Sept. 17, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery
Official Start Time: 7:04 p.m.
Game Time Temp: 93°
Attendance: 55,029
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score ----------------- -- -- -- -- ----- Northwestern........ 7 7 0 7 - 21 #18 Arizona State... 7 31 7 7 - 52
All-Time Series Northwestern and Big Ten: With a victory over the Northwestern for the second straight year (30-21 win last year in Evanston), ASU improved to 4-0 all-time against the Wildcats and 14-5 all-time against teams from the Big Ten. ASU's only previous meeting with NU in Tempe was the 1977 season opener (35-3 ASU victory).
Up Next -- Oregon State Beavers: The Sun Devils will face Oregon State (2-1) next weekend in the Pac-10 opener for both teams. OSU suffered its first loss of the season today at No. 11 Louisville 63-27. ASU is 22-8-1 all-time against the Beavers and have won eight of the last 10 meetings.
School Record For Total Offense: The Sun Devils recorded a school record with 773 yards of total offense. The previous school record was 743 yards against Stanford (232 rush/511 pass) in 1981. On 84 plays from scrimmage, the Devils averaged 9.2 yards per play. The offense was split up with 483 yards passing (Keller - 409, Carpenter - 74) and 290 yards rushing (Herring - 197). ASU and Northwestern combined for 1,189 yards of total offense... the school record is 1,445 against Houston in Tokyo, Japan in 1990.
Running Wild: The Sun Devils ran for 290 yards, marking the second 200-yard rushing game of the season (300 vs. Temple). The pair of 200-yard rushing games are the first since the 2001 season when ASU had three. ASU's six rushing TD's this season are already tied with the entire season total from the 12-game season in 2004.
Lighting Up The Scoreboard: In three games this season, the Sun Devils have scored 146 points, averaging 48.7 points per game. ASU has scored a majority of its points through the air, with Sam Keller (12 TD's) and Rudy Carpenter (2 TD's) combining for 14 of the 20 touchdowns this season.
Keller's Gaudy Numbers: Junior QB Sam Keller had another solid game to lead the Sun Devils to their third win of the season. Keller was 20-for-31 for 409 yards and four TD's. In four starts as a Sun Devil, Keller is 3-1 and has thrown three or more TD's in each start. In the first half alone, Keller was 15-for-22 for 343 yards. Here is a look at Keller's stats in his four starts as a Sun Devil:
Keller's Career Starts (4): Opponent Att Comp Int Pct Yards TD Long Purdue (12/31/04)........ 45 25 0 55.6 370 3 41 Temple (9/1/05).......... 24 14 2 58.3 208 4 31 LSU (9/10/05)............ 56 35 0 62.5 461 4 44 Northwestern (9/17/05)... 31 20 0 64.5 409 4 65 Totals in ASU Starts..... 156 94 2 60.2 1448 15 65
Another Big Night For Hagan: Senior wide receiver Derek Hagan led ASU with five catches for 90 yards and one touchdown. Hagan now has a catch in 32 straight games and in 39 of 41 career games. He extended his career record with 196 career receptions and is now only 27 yards short of breaking the career record held by John Jefferson (2,993). With his five catches, Hagan also moved into 12th place in the Pac-10 career record books for receptions and 11th in career yards.
RECEIVING G Rec Yds TD Lg Rec/G Avg/C Avg/G 2002................ 14 32 405 0 51 2.3 12.7 28.9 2003................ 12 66 1076 9 80 5.5 16.3 89.7 2004................ 12 83 1248 10 79 6.9 15.0 104.0 2005................ 3 15 238 3 31 5.0 15.9 79.3 TOTAL............... 41 196 2967 22 80 4.8 15.1 72.4
ASU Career Receiving Yards: 1. 2,993 John Jefferson, 1974-77 2. 2,967 Derek Hagan, 2002-P 3. 2,867 Shaun McDonald, 2000-02 4. 2,694 Aaron Cox, 1984-87 5. 2,691 Keith Poole, 1993-96
ASU Career Receptions: 1. 196 Derek Hagan, 2002-P 2. 188 John Jefferson, 1974-77 3. 164 Eric Guliford, 1989-92 4. 156 Shaun McDonald, 2000-02 156 John Mistler, 1977-80
Keeping Up With Keegan: Freshman tailback Keegan Herring had a career night with 197 yards rushing on 23 carries (8.6 avg.). The performance was the 22nd best in ASU single-game history and the most by a Sun Devil since Delvon Flowers rushed for 226 yards against Oregon State in 2001. Herring's 67-yard run in the first quarter was ASU's longest this season and the longest by a Sun Devil since a 74-yard rush by Flowers vs. Stanford in 2001. His two TD's rushes mark are the first by an ASU player since Hakim Hill in 2003. In three games this season, Herring has rushed for 367 yards and has three TD's.
