Oct. 13, 2007
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery
Long Hauls: Arizona State scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 34-17 lead with both scores coming on big plays on the ground. TB Dimitri Nance opened the long runs with a 57-yard score with TB Keegan Herring scoring on a 76-yard run on the next drive.
Going Long: TB Keegan Herring's 76-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was not only his career long, it also marked the longest rushing touchdown by a Sun Devil since J.R. Redmond covered 80 yards on October 2, 1999, against UCLA. Herring's previous career long run came two games ago as he scored on a 72-yard run at Stanford on September 29.
Just for Kicks: PK Thomas Weber extended his school-record field goal kicking streak to 14 in a row with a perfect 3-for-3 showing. Weber connected on attempts of 33, 24 and 20 yards. His streak is the longest to both open a career at ASU as well as the longest streak at any point in a career, bettering the previous streak of nine by brothers Alan (1987) and Luis (1981) Zendejas.
They Second (Half) That: The Sun Devils have scored 136 points this year in the second half of their games. At the same time, ASU's defense has allowed just 29 points against.
In for the Long Drive: Arizona State's 16-play, 59-yard opening drive that resulted in a 33-yard field goal by PK Thomas Weber matched the longest drive (number of plays) for the Sun Devils since a 16-play, 68-yard drive on October 6, 2002, at No. 6 Oregon. That drive also resulted in a in a field goal of 29 yards by Mike Barth.
Climbing Victory Charts: With the Sun Devils' victory over Washington, both QB Rudy Carpenter and Head Coach Dennis Erickson climbed one rung higher on a pair of victory lists. Carpenter is now 18-7 as a starter for ASU, moving him into a tie with Andrew Walter and Ryan Kealy for the third-most victories by a starter. Erickson is now 7-0 and is tied for the second-best start in Pac-10 history during the post-war era (56 years) with USC's Jess Hill (1951). The record for coaching victories is a 9-0 start by Stanford's Charles Taylor (1951).
Carpenter's Scores: QB Rudy Carpenter threw for a pair of touchdowns to move his career total to 56, giving him sole possession of No. 19 on the all-time Pac-10 charts. Carpenter finished the game with 227 yards on 20-of-31 passing, two touchdowns and one interception.
Near Balanced Attack: The Sun Devil offensive attack accumulated 523 total yards on the night with 296 gained on the ground and 227 through the air. Keegan Herring led the way on the ground with 119 yards on 10 carries and one score while Dimitri Nance ran for 92 yards on 13 carries with one touchdown scored. In the air, Chris McGaha led the way with 73 yards on five grabs while Rudy Burgess accounted for 55 yards on four receptions.
Pick Six: S Troy Nolan intercepted Washington QB Jake Locker in the fourth quarter for his fifth pick of the season and returned it 35 yards for a score, marking the fourth time the Arizona State defense has returned a pick for a score this season. With the interception, the Sun Devils have recorded at least one pick in all seven games in 2007 and ran their streak to nine games in a row dating back to last year.
Not Many Left: Arizona State remained among the dwindling list of undefeated teams in the FBS (formerly Division I-A) as 11 teams started the day without a loss and only six remained that way Saturday. ASU joined Ohio State, Boston College, South Florida, Hawaii and Kansas as the only unblemished teams in the NCAA while formerly undefeated teams LSU, California, Connecticut, Missouri and Cincinnati all fell.
Hash Marks: Arizona State scored on its opening drives of both halves for the third time this year. The Sun Devils scored touchdowns on both drives against San Jose State and posted a pair of field goals at Stanford before opening the game with a field goal and the second half with a 21-yard touchdown pass from QB Rudy Carpenter to WR Rudy Burgess ... ASU has scored 14 or more points in one quarter nine times this year ... the 44 points scored by the Sun Devils marks the fourth time this year ASU has recorded 40 or more points in a game and sixth time it has posted 30 or more in a contest. The offense is averaging nearly 38 points per game this year.