Oct. 29, 2005
Jordan Brown, ASU Sports Information
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
TEMPE, Ariz. - Redshirt freshman Rudy Carpenter made his first career start as a Sun Devil and Dale Robinson recovered two Washington fumbles as Arizona State defeated the Washington Huskies, 44-20, in front of 57,678 fans at Frank Kush Field at Sun Devil Stadium. This was the first time ASU and UW met since 2002 when ASU came out with a 27-16 victory.
The Huskies got on the board first on the opening drive of the game with a 30-yard field goal from senior kicker Evan Knudson. On their ensuing drive, the Sun Devils marched 51 yards on nine plays Carpenter's 1-yard touchdown rush capping the drive to give ASU a 7-3 led midway through the first quarter. On the day, Carpenter passed for 401 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions. The Sun Devils extended their lead after Carpenter found wide receiver Matt Miller for a 12-yard touchdown strike, which gave the Sun Devils a 14-3 advantage after the first quarter. Miller had a career day with five catches for 139 yards and three touchdowns and proved to be Carpenter's favorite target of the afternoon.
As the second quarter began, UW closed the ASU lead to four at 14-10 after a 1-yard touchdown rush by senior running back James Sims. Sims posed the most problems for the Sun Devils as he rushed for 143 yards on 24 carries and finding the end zone twice. Only 1:15 came off the clock before Carpenter found Miller for his second touchdown, this time a 69-yard pass play, which extended the ASU lead to 21-10. The Washington defense, which recorded seven sacks on the afternoon, contained the explosive ASU offense through most of the second quarter. Just before the half, Sims crossed the goal line for a 3-yard score, which cut the ASU lead to 21-17 with 1:48 remaining. In the closing seconds on the half, ASU marched right back down the field and junior kicker Jesse Ainsworth booted a 21-yard field goal as time expired with ASU on top, 24-14.
An array of ASU penalties and injuries to the offensive line produced no points for ASU in the third quarter. The Sun Devil defense remained strong as they only allowed another Knudson field goal in the third quarter and ASU took a 24-20 lead into the fourth.
Numerous ASU penalties and a tough Husky defense kept UW hanging around as no team managed to score through the majority of the fourth quarter. With just over five minutes remaining in the game, however, Carpenter found Matt Miller for their third touchdown connection, this time a 10-yard strike, capping a 10-play, 64-yard drive that put ASU ahead, 31-20. A Jamar Williams interception from UW quarterback Isaiah Stanbeck put ASU at mid-field and sophomore tailback Preston Jones found the end zone on a 10-yard run to seal the win for the Sun Devils. To finish off the first Sun Devil win since September 24, cornerback Josh Golden intercepted UW back-up quarterback Johnny DuRocher and ran it back 58-yards for the touchdown as time expired as the Sun Devils won going away, 44-20.
The Sun Devils netted just 77 rushing yards on 43 carries and got most of their offensive production through the air as Carpenter threw for a career-high 401 yards and three touchdowns. The Sun Devil defense created some big plays and linebacker Dale Robinson recovered two fumbles and Golden and Williams each had an interception. The Sun Devils came through when they needed to as they converted 10-of-15 on third down and averaged 15 yards per pass completion. In addition, ASU scored all five times it was in the red zone.