Lewis Is a TD Machine: Junior tight end Jamaal Lewis had another solid game with four catches for 67 yards and one touchdown. Lewis leads the team with four TD receptions this season, with the strikes coming at 24, 25, 26 and 36 yards (all from Keller). In 25 career games, Lewis has caught 25 passes for 385 yards (15.4 avg.) and has eight touchdowns. Here is a look at Lewis' career stats :
RECEIVING G Rec Yds TD Lg Rec/G Avg/C Avg/G 2003................ 11 10 99 2 21 0.9 9.9 9.0 2004................ 11 6 91 2 26 0.5 15.2 8.3 2005................ 3 9 195 4 36 3.0 21.7 65.0 TOTAL............... 25 25 385 8 36 1.0 15.4 15.4
First-Half Heroics: After a 7-7 first quarter, the Sun Devils erupted for 31 points in the second quarter to take a 38-14 lead at halftime. ASU had 532 yards of total offense (343 passing/189 rushing) in the half, led by the 15-for-22, 343-yard passing performance from Sam Keller and 148 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns from freshman tailback Keegan Herring. ASU's 38 first-half points were the most by a Sun Devil squad since also scoring 38 against Stanford in 2002 (9/28/02 -- 65-24 win).
Sun Devil Tidbits: Linebacker Nick Clapp, safety Jeremy Payton and cornerback Mike Davis Jr. all made their first career starts... Northwestern's first-quarter touchdown marked the first time in three games that the ASU defense has given up any points in the opening quarter this season... senior tailback Cornell Canidate made his first appearance in a game since 2003 after sitting out last season with a groin injury... ASU improved to 227-79-3 all-time at Sun Devil Stadium and played its third straight home game to open a season for the first time since 1996 (opened season with four straight at SDS)... ASU has won nine of its last 10 home games... senior wide receiver Matt Miller had a 32-yard TD reception from Keller in the third quarter, marking his fifth career touchdown catch... sophomore tight end Brent Miller hauled in his second career TD in the fourth quarter on a seven-yard throw from Rudy Carpenter... Josh Barrett led the Sun Devils with eight tackles (7 solo)... the last time Northwestern gave up 50 or more points was in 2002 vs. Iowa (62-10)... Jesse Ainsworth put seven of his nine kickoffs through the end zone and has recorded touchbacks on 20 of his 25 kickoffs this season... seven ASU players carried the ball for a combined 290 yards and 10 players had at least one catch... for the season, 16 different players have caught a pass from either Sam Keller or Rudy Carpenter... ASU has scored in all but one quarter this season (1st vs. LSU).
Northwestern Notes:
Northwestern fell to 2-1 with the loss. The Wildcats begin Big Ten play next Saturday with an 11 a.m. kickoff vs. Penn State.
Quarterback Brett Basanez moved into fourth place on NU's all-time passing TD list with his two (2) touchdown passes. (Steve Schnur is in 3rd place with 32 TD passes. Basanez has 27 TD passes for his career.
Basanez moved into sixth place on the Big Ten all-time list for career offensive plays. He now has 1,491 plays for his career (1,447 + tonight).
Basanez climbed into ninth place on the Big Ten career passing yardage list, passing Scott Campbell (Purdue) and Darrell Bevel (Wisconsin). He now has 7,755 career yards (7,531 + tonight).
Basanez upped his career-record of 200-yard passing games to 18.
Wide receiver Shaun Herbert equaled his single-game career best with two touchdown receptions. He had two TD grabs in the season-opening win vs. Ohio. Herbert totaled his single-game best eight (8) receptions.
Cornerback Marquice Cole entered the night ranked sixth nationally in punt return average. He upped his 25.7 ypp average with a 57-yard return in the first quarter.
Wide receivers Ross Lane and Jeff Yarbrough, both redshirt freshman, notched their first collegiate catches. Lane finished with four receptions for 73 yards.
Redshirt freshman Gevard Hamlett finished with a single-game best 59 rushing yards.
NU's C.J. Bacher and Rasheed Ward notched their first career TD reception (Ward) and first career TD pass (Bacher) on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Running back Tyrell Sutton fell two yards shy of another 100-yard rushing effort. In his first two career games, the true freshman had rushed for 104 and 214 yards respectively. Sutton ranked fourth nationally in rushing yardage and led all freshman runners.