Sept. 5, 2010
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery
Arizona State Notes:
Starting Off With A Bang: Following their victory, the Sun Devils are now 69-27-2 (.704) all-time in season openers, including eight straight and 11 of their last 12.
Home Is Where The Heart Is: Arizona State pushed their record to 49-15-1 (.754) in home openers, including 12 straight and 14 of their last 15.
The Right Way To Begin The Season: Head coach Dennis Erickson is now 4-0 in season openers at ASU and improved to 16-6 overall in the first game of the year.
A New Marshall In Town: Sophomore running back Cameron Marshall eclipsed his previous career game-high of 76 yards midway through the first quarter on a 38-yard touchdown run. He ended the day with 104 yards and three rushing touchdowns, the most by a Sun Devil since Dimitri Nance had 3 vs. Cal on Oct. 27, 2007.
Grounding The Competition: ASU's 242 rushing yards vs. the Vikings is the most since gaining 296 yards on the ground against Washington Oct. 13, 2007.
Good First Impression: Junior safety Eddie Elder, playing his first game in the maroon and gold after transferring to ASU from the College of San Mateo, recorded his first career interception near the seven-minute mark of the first quarter. Redshirt freshman Osahon Irabor, also seeing his first action with the Sun Devils, garnered his first career interception in the fourth quarter.
Bring Your Sack Lunch: Junior linebacker Shelly Lyons and freshman defensive lineman Junior Onyeali each collected their first career sack.
The Safe Way To Go: The Sun Devils recorded their first safety since Sept. 22, 2007 against Oregon State.
Lewis Lets Loose: True freshman running back Deantre Lewis finished as the team's leading receiver after grabbing three catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns. He notched his first career touchdown on a 28-yard catch-and-run at the 7:47 mark of the second quarter and added a 62-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He also gained 24 yards on the ground and scored a three-yard rushing touchdown.
Easy Threet: Junior quarterback Steven Threet, making his first start at ASU, finished with 239 passing yards, the most by an ASU quarterback in a debut game, and two touchdowns. He connected with D. Lewis in the second quarter for his first touchdown pass as a Sun Devil. It is the tenth career touchdown pass for Threet, who started eight games as a freshman at Michigan before transferring.
Their Time To Shine: Ten Sun Devils made their maroon and gold debuts against the Vikings. Threet, junior wide receivers Aaron Pflugrad and Mike Willie, junior offensive lineman Brice Schwab and Elder debuted at the top of the depth chart after transferring. Senior defensive end Jamarr Robinson, junior offensive lineman Mike Marcisz, junior defensive end Jamaar Jarrett and Lyons made their first career starts, while junior Dan Knapp started at left tackle for the first time after playing tight end for the past two seasons.
Getting Comfortable In The Endzone: Arizona State's 54 points are more than the Sun Devils tallied in any game during the 2009 season and the most since defeating Temple 63-16 Sept. 1, 2005. ASU notched 30 points in the first half, the most first-half points since posting 31 on San Jose State Sept. 1, 2007.
Faculty/Staff Night: The Guest Sparky for the game was Dr. Gary Grossman, Faculty Chair of the Global Technology and Development (GTD) program and Associate Professor in the School of Letters and Sciences at Arizona State University. He joined Arizona State in 1994 and immediately began organizing projects and studies related to society, education and the impact they both have on life around the global. A dedicated professor, he was awarded two consecutive Fulbright Grants from 2002-2004 for research and teaching at Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. Dr. Grossman Bio (asu.edu)
A Real Miles-tone: Sophomore wide receiver Jamal Miles scored his first career touchdown on a nine-yard run with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
A Kick For The Record Books: Senior kicker Thomas Weber's 52-yard field goal was his 52nd career field goal, putting him in sole possession of second place on the school's career field goals list. The kick was one yard short of his career-long kick of 53 yards and he improved to 3-for-3 all-time beyond 50 yards.