Arizona State QB Mike Bercovici to start against USC

Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly will miss Saturday’s game against USC, according to coach Todd Graham.

Kelly suffered a foot injury against Colorado three weeks ago and hasn’t played since. Graham said he hoped to have Kelly back by the Oct. 18 contest against Stanford.

Mike Bercovici played in his stead and completed 42-of-68 passes for 488 yards and three touchdowns. The 42 completions marked a school record. However, he also had two interceptions, including one at the end of the first half that was returned by Ishmael Adams 95 yards for a touchdown. Prior to the interception, Arizona State trailed 20-17 and was in a position to tie the game or even take the lead heading into the half. However, the pick-six put the Sun Devils in a 10-point hole from which it never recovered.

Bercovici also had a fumble that led to a UCLA score.

Arizona State suffered its first loss of the season, 62-27.

“That was embarrassing. It was a frustrating night,” Graham said following the game. “The standard that we set here was not met tonight.”

Bercovici put the turnovers on himself and said with the kind of numbers he had, the offense should have been able to be a little more productive.

“With those kind of numbers, we should be putting up 60-something points,” Bercovici said. “I take that personally as a quarterback.”

Arizona State will face a similar issue this weekend trying to put up points against a USC defense that only allows 17.5 points per game. But Bercovici said getting that first primetime game under his belt would help his confidence heading into another primetime game against the Trojans.

“I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job of understanding situational football, but you don’t realize the magnitude of each play when you’re in a Thursday night, prime-time game like that,” Bercovici said. “It was a huge learning experience. I wish it wasn’t a learning experience, but basically, going into this next game I got even more confidence.”

For more Arizona State news, visit ASUDevils.com.

– – – – – – –

Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

And don’t forget to keep up with all of Graham’s thoughts, witty comments and college football discussions on Facebook