Football

No. 4 Arizona State 35, California 7

November 9, 1996
Sun Devil Stadium
Attendance: 74,963
Weather: 88 degrees, clear

The path to roses leads through Tempe.

Everyone in the Pac-10 could see that at the beginning of this football season. The Huskies, Ducks, Trojans and Bears - they all had a trip to Sun Devil Stadium on their docket. If Arizona State could simply hold serve, the conference title and a trip to Pasadena would clearly lie within its grasp.

Nine games into the season, the fourth-ranked Sun Devils had yet to drop a game at all, let alone one in their house. And, just like they were a decade earlier, there were the California Golden Bears on the other side of the ball, the only obstacle between ASU and a rather coveted red bouquet.

The stage was set and the Sun Devils played their parts to perfection. Before a record crowd of 74,963, ASU wrapped up the Pac-10 championship and its second Rose Bowl berth with a resounding 35-7 win over Cal.

Arizona State remained unblemished at 10-0, 7-0 in league play. The Bears fell to 6-3, 3-3. Washington, with one conference loss, stayed a game back of the Sun Devils with one to play. But ASU had already secured the tiebreaker with its season-opening win over the Huskies.

"This was the finest moment a coach and a team could live," ASU head coach Bruce Snyder said. "I am proud and grateful for the support we had tonight. We tried to put on a good show and I think we did.

"This squad is just beside itself. And we will represent this conference and this school extremely well in the Rose Bowl."

Tailback Terry Battle continued his torrid starting stretch, rushing for 165 yards and four touchdowns. Meanwhile, the ASU defense smothered the league-leading Cal offense, holding the Bears 29 points and 224 yards under their season average.

"We knew Cal had the potential to be high-powered," Snyder said. "But our staff came up with a solid plan. We felt that if they couldn't run on us, they would become one-dimensional. Then we could use our passing schemes and tee off on them."

And that's exactly what transpired. After taking a 7-0 lead into the second quarter, the Bears were rendered virtually impotent on the ground. Quarterback Pat Barnes was forced to carry the load and that played right into the Sun Devils' hands. Though ASU routinely rushed just four players, Barnes was sacked seven times and the Sun Devils registered 14 1/2 tackles for loss. Cal ended up with five net yards rushing.

Keying the defensive onslaught was junior end Derrick Rodgers, who scoured the backfield much like he did in ASU's earlier upset of Nebraska. Rodgers had four and a half sacks totaling 46 yards. He also forced a fumble which led to the Sun Devils' fourth touchdown.

"We wanted to make sure we disrupted Barnes' flow," Rodgers said. "It makes a big difference when we can rush four people and keep the DBs in coverage."

ASU struggled initially on offense, but the running game began to blossom in the second quarter. ASU took over at its own 20 at the 12:52 mark and Battle swept around the left side, rumbling down the sidelines for a 45-yard gain. Two plays later, the Sun Devils faced a third-and-two from the Cal 27. Battle followed his right guard and broke into the open, outracing the Bear secondary for a 27-yard scoring jaunt that tied the game.

ASU failed on a fourth-and-one at its own 36 on its next drive, but the defense held. The offense showed its appreciation with a 10-play, 96-yard drive, highlighted by two spectacular plays from Keith Poole. The senior wideout made a leaping catch for 39 yards on a third-and-nine, then ran his patented reverse left 21 yards two plays later to set up Battle's second score of the night. The Sun Devils headed to the lockerroom with a 14-7 lead.

On Cal's first possession of the second half, defensive tackle Shawn Swayda hit Brandon Willis, forcing him to fumble. Linebacker Scott Von der Ahe pounced on it, setting up the Sun Devil offense at the Cal 22. Battle capped a five-play drive with his second three-yard touchdown run.

Barnes led Cal into ASU territory three times in its next four tries but the Bears came up empty. The last of those drives ended with a forced fumble by Rodgers, which cornerback Jason Simmons picked up. Quarterback Jake Plummer hit J.R. Redmond for 42 yards on the ensuing play, leading to Battle's fourth touchdown and a countdown to Pasadena.

