Oct. 21, 2006
ARIZONA STATES NOTES
Shut Down: The Sun Devils shut out the Cardinal in the first half, marking the first time this season Arizona State did not allow a point in the opening half of play (Colorado scored their only three points of the game in the first quarter in Week 3).
Defensive Stop: The Sun Devil defense allowed just 145 yards of total offense to Stanford today, marking the second-best defensive showing under Dirk Koetter. The best showing came against Iowa in Tempe on September 20, 2004, when the Sun Devils limited the Hawkeyes to 100 total yards.
Sack Attack: The Arizona State defense sacked Stanford quarterbacks three times on the day, raising the Sun Devils' total to 23 on the year, one more than all of last season.
Miller Time: TE Zach Miller caught a six-yard pass from Rudy Carpenter on the first offensive play of the game to bring his career total to 116 and surpassing Todd Heap (1998-00) for the top spot for tight end receptions at Arizona State. Miller ended the game with four receptions for 32 yards, moving him closer to passing Joe Petty (1,352 yards) for third and Ken Dyer (1,365 yards) on the career tight end receiving yardage list. Miller now has 1,263 yards (started at 1,231 today), needing 90 yards to pass Petty and 103 yards to pass Dyer.
Opening Points: For just the third time this year, the Sun Devil offense found the end zone on their opening possession as Ryan Torain scored on a 27-yard pass from Rudy Carpenter. Torain hooked up with Carpenter on a 9-yard strike to open the California game while Carpenter and Zach Miller (2-yards) started the scoring in the Nevada game.
Regained Touch: QB Rudy Carpenter opened the game with a perfect 5-for-5 showing in the first quarter before going 3-for-3 in the second half, ending the first 30 minutes of play with 87 yards on 8-for-8 passing and one touchdown. Carpenter then completed his next four passes before failing to connect with TE Zach Miller in the back of the end zone in the third quarter. His 12-in-a-row completion streak was one short of tying the school record of 13 set by Dick Mackey vs. San Diego Navy in 1952.
Percentage Points: QB Rudy Carpenter finished the game with 160 yards on 14-for-15 passing and one touchdown pass with his .933 completion percentage today ranking as the best in a single game (10-15 attempts) for the Sun Devils, bettering the .818 percentage put up by John Hangartner (9-of-11) vs. San Jose State in 1957 and Dave Graybill (9-of-11) vs. San Jose State in 1956.
Points in a Row: Following the opening touchdown, the Sun Devils scored on their next two possessions (field goal followed by touchdown before punting. The last time the Sun Devils had scored on three or more possessions in a row this season came during the Nevada game when ASU ended the first half with two touchdowns and one field goal before opening the second half with two touchdowns in a row (five possessions in a row).
What a Rush: Arizona State gained 206 yards on the ground today, the eighth-best showing under Dirk Koetter in his six seasons in Tempe. The total marks the ninth time the Sun Devils have accumulated 200-plus yards on the ground under Koetter.
Getting His Kicks: PK Jesse Ainsworth connected on all five of his extra point attempts on the day, extending his school-record conversion streak to 124 in a row while also extending his school-record total to 145. Along with one field goal on the day, Ainsworth has now scored 267 points and stands just 10 behind second-place Mike Barth (1999-02) on the all-time list.
Back and Forth: With its victory today, the Sun Devils continued a recent trend in their series with the Cardinal by alternating victories over the past six years. Arizona State won the games played in 2002 and 2004 before winning today while Stanford had captured wins in 2001, 2003 and 2005.
Hash Marks: Stanford's TB Anthony Kimble had a carry of 58 yards in the third quarter, marking the second longest rush allowed by the Sun Devil defense this season (63 yard carry by Jonathan Stewart of Oregon is the longest) ... the Cardinal's field goal scored in the third quarter was just the second scoring play allowed by the ASU defense in the third quarter all season (Oregon scored a touchdown in the third quarter earlier this season) ... ASU limited Stanford to its third-lowest passing total (66 yards) and ninth-lowest total yard (145) outputs in program history.
STANFORD NOTES
Anthony Kimble's 58-yard rush in the third quarter was the longest rush of his career and the longest play from the line of scrimmage this season ... Kimble's rush led to Stanford's only points of the game on Aaron Zagory's career-long 35-yard field goal with 3:53 to go in the third quarter.
Anthony Kimble finished with a career-high 83 rushing yards on 11 carries.
Aaron Zagory has now made five of his eight field goal attempts this season, including four of his last five.
Pannel Egboh recorded a career-best 2.0 tackles-for-loss, including 1.0 sack.
Michael Okwo made his first sack of the season
Evan Moore made his first catch since the San Jose State game when he hauled in an eight-yard pass from T.C. Ostrander in the fourth quarter.
Today's loss marks Stanford's first 0-8 start since 1960 when the squad went on to finish the season 0-10.
Stanford's 10 penalties and 81 yards penalized were both season-highs.
T.C. Ostrander made his third career start.
Stanford's 145 total yards of offense was the ninth-lowest output by Stanford in school history for a single game, while Stanford's 66 passing yards was the third-lowest total in school history.