Oct. 13, 2007
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
TEMPE, Ariz. --
By Matt Storey, ASU Media Relations
Behind big games from backup running backs Keegan Herring and Dimitri Nance, the ASU football team overcame a halftime deficit Saturday to defeat 44-20 in front of a crowd of 64,347.
After starter Ryan Torain left the game in the second quarter, Herring and Nance stepped in and rushed for a combined 211 yards, and they each had a touchdown run of more than 50 yards.
"Dimitri and I just got together and said, `we have to hold it down for Torain,'" Herring said. "He said, `OK let's do it,' and the next thing I know we are doing it."
The win marked ASU's third second-half comeback in the last four games, and it left the Sun Devils as one of just six Bowl Subdivision teams unbeaten on the season.
"That's one thing about this team; they keep fighting," head coach Dennis Erickson said. "I don't know how good we are, but I do know that we've won seven games, so we'll take it right now."
ASU outscored the Huskies 31-3 in the second half to take control of the game, continuing the Sun Devils' season-long trend of dominance after halftime. They have outscored their seven opponents 136-29 in the third and fourth quarters this season.
"The coaching staff is doing a great job making adjustments for us," quarterback Rudy Carpenter said. "They are giving us a chance to be in the right situation at the right time."
Carpenter finished 20-31 for 227 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, despite losing Mike Jones, the team's leading wide receiver so far this season, in the first half.
However, just as Herring and Nance filled in admirably for Torain, other receivers stepped up with Jones out. Chris McGaha led the Sun Devils with five catches for 73 yards, while Rudy Burgess and Kyle Williams each had four receptions and a touchdown catch.
The ASU defense also continued its strong play, holding the Huskies to just 288 total yards of offense and containing their star quarterback Jake Locker.
He did have two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing, but he completed just 10 of his 28 pass attempts, had a season-low 48 rushing yards and committed two turnovers in the second half with a fumble and an interception.
"Their offense revolved around [Locker] and we knew we needed to take him out and make him throw it," linebacker Mike Nixon said. "We knew he could run, so we had to take what he does best away. It worked out."
Safety Troy Nolan kept ASU's two interception streaks alive when he picked off Locker's pass in the fourth quarter and returned it for a touchdown. That play meant the Sun Devils had picked off a pass in all seven games this season, and it was their third straight game returning an interception for a touchdown.
It was also one of two forced turnovers by ASU in the second half, with the other coming when defensive end Dexter Davis sacked Locker early in the third quarter, forcing a fumble that Nixon recovered.
"In the second half, we pretty much controlled their offense," Erickson said. "We got some turnovers that made a difference."
Thomas Weber continued his great freshman season, making all three of his field goal attempts to improve to 14-for-14 on the season. He also averaged 41 yards on his five punts, downing two inside the 20.
Weber got the Devils on the scoreboard first with a 33-yard field goal on the team's opening drive, which lasted 16 plays and took more than seven minutes off the clock.
responded on its own first possession, as Locker found wide receiver Marcel Reese for a 36-yard touchdown and a 7-3 lead.
ASU took the lead back in the second quarter, when Carpenter found Williams for a three-yard touchdown. Carpenter carried the load on the drive, going 6-7 for 66 yards and converting a key fourth down when he found tight end Brady Conrad for a six-yard gain.
The Huskies answered back with a 24-yard field goal from Ryan Perkins, and then they intercepted Carpenter on the first play of ASU's ensuing possession. Locker capitalized on the turnover, running for a 32-yard touchdown on the next play to give his team a 17-10 lead.
The Sun Devils added another Weber field goal just before halftime, this one from 24 yards out, to cut the deficit to four.
After Locker's fumble on 's opening drive of the third quarter, ASU took the lead back for good when Burgess hauled in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Carpenter for a 20-17 lead.
ASU then put the game out of reach with two long touchdown runs later in the quarter. Nance ran 57 yards for a score on the first play of a drive, and then Herring went 76 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the Sun Devils' next possession.
Perkins' 31-yard field goal in the fourth brought the Huskies back within two scores, but Weber made his third field goal of the game later in the quarter, a 20-yarder to put ASU up 37-20.
Nolan's interception return for a touchdown on the first play of 's ensuing possession finished off the scoring as ASU remained unbeaten on the season.
NOTES: Herring's 76-yard touchdown run was the longest by an ASU player since J.R. Redmond had an 80-yard run Oct. 2, 1999 against UCLA...The Sun Devils have scored more than 40 points in four of their seven games this season...ASU's 16-play opening drive was their longest in terms of number of plays since another 16-play field goal drive on Oct. 6, 2002 against Oregon...Erickson's 7-0 start at ASU is the best among Pac-10 coaches since 1951, when Stanford's Charles Taylor began 9-0 and USC's Jess Hill began 7-0...Nolan now has five interceptions on the season, tying him for second in the nation behind Florida Atlantic's Tavious Polo, who has seven.