WR Larry Parker hauls in a pass during the first half against ASU.

Ohalete's blocked punt return for TD turns tide in 35-24 victory.

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October 3, 1998

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (AP) - Ifeanyi Ohalete returned a blocked punt 14 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter Saturday, putting No. 21 Southern California ahead for good in a 35-24 victory against Arizona State.

J.R. Redmond had a school-record 350 all-purpose yards and scored a touchdown for the Sun Devils (2-3, 1-2 Pac-10), who were outscored 21-0 in the final period.

Antuan Simmons blocked Stephen Baker's punt, and Ohalete scooped it up and ran untouched into the end zone with 13:16 remaining to give USC (4-1, 2-0) a 28-24 lead.

David Gibson intercepted backup quarterback Chad Elliott's pass and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown with 8:27 left to complete the scoring.

USC was coming off a 30-10 loss at Florida State last week in which the Trojans completed just three passes for 23 yards.

They trailed ASU 17-7 at halftime, and appeared to be on their way to a third straight loss to the Sun Devils.

Redmond scored on a 2-yard run with 5:03 to play in the third quarter, putting ASU ahead 24-13. Courtney Jackson intercepted a pass by Mike Van Raaphorst on the previous series to give the Sun Devils the ball.

Redmond, a junior tailback, ran for 214 yards on 33 carries and surpassed the 200-mark in all-purpose yards for the third time this season.

He had 254 all-purpose yards and a touchdown in a season-opening loss to Washington that dropped the Sun Devils from their No. 8 preseason ranking. ASU fell out of the rankings the following week with a 26-6 loss to Brigham Young.

The Trojans drew within three points on the first play of the fourth quarter when freshman quarterback Carson Palmer threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to R. Jay Soward and a 2-point conversion pass to Ted Iacenda.

Palmer, who replaced Van Raaphorst near the end of the third quarter, was 4-of-7 for 69 yards and a touchdown and was sacked three times.

Soward caught a 23-yard pass from Van Raaphorst in the opening minute of the third quarter to cut ASU's lead to 17-13.

The Sun Devils lost starting quarterback Ryan Kealy 1 1/2 minutes into the game on a hit by USC's Chris Claiborne. Kealy sustained a mild concussion and didn't return.

Elliott, a redshirt freshman, stepped in and nearly threw an interception on his first pass. But he settled down, and completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Mitchell with 11 seconds left before halftime, extending ASU's lead to 17-7.

Elliott was 16-of-32 for 157 yards with one interception and was sacked six times.

Van Raaphorst, whose brother, Jeff, was MVP of the 1987 Rose Bowl for Arizona State, was 11-of-23 for 191 yards with one interception and two sacks.

He rushed for his first career touchdown - an 8-yarder that tied the game 7-7 in the second quarter, and returned to play the final minute of the game.

USC played without starting tailback Chad Morton, sidelined with a bruised back.

By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer