Arizona State Sun Devils start fast, hang on to beat Notre Dame

TEMPE, Ariz. — Is it possible to squeak out a 24-point win against a top-10 opponent?

If it is, then Arizona State did so Saturday, nearly squandering all of a 31-point first-half lead but “hanging on” to beat Notre Dame 55-31 in front of 65,870 fans at Sun Devil Stadium.

The ninth-ranked Sun Devils (8-1) jumped on the Irish early and often, scoring 17 points in a 90-second span of the first quarter. In the second quarter, they added a 59-yard interception return for a touchdown by Demarious Randall and a beautiful 43-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Kelly to Cameron Smith.

After Zane Gonzalez booted a 28-yard field goal with 1:09 left in the half, the Devils led 34-3. The rout was on, right?

Wrong.

Randall jumped a route on Notre Dame’s first down play following Gonzalez’s field goal and didn’t come up with the pick, allowing C.J. Prosise to gain 59 yards down to the ASU 16-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Everett Golson found Will Fuller on a nine-yard touchdown pass and the Irish had their first shred of momentum, even though they trailed 34-10 at the break.

That momentum carried over into the second half. ASU came out flat offensively, gaining only 32 yards in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Golson led a 56-yard scoring drive that was capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Cam McDaniel to pull Notre Dame to within 17.

The fun was just getting started.

Kelly was then intercepted by Matthias Farley on ASU’s next possession, and the tension in the stadium continued to rise.

McDaniel scored on another short touchdown run to make it 34-24. ASU went three and out on its next possession and the Irish struck again: Golson to a wide-open Amir Carlisle, who got free on a blown coverage to score from 25 yards out. ASU’s lead had been shrunk to three with 6:37 left in the game.

Finally, the Sun Devils’ offense awakened.

D.J. Foster totaled 31 yards on three carries before Kelly hit freshman tailback Demario Richard on a 40-yard pickup down to the Irish 4-yard line. Those two would hook up again for a touchdown on the next play to give ASU a little more breathing room.

Before that efficient and decisive 75-yard touchdown drive, Arizona State had amassed just 76 yards of offense in their first five second-half possessions.

“I think I might have been a little panicked,” ASU head coach Todd Graham joked when asked about his mindset when Notre Dame closed to within three.

“I just thought the statement, when we got the ball and it was a three-point game, I stood in front of them and I said, ‘I’m going to tell you what championship teams do. They take the ball and they go stuff it down their throat, and they score,'” Graham said. “And that’s exactly what they did, and I was pretty impressed with that.”

Once again, the offense sleepwalked for a good portion of the contest, but still ended up with 412 yards and scored touchdowns in four of its five trips into Notre Dame’s red zone. Kelly finished with 224 yards and three touchdown passes and ran for another score to put the game away in the final minute.

Foster finished with 120 yards on 21 carries — his first 100-yard effort since running for 147 in a win over Colorado on Sept. 13.

He was glad the offense came to life at a crucial juncture of the game.

“We need to have our defense’s back. As you can see, the defense battled the whole game,” Foster said. “We needed to have their back and we needed to show up for them.

“We kept on talking and saying that we needed to come up with a drive, this is it. And that’s what we did. We needed to come together as an offensive unit and that’s what we did.”

This win checks off three boxes for the Sun Devils. First, it’s the first victory over Notre Dame in the program’s history. Second, it avenges last year’s bitter loss to the Irish in Arlington, Texas. Third, and most importantly, it keeps the Sun Devils in the conversation for the first-ever College Football Playoff. ASU is 8-1 with conference games remaining at Oregon State, vs. Washington State and at Arizona.

“This one, for this team, it is different because it is Notre Dame … I’m just being honest with you,” Graham said. “If you’re asking me personally, this is the biggest win, and it means more to me than anything else since we’ve been here because of who that team is that we just beat.

“That was pretty special.”

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