Two seconds separate the difference in the start of the possession. Arizona State began its torpedo toward a gut-wrenching season-opening loss when Kedon Slovis and the USC Trojans took over possession with 4:28 on the clock and the Sun Devils leading 27-14. The ensuing 268 seconds at the Los Angeles Coliseum have been well-documented – but saw the Sun Devils lose control of a game which ESPN’s win probability metric gave them a 99.9 percent chance of winning – and handed ASU its first loss of an upside down 2020 season.

“That was sitting in our stomach for a month,” head coach Herm Edwards said of the 28-27 loss to the Trojans. “It’s even worse because you just sit there… and you hold onto that. You want to play to get it out of your system. Obviously, it hasn’t left our system yet.”

Nearly a month later, the Sun Devils were in similar position. A physically dominant fourth-quarter drive which featured heavy doses of freshman running back Chip Trayanum saw the winless Sun Devils waltz down the field picking up chunk play after chunk play. The 5-foot-11, 230-pound freshman running back carried the ball five times on the possession. Three of the carries helped the ASU offense move the chains as Trayanum rumbled to the first 100-yard game of his Sun Devil career.

When all was said and done, sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels glided into the end zone on a 1-yard quarterback keeper. After penalties from both UCLA and ASU resulted in three attempts at a two-point conversion (and no legally successful attempt), the Sun Devils left the possession with a one-point lead – their first lead of the game.

Four minutes and 26 seconds remained on the clock when Bruins’ junior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was given possession with UCLA trailing 18-17.

“4:26 again,” Edwards said of what signaled the beginning of the end for ASU again. Edwards’ minor mis-remembrance of the two-second difference wasn’t important; the sentiment was. Arizona State had a chance to finish things off and didn’t. “In the fourth quarter that number showed up, and we had a little bit of a lead, but we couldn’t hold on to it.”

Given fits for most of the second half by ASU’s new 4-3 scheme, Thompson-Robinson and the Bruins marched down the field to score the go-ahead touchdown. The first four drives of the second half for UCLA’s offense resulted in three punts and a safety. The fifth drive saw the Bruins go 75 yards in 11 plays and culminated with a two-yard rushing touchdown from Demetric Felton in which a slew of Sun Devil defenders ushered the Bruin running back into the end zone.

“Time is leaving the clock and I said, ‘I got timeouts, but it doesn’t matter,’” Edwards explained of Arizona State’s late-game strategy during the 25-18 loss, the Sun Devils’ first home-opening loss in more than 20 years. “You gotta let them score and keep the timeouts in the pocket and try to go down there and score and see what happens. It just didn’t work out.”

For most of Saturday night, the Sun Devils led in the majority of the standard box score numbers. Total yards. Yards per rush. Yards per completion. Total first downs. ASU led in almost all the categories except two of the most important, according to Edwards.

“We had some chances,” said Edwards, who is now 15-13 in his ASU career. “The turnovers and the penalties. Those are the things that really get you in the end.”

A penalty-filled game for Arizona State marred by its own miscues, continued on the final possession. The Sun Devils were flagged 12 times for 83 yards, with seven of the penalties coming against the offense (and three being ineligible man downfield.) The ever-elusive Daniels escaped the oncoming rush, rolled right, and unleashed a pass across the middle in the direction of sophomore wide receiver Geordon Porter.

A Bruin defender arrived before the ball, resulting in a pass interference call which would’ve set the Sun Devil offense up inside the UCLA 30-yard line. Instead, a questionable ineligible man downfield penalty was called, and the Sun Devils were left to re-try things on 3rd and 11.

“There were numerous of those called,” Edwards said, hesitating as to what he believed led to them. “What can you say? It’s a foul, and they called it.”

Offensive coordinator Zak Hill made clear earlier in the week how much of a disadvantage the ASU offense was working at with limited physical reps and a wealth of young skill-position players still to implement into things. Uncharacteristically, the Sun Devils lost the turnover battle 2-0, with both ASU turnovers coming in the red zone.

“You could see first half we were rusty,” said Daniels, who completed 21 of 35 passes for 225 yards, one touchdown, and an interception in the loss. “Just as a team overall, being off for a month was hard coming back and playing versus a team that’s been rolling.

“We knew what they wanted to accomplish… What I watched on film is what they did.”

“I think we were rusty as a football team,” said Edwards, who will look for his third consecutive win against Arizona next week. “I had a sense that would happen not playing in a month. Just the speed of the game, you’ve gotta figure it out again. I thought, for the most part, we got into it, and we just were playing football.”

Trayanum’s 108-yard performance was the second-consecutive game for the Sun Devils with a rusher over the century mark after Daniels ran for 111 in the season-opening loss to USC.

“Chip is getting better and better each and every day, each and every week,” Daniels said. “Every game he continues to build. That kid is special.”

One of the bright spots for the Sun Devil defense was the play of redshirt junior defensive end Tyler Johnson, who recorded three sacks. In doing so, he became the first Sun Devil to tally three sacks in a game since Koron Crump tallied three against Washington State in 2016.

After an extended period without a game, the Sun Devils will get set for a Friday matchup with the winless Arizona Wildcats. Kevin Sumlin’s squad is 0-4 following a 24-13 loss to Colorado on Saturday and will enter the Territorial Cup riding an 11-game losing streak – the fourth-worst losing streak in the FBS.