Pac-12 football roundup: Kedon Slovis, USC hold off Arizona State

Kedon Slovis threw for 432 yards and four touchdowns, defensive lineman Christian Rector tipped the ball to himself for an interception with 25 seconds left and Southern California held on to beat Arizona State 31-26 on Saturday in Tempe, Arizona.

The win clinched a bowl berth for the Trojans (6-4, 5-2 Pac-12), who missed postseason play last year.

USC jumped on the Sun Devils with 28 points in the first quarter behind Slovis’ 297 yards and four TDs passing.

Arizona State (5-4, 2-4) shut down the Trojans over the next three quarters, and freshman quarterback Joey Yellen led a comeback.

Making his first career start with Jayden Daniels injured, Yellen threw two touchdown passes in the first half and hit Brandon Aiyuk on a 2-yard TD pass to open the third quarter.

Yellen then found Frank Darby on a 15-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter after an interception was negated by a USC roughing the passer penalty. Darby dropped the 2-point conversion attempt, putting the Trojans up 31-26.

Arizona State negated Khaylan Kearse-Thomas’ interception return for a touchdown with defensive holding and got the ball back at its 10-yard line with 3:29 left.

The Sun Devils moved quickly down the field, but Rector came up with the interception at USC’s 37.

Colorado 16, Stanford 13: Freshman kicker Evan Price made a 37-yard field goal with no time remaining as the Buffaloes (4-6, 2-5) beat the Cardinal (4-5, 3-4) in Boulder, Colorado, to snap a five-game skid and keep their flickering bowl hopes afloat.

Price was promoted this week with James Stefanou dealing with an injury. Price was instantly mobbed by teammates, falling to the ground and losing his helmet. It was Colorado’s first winning field goal as time expired since Sept. 29, 2007, against Oklahoma.

Colorado needs to win its final two games to become bowl eligible.

Stanford must win two of its final three contests to extend its bowl streak to 11 straight seasons.

Colorado quarterback Steven Montez methodically drove the Buffaloes down the field to set up the winning score. The drive was aided by a pass interference call on Stanford’s Kyu Blu Kelly, who reached out to slow down Tony Brown on a deep pass. Colorado also went for it on fourth-and-short at the Stanford 34, with Laviska Shenault Jr. – banged up knee and all – churning for the yardage.

K.J. Costello gave Stanford its first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter when on third-and-15 he found Simi Fehoko over the middle. Fehoko split several defenders and burst to the end zone for a 79-yard score.

Midway through the fourth, Montez tossed a short pass wide of K.D. Nixon standing at the goal line. The Buffaloes settled for a 23-yard field goal from Price to tie the game at 13.