Oct. 25, 2008
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Game Action
Arizona State Notes:
• Wooten Impresses: Morris Wooten had a solid game defensively, especially in the second quarter. In that stanza, Troy Nolan knocked the ball loose on a punt return and Wooten recovered the ball for the Sun Devils, giving him his second recovery of his ASU career in as many weeks. Later in the quarter, Wooten recorded the first interception of his career as he picked off a pass attempt by Jeremiah Masoli, returning the ball 24 yards, one yard shy of the end zone.
• End of the Drought: The first career interception for Morris Wooten also helped the offense as his return set up Rudy Carpenter’s 1-yard touchdown run, ending a long non-scoring drought for the Sun Devils that totaled 103 minutes and 18 seconds. The last time the Sun Devils scored (prior to Carpenter’s sneak) came with 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter at California when Keegan Herring rumbled 8-yards for the score. ASU did not score in the fourth quarter at Cal, was shut out at USC and then was held scoreless by Oregon until Carpenter’s score.
• Running Rudy: Carpenter’s 1-yard scoring run marked the second rushing touchdown the quarterback has recorded in his Sun Devil career. The first came in his rookie season (2005) as he ran in a 1-yard score against Washington at home. Since the turn of the millennium in 2000 (nine seasons including this year), the Sun Devils have scored 130 rushing touchdowns with the ASU quarterbacks accounting for four of those scores. Carpenter has half of those QB scores on the ground with Jeff Krohn (2001) and Sam Keller (2005) recording the other two.
• Carpenter In The Books: Rudy Carpenter finished the game with 146 yards on 17-of-33 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions while also rushing for one touchdown. With his 33 pass attempts, Carpenter now has 1,169 attempts in his career and moved into second on the ASU all-time list, supplanting Jake Plummer’s 1,142 attempts (1993-96). The record for a career is 1,416 attempts by Andrew Walter (2001-04).
• Williams’ Returns: Kyle Williams returned three kick-offs for 78 yards (31, 30 and 17), bringing his season total to 454 yards. With 47 more yards, Williams will tie Richard Williams (2000) for the ninth-most return yardage in a single season.
• New Kicks: Sophomore Trevor Hankins saw his first collegiate action Saturday night as he punted three times for 112 total yards, including a long of 53 yards on his third attempt.
• TD for TJ: Redshirt freshman T.J. Simpson caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Danny Sullivan with 52 seconds remaining in the game to mark his first collegiate touchdown grab. Simpson also made his debut in the kick return game as he brought back a pair of kick-offs, totaling 43 yards. His first attempt covered 22 yards before he was forced out of bounds while his second went 21 yards.
• Points: Oregon scored 54 points on Saturday night, marking the highest point total allowed by the Sun Devils this season (surpassing the 28 points allowed to USC). The point total, which is the most the Sun Devils have surrendered in Dennis Erickson’s 20 games at ASU, is only the third time ASU has allowed 40 or more points under Erickson and the second time it has given up 50 or more with the last coming in a 52-34 loss to Texas in the 2007 Holiday Bowl.
• Hall of Fame: The ASU Sports Hall of Fame welcomed eight inductees this weekend, including a trio with ties to the football program. Former head coach Bruce Snyder (1992-2000) and defensive stalwarts Pat Tillman (1994-97) and Eric Allen (1983-87) were enshrined along with Jacinta Bartholomew (track and field), Brandie Burton (golf), Lisa Dacquisto (softball), Markus Mollica (wrestling) and Jeremy Veal (basketball).
• Hash Marks: Arizona State wore maroon pants with their maroon jersey tops at home for the first time since November 27, 1999, a 42-27 defeat of rival Arizona… for the fourth game in a row, the Sun Devils’ opponent scored first after ASU scored first in the first three games of the season… Brandon Smith pulled in a 6-yard pass from Carpenter, marking his first reception since a 37-yard TD grab in the 2006 Hawaii Bowl… Thomas Weber missed his first PAT try since he had one blocked on October 6, 2007 against Washington State, snapping a streak of 33-consecutive conversions.
Oregon Notes:
• SR RB Jeremiah Johnson's first carry of the game - a 43-yard TD - went for more yardage than his total from last week's game vs. UCLA (40 yds).
• SO QB Jeremiah Masoli equaled is total pass completions from a week ago in the 1st quarter (5-of-7).
• SR PK Matt Evensen set a career long with his 52-yard field goal in the second quarter. His only other FG of 50+ also came at Sun Devil Stadium, a 51-yarder as a freshman in 2005.
• Johnson recorded the seventh multiple TD game of his career, giving him 26 all-time rushing touchdowns - one behind Jonathan Stewart (2005-07) for third at UO.
• Arizona State had not surrendered more than 28 points in a game this season (vs. USC) before Saturday.
• For the second time this year (at WSU was the other), Johnson and LeGarrette Blount each had multiple touchdowns. Blount now has 5 multi-TD games in his brief UO career.
• JR CB Jairus Byrd moved took over 3rd place by himself on the Oregon career interceptions list and now has 16.
• The Ducks surpassed 40 points for the fourth time this season and 50 points for the third time.
• Oregon surpassed 300 yards rushing for the fifth time in 8 games this season.
• The Ducks have now won 4 straight in the series and the last 3 at Sun Devil Stadium.
• The 62-yard TD pass from SO QB Justin Roper to FR WR Chris Harper was UO's longest scoring reception of the season.
• UO's 54 points were the second-most for the Ducks in the 29 meetings against ASU (56-55 W in 2000).