Sept. 2, 2004
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
By Nate Policar
ASU Sports Information
TEMPE, Ariz. - Forcing four turnovers on their way to victory, the Arizona State Sun Devils opened the 2004 campaign with a big victory over the University of Texas-El Paso Miners to win their first contest of the season and their fourth straight home opener. The Sun Devils showed off their offensive prowess behind both their newcomers, 27 of which debuted in the game, and their veterans, such as senior signal caller Andrew Walter, who moved to within seven touchdowns of the school record of 65, set by current Denver Bronco Jake Plummer, with his two touchdown and 241-yard passing performance.
On their first drive of the season, senior quarterback Andrew Walter connected on four straight passes to lead the Sun Devils 72 yards downfield to the UTEP 5-yard line, where sophomore Jesse Ainsworth hit a 22-yard field goal to give the Devils an early 3-0 advantage in the first quarter.
Trading punts for the next four possessions, the Sun Devils (1-0) opened the second quarter with a quarterback sack as junior linebacker Dale Robinson got through the line to hit UTEP quarterback Jordan Palmer in the backfield. Robinson led the Sun Devils on defense with nine tackles and 2.5 TFL in his ASU debut.
"I think we definitely made a statement in this game because last year our defense got rushed on a lot," said Robinson of the defensive performance of the Sun Devils. "When we came out of the tunnel tonight, we all agreed that we were going to make a statement saying that our defense is strong and we can go out there and hit hard. We definitely did that tonight."
Forcing the Miners (0-1) into their fourth straight punt, the Sun Devils took over on their own 17-yard line. However, it would take them just 43 seconds to score from there as redshirt freshman Rudy Burgess returned the punt 20 yards to set up the offensive series. Moving the ball across midfield with a pass to junior tight end Lee Burghgraef, Walter connected with sophomore wide receiver Terry Richardson on a 34-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline, extending the Sun Devils lead to 10-0. Richardson finished with 5 catches for 70 yards.
"We felt good and got off on the right foot. We made a few great plays. There were four or five really bad plays that we needed to turn into good plays or even just neutral plays, but I feel we started the season out well overall," said Walter. "A lot of people got playing time tonight and there are still kinks to work out, but I'm not worried about it. With new starters and shuffling the lineup, I think we did very well."
Four offensive plays later for the Miners, senior cornerback Emmanuel Franklin stepped in front of a pass from Jordan Palmer and intercepted, returning it 28 yards to the UTEP 30-yard line. Using the rush to move the ball down close to the goal line, Walter found Hagan on a 13-yard completion to set up his second touchdown pass of the day, this time connecting with Brent Miller for a 2-yard pass to the corner of the end zone for Miller's first career touchdown reception.
UTEP's offense would only run four more plays before turning it over again. Emmanuel Franklin again picked off a Palmer pass and, this time, returned it 48 yards to the end zone to put the Sun Devils on top 24-0 halfway through the second quarter, having scored three touchdowns in just over five minutes.
With the ball back in the hands of UTEP, the ASU defense forced another turnover. After moving the ball 47 yards with a balanced attack, UTEP quarterback Jordan Palmer threw his third interception of the game when junior tackle Quency Darley picked a tipped pass out of the air to give the Devils possession on their own 45-yard line.
UTEP's only break of the game would come when sophomore Johnnie Lee Higgins blocked a punt from ASU redshirt freshman Chris MacDonald to give his team possession on the ASU 49-yard line. Palmer connected with Higgins on the next play for 37 yards and Howard Jackson capped the scoring drive with a 12-yard touchdown rush to get the Miners on the scoreboard, 24-6, before the halftime break.
Starting the Devil's first drive of the half from the ASU 42-yard line, Walter found his rhythm again, connecting with Hagan on a 31-yard completion to bring the ball across midfield. The Sun Devils called on Ainsworth once again, this time challenging him with a 48-yard field goal. The long field goal for Ainsworth split the uprights and put ASU up 27-6 with 11:03 remaining in the third quarter.
Following another UTEP three-and-out, Walter found Hagan again for a 14-yard completion at midfield and junior receiver Loren Wade, who broke free for a 16-yard run. Two plays later, Walter culminated the 63-yard drive with a 15-yard pass to Hagan for a touchdown, making it 34-6. The reception was Hagan's eight catch of the night for a total of 119 yards and one touchdown, his fourth straight game with 100 yards receiving.
With the third quarter in the rearview and the lead well in hand, Koetter spelled off Walter with sophomore quarterback Sam Keller. Quickly settling into the game, Keller connected with junior Matt Miller on a 14-yard reception and Mutz on an 11-yard reception. Still on the ASU side of the 50-yard line, Keller heaved a long ball for redshirt freshman receiver Rudy Burgess, who caught it on a 68-yard post route for six points and his first collegiate touchdown reception.
Running down the final minutes of the clock in the fourth, the Sun Devil defense was faced with a difficult situation after the special teams yielded an 84-yard punt return to UTEP return man Jahmal Fenner. Holding them inside of the red zone, the Sun Devils surrendered a field goal to the Miners after stopping them on four plays on the ASU 10-yard line. Kicking it through the uprights for the final score of the game, ASU ran down the clock to come away with a 41-9 victory, marking their largest margin of victory since a 42-point victory over Oregon on October 11, 2003.
"This one feels like a great win. A lot of people had questions about us coming into this game after last year, and we as players did as well," said Franklin. "We still have some questions after this game, but now there's a lot less questions about our team and our ability."