performance proved the Sun Devils could remain headstrong and rebound when faced with adversity. The defense committed five penalties, including a hold by Jordan Clark that wiped away an interception in the end zone by Kejuan Markham just a few plays after Butler’s address. Jaxson Dart scored on a nine-yard rushing touchdown to cap off the drive.

However, it would be the last time USC led against ASU. The offense responded with a prompt three-play, 75-yard drive. The defense allowed just three fields goals from that moment on and shut USC out of the red zone for the remainder of the game.

Last year’s matchup between the two teams ended in a heartbreaking fashion. USC quarterback Kedon Slovis threw two touchdown passes over the game’s final two minutes to elevate the Trojans over the Sun Devils 28-24 in comeback fashion. Lucas recalled the way the loss affected him and broke composure as he recounted the painful memory.

“They got our (expletive) last year, man,” Lucas said. “That (expletive) hurt. I couldn’t sleep for a couple of days.”

This time around, Slovis traded series with freshman standout Jaxson Dart. As a result, no signal-caller found a rhythm in the offense. Both quarterbacks threw an interception and combined for 220 passing yards on 24 of 45 attempts. Although USC made changes at the helm of its offenses throughout all four quarters, the ASU defense stuck to their approach and kept the drama to a minimum.

In the end, keeping level heads prevailed.

“I don’t think it really matters as long as we do our job no matter who’s in,” starting nose tackle D.J. Davidson said. “The three-technique has to work through the guard, the nose has to work through the center, the two ends, the linebackers gotta come downhill, and the defensive backs gotta cover. Most quarterbacks can throw on the run a little bit, so it doesn’t really change much.”

Butler savored the retribution, having spent his childhood playing football only a short drive away from USC’s campus.

“When you grow up around the corner from the school, and the coaches don’t even look at you, of course, you’re going to feel some type of way,” Butler said. “That’s the way it is.”

The ASU team that suited up in front of a sellout crowd of 53,926 became bowl eligible with the win and snapped a two-game losing streak. The Sun Devils finished a hard-fought football game without imploding internally like they did a season ago. Edwards hopes it’s a blueprint the team will follow for the remaining three games, two of which are on the road.

“That’s got to be part of your DNA,” Edwards said.