(Tempe, AZ) The Arizona State Sun Devils were coming in off a loss to Washington and a homecoming matchup against the Washington State Cougars.
The leaders of each team being their Quarterbacks Trenton Bourguet and Cameron Ward.
The Devils historically were successful against the Cougars going 27-17-2. Washington State had won two straight and were looking for a third consecutive victory for the first time since the span of 2001 to 2003. The Devils had been win deprived and were looking to hunt the Cougars down to get their first win since the first week in September with a win over Southern Utah.
The Devils marched down the field on their opening drive as well, without much resistance either. The Sun Devils’ running back DeCarlos Brooks scored from 13 yards out, which made the score 7-7.
At the end of the first quarter, the score was all knotted up at 7 a piece.
The Devils continued their drive at the beginning of the second quarter which resulted in a missed fifty yard field goal.
Receiver Elijah Badger forced multiple missed tackles on a twenty six yard reception, which was one of the big plays that Bourguet threw to Badger during the drive. The result of the drive was a Sun Devils one yard run by Brooks, which made the score 14-7.
The Cougars were driving down the field to answer the score from the Devils, as the previous drive went three and out. The Devils caused pressure in the pocket, and Ward saw a hole and ran it in from eleven yards out to make the score tied up again 14-14.
ASU Running back Cam Skattebo had a sixty six yard carry to bring the Devils’ second play of the drive within ten yards of the goal line. Skattebo ran in a two yard touchdown to make it 21-14.
Cougars’ Receiver Kyle Williams had a thirty nine yard reception as he got himself wide open for the biggest play of the drive. The drive was capped off with a nine yard reception by receiver Lincoln Victor which continued the shootout to 21-21.
At the end of the first half, the game was shaping up to be a high scoring affair. A late fifty one yard field goal from ASU kicker Dario Longhetto, who had missed a fifty yard attempt earlier in the night, the score was 24-21.
The Devils started off the second half with the ball. Badger ran the ball on a jet sweep that resulted in a six yard touchdown, the score was at 31-21.
The Cougars’ offense got some of their bearings back, and started driving down the field after the ten straight points that ASU had scored. ASU had clamped down big in the red zone, with the Cougars scoring a thirty one yard field goal by kicker Dean Janikowski making it 31-24 to end the third quarter.
Devils’ tight end Jalin Conyers shook off a defender for a fifty yard reception, which set up Brooks for a eight yard touchdown to make the boards go up by seven to 38-24.
ASU gave the Cougars the ball at the Cougars’ thirty two as they kicked the ball out of bounds. The Cougars took advantage of the shorter field and drove down yet again.
ASU had a great bat on a pass, that Ward picked up after it hit the ground and decided to run with it, as an ASU defender tackled Ward. The referees failed to blow the whistle in time to prevent this, but gave ASU an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which extended the Cougar drive. ASU came in big and stopped the momentum leaving Janikowski to kick a thirty four yard field goal to make the score 38-27.
Bourguet finished the game with no interceptions, and no touchdowns going 19-26 for 274 yards. The rushing line for ASU was 39 attempts for 235 yards. The Devils were able to get 509 yards of total offense.
The defense allowed two rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown, and allowed 403 total yards (88 rushing, and 315 passing). They also had three sacks, and were in the backfield fourteen times. There was no turnovers forced by either team.
The game was very back and forth in the beginning, until the ending of the first half, and at the beginning of the second half.
The Devils scored ten unanswered points and never looked back. The offense was able to drive down field against the Washington State defense. They showed how potent they can be and how close they really were in the USC, Colorado, and Washington games.
Even though they did not score through the air, they showed that they are still effective but, dangerous with Skattebo and Brooks on the ground to offset it all.
ASU’s defense was absolutely the best it has been this season in a complete setting. ASU didn’t cause any turnovers, but came up big in moments when they needed to get the stop to mitigate points being scored or the ability to score more points rather.
The Devils will have a tough matchup against the 13th ranked Utah Utes in Utah next week. This game will be exponentially tough as the Utes lost to Oregon, only scoring two field goals. They will be looking to cause an upset victory.
The attendance for the game was 47,284.
Article by Matthew Martell Jr. – 602 Sports Talk
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