For the second straight week, Plummer was unspectacular but effective, completing 10 of 18 for 184 yards while watching Battle, Redmond and Jeff Paulk wear out the opposition.

Battle ran his four-start numbers to 619 yards and 11 touchdowns, including one on a kickoff return.

"The more I play the more confidence I get running the football," Battle said. "We did what we needed to do tonight. The offensive line did a great job."

So the Sun Devils clinched their second Rose Bowl berth the same way they clinched their first - waxing Cal under the lights at home. ASU defeated the Bears 49-0 to seal the title in 1986.

"It was great to clinch at home," Plummer said. "Nothing like doing it in my last game in Sun Devil Stadium. We are a family, not just a team. We work hard and we get good results, like tonight."

And those results, according to Snyder, are the product of a group of student-athletes trusting a system.

"The core issue is that we have a group of young people that believe in the concepts of building a team. If they didn't believe in that, it doesn't matter what schemes we run. We are very healthy internally in this program.

"It's tremendous what this team has done and I am terribly proud of them."

But, as the coach reminded everyone, there was one more score for the Sun Devils to settle.

"We've got a second season down in Tucson."

Game Notes

• ASU moved to 10-0 for the first time since 1975.
• The Sun Devils clinched their first Rose Bowl berth in 1986 by beating Cal at home.
• Terry Battle tied a career high with four touchdowns.
• The ASU defense shut out the opposition in the second half for the third straight game.
• The goalposts fell with :21 still showing on the clock.
• ASU remained fourth in the AP Poll and the USA Today/CNN Coaches' Poll.

	1	2	3	4	F
California	7	0	0	0	7
Arizona State	0	14	7	14	35

Scoring

First Quarter

CAL (0:03)- Brandon Willis 2-yard run (Longwell kick) Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards, 5:40

Second Quarter

ASU (11:17)- Terry Battle 27-yard run (Nycz kick) Drive: 4 plays, 80 yards, 1:35

ASU (2:26)- Terry Battle 3-yard run (Nycz kick) Drive: 10 plays, 96 yards, 4:14

Third Quarter

ASU (11:50)- Terry Battle 3-yard run (Nycz kick) Drive: 4 plays, 22 yards, 1:18

Fourth Quarter

ASU (8:40)- Terry Battle 5-yard run (Nycz kick) Drive: 3 plays, 52 yards, 0:46

ASU (5:19)- J.R. Redmond 3-yard run (Nycz kick) Drive: 3 plays, 50 yards, 1:17

Rushing	Att	Yards	Average	TD
California
Brandon Willis	8	14	1.8	1
Pat Barnes	11	-49	-4.5
Marc Vera	5	17	3.4
Deltha O'Neal	12	23	1.9
Arizona State
Terry Battle	24	165	6.9	4
Jake Plummer	9	11	1.2
Jeff Paulk	4	25	6.3
J.R. Redmond	9	68	7.6	1
Keith Poole	1	21	21.0

Passing	Comp	Att	Yards	Int	TD
California
Pat Barnes	19	36	261
Arizona State
Jake Plummer	10	18	184

Receiving	Rec	Yards	TD
California
Bobby Shaw	5	64
Na'il Benjamin	4	27
Brent Malili	1	25
Tony Gonzales	5	85
Dameane Douglas	4	60
Arizona State
Terry Battle	1	2
Keith Poole	2	51
Lenzie Jackson	3	40
Ricky Boyer	1	7
Steve Bush	1	13
Devin Kendall	1	29
J.R. Redmond	1	42

	Cal	ASU
Total First Downs	16	18
Third Down Efficiency	3-16 (19%)	4-13 (31%)
Total Net Yards	266	474
Total Offensive Plays	72	65
Net Yards Rushing	5	290
Total Yards Passing	261	184
Punts- Number and Average	9-46.9	5-47.4
Penalties- Number and Yards	10-95	8-75
Fumbles- Number and Lost	4-2	2-0
Time of Possession	32:02	27:58