Sept. 1, 2007
Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
by Matt Storey, ASU Media Relations
Head coach Dennis Erickson began his Sun Devil tenure on a successful note, as the Sun Devils defeated San Jose State 45-3 in its season opener in front of 54,405 fans at Sun Devil Stadium. ASU scored on six of their first seven offensive possessions and had control of the game by halftime.
"It was one of the most efficient games that I've had for a first game," Erickson said. "I thought we played very well for the first game, but now it gets harder every week."
Senior running back Ryan Torain led the ASU rushing attack with three touchdowns and 123 yards on 17 carries, while junior Keegan Herring added 76 rushing yards on 16 carries.
"We just ran the football real well," Erickson said. "That's a credit to our offensive front and how they blocked. When you can do that, you can do a lot of things."
Quarterback Rudy Carpenter was 14-20 for 197 yards and two touchdowns before coming out in the third quarter with ASU leading 38-3. Eleven different Sun Devils caught passes in the game, with junior Michael Jones leading the team with four catches for 63 yards and a 27-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
"We were saying we can't wait until we play people who have never seen us before," Jones said. "New offense, new guys, people have improved. We just came out and had fun."
Sophomore Kyle Williams also had 63 yards on three catches, while freshman Kerry Taylor got into the end zone for the first time in his collegiate career with an 11-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter.
"I thought we did fine," Carpenter said of the team's passing game. "I thought our wide outs did a good job of getting open. We didn't make a lot of mental mistakes and we got guys the ball."
The Sun Devil defense also performed well in the win, holding the Spartans to just seven first downs and 115 total yards while forcing two turnovers.
"I definitely think we had a solid performance," sophomore defensive end Dexter Davis said of the team's defensive effort. "The coaches prepared us well, so we were ready for anything they were going to throw at us."
Senior linebacker Robert James led the defense with 10 tackles, a sack, and an interception on San Jose State's first offensive possession of the game, while junior defensive tackle David Smith also had a sack and an interception.
"I thought we ran around real well, got lined up, and ran to the football extremely well," Erickson said of the defense. "I thought we tackled pretty well. We kept stuff in front, and then we started getting pressure on them."
ASU struck first on the scoreboard, taking a 7-0 lead with a one-yard touchdown run by Torain on the team's opening drive.
After James' interception gave the Sun Devils the ball back, senior tight end Brent Miller fumbled on the first play of the ensuing drive.
The Spartans took advantage and drove the ball inside the ASU 20 before having to settle for a 28-yard field goal. Freshman kicker Thomas Weber made his first career field goal with a 44-yarder to give ASU a 10-3 lead at the end of the opening quarter. The Sun Devils then forced a punt and drove 57 yards on six plays to take a 17-3 lead. All six plays were runs, with Torain having five carries for 56 yards on the drive, including a 13-yarder for the touchdown. Smith's interception of San Jose State QB Adam Tafralis on the Spartans' ensuing drive set the Sun Devils up in good field position.
The Devils capitalized when Carpenter connected with Jones for a 27-yard score. On the next possession, ASU went on its longest drive of the game, going 84 yards on 14 plays and taking 7:27 off the clock before Torain ran for his third score of the first half and put the Sun Devils up 31-3 heading into the locker room. Carpenter would find Taylor for an 11-yard touchdown pass on the team's first drive of the second half, and then backup quarterback Danny Sullivan connected with junior tight end Andrew Pettes from five yards out in the fourth quarter to cap off the scoring.
Notes: ASU won its home opener for the seventh consecutive season and its season opener for the fifth year in a row...Torain's 123 yards rushing gave him his fifth career 100-yard game on the ground and his third straight dating back to the final two games of the 2006 season...Sullivan's touchdown pass in the fourth quarter was the first of his career...The victory gave Erickson his 149th career collegiate head coaching win.