Sept. 6, 2008
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Game Action
Arizona State Notes:
· Passing Fancy: Rudy Carpenter collected 345 yards on 27-for-36 passing with three touchdowns and one interception on the night to lead the Sun Devils to a 2-0 start. Combined with his 388 yards against Northern Arizona last weekend, Carpenter has thrown for 733 yards in his first two games and set the school record for the most yards in the first two games of the season, surpassing the previous total of 669 set by Sam Keller in 2005 (against Temple and LSU).
· Climbing the Conference List: Rudy Carpenter recorded three touchdown passes in the game, bringing his career total to 69, the ninth-most in Pac-10 history. Entering the game with 66, Carpenter moved past a pair of UCLA signal-callers, including Drew Olson (67 between 2002-05) and Cade McNown (68 between 1995-99).
· Quick Hits - Carpenter: With his first passing attempt of the second quarter (incomplete), Rudy Carpenter record the 1,000th pass attempt of his career, making him only the third Sun Devil signal caller to do so... Carpenter ended the game with 345 yards passing, marking the 11th time in his career and the second time this season that he has thrown for 300 or more yards in a game… during the third and fourth quarter, Carpenter connected on 10-consecutive completions, giving him a double-digit consecutive streak for the second game in a row (tied school record with a 13-in-a-row performance against Northern Arizona last week)… Carpenter’s 27 completions brings his career total to 635, the second-most in Sun Devil history (Andrew Walter (2001-04) leads with 777).
· Defense Gets First, And More: Gerald Munns’ interception at 12:13 remaining in the third quarter gave the Sun Devil defense their first takeaway of the season. It also was the first career interception for Munns. Troy Nolan would later add an interception of his own, returning the pass that was tipped by Munns later in the fourth quarter. Later in the fourth quarter, Terell Carr recorded the first interception of his Sun Devil career, picking a pass with 6:24 remaining in the game.
· Taking the Long Road: Thomas Weber’s 23-yard field goal in the first quarter capped the second-longest drive for the Sun Devils under head coach Dennis Erickson as Arizona State used 7:15 to go 70 yards on 15 plays. The longest drive under Erickson came in his first game with ASU against San Jose State (9/1/07) as the Sun Devils used 7:27 to march 84 yards over 14 plays with Ryan Torain scoring on a 3-yard run.
· Tom the Toe: Thomas Weber connected on two field goals in the game, giving him at least one made try in 13 consecutive-games, two games shy of tying the school record set by Luis Zendejas (1981-82), who connected on at least one in 15 games in a row. For his career, Weber is now 29 of 30 and has connected on his last 12 in a row (dating back to last season).
· Series Notes: With the victory, the Sun Devils improved to 16-9 all-time against Stanford and have won three in a row, outscoring the Cardinal, 120-23… ASU scored 41 points for the second game in a row against Stanford (W, 41-3 last year)… the last time either team won three or more in a row was accomplished by Stanford in 1999-2000-2001… ASU last won three in a row in the series by taking the three games prior to Stanford’s streak (1996-1997-1998)… this is the fourth time ASU has won three or more in a row in the series after running off five in a row (1981-85) before adding another three-game streak (1989-1993-1994).
· With the Win: The victory for the Sun Devils improved coach Dennis Erickson’s record to 12-3 in his first 15 games, the best record through 15 games for an ASU coach since Dan Devine went 12-2-1 in 1955-56… the Sun Devils improve to 244-84-3 all-time in games played at Frank Kush Field/Sun Devil Stadium… Arizona State is now 12-17-2 all-time in Pac-10 openers since it joined the Conference in 1978.
Stanford Notes:
· Toby Gerhart is the first Stanford back to rush for at least two touchdowns in consecutive team games since Anthony Bookman did so in 1997 (two vs. Oregon and two vs. Notre Dame). Anthony Kimble had two rushing touchdowns in his last two games of 2007, but they were in the Cardinal’s sixth and 11th team contests (he missed the four games in-between due to injury).
· After carrying 16 times for 67 yards and two touchdowns tonight, Gerhart has now gained 219 yards on 35 rushes with four scores over his last three games dating back to his only contest of the 2007 season (Sept. 8 vs. San Jose State).
· With his second quarter interception, junior defensive back Kris Evans became the first Stanford player with at least one pick in consecutive games since Brandon Harrison in 2005 (Oct. 8 at Washington State and Oct. 15 at Arizona). Evans nabbed his first career interception in Stanford’s season-opening victory over Oregon State.
· After tying for the Pac-10 lead with four forced fumbles in 2007, linebacker Clinton Snyder has forced a fumble in each of the first two games of the 2008 campaign.
· Quarterback Jason Forcier saw his first action in a Stanford uniform tonight after sitting out the 2007 season following his transfer from Michigan. The junior completed 2-of-6 passes for 18 yards in his first game since seeing action in six contests for the Wolverines in 2006.