ARIZONA STATE FOOTBALL

Fork Report: Arizona State Sun Devils wake up, rally to beat Cougars

Nov 22, 2014, 10:25 PM | Updated: 10:40 pm

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The alarm went off and Arizona State hit snooze.

It wasn’t until about 90 minutes after the 11 a.m. kickoff that the Sun Devils finally started playing — and once they did, Washington State could not stop them.

No. 13 ASU (9-2, 6-2 Pac-12) scored 31 unanswered points — part of a 45-3 run — on the way to a 52-31 win in front of 51,428 on Senior Day at Sun Devil Stadium.

Taylor Kelly passed for four touchdowns, DJ Foster rushed for three touchdowns and Cam Smith caught two touchdowns.

In his final home game, Kelly overcame a slow start to rally the Sun Devils from a 21-7 second-quarter deficit with touchdown-scoring drives on seven of eight possessions to end the game.

The go-ahead score — a one-yard run by Foster — was setup by a 67-yard throw from Kelly to Smith, which was Kelly’s longest completion of the season.

Kelly finished 15-of-25 for 232 yards. Foster ended with 96 yards and Smith had a career-high 131 yards on six catches. It was the first time Smith went over the 100-yard mark.

Defensively, ASU forced five turnovers, including three interceptions of freshman QB Luke Falk. Each turnover was converted into a touchdown, helping the Sun Devils reach 50 points for the third time this season and 12th time under head coach Todd Graham.

Falk threw for 601 yards as Washington State (3-8, 2-6) outgained ASU 622-330.

With the victory, the Sun Devils have won at least nine games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1972-73.

THE GOOD

Kelly finished the first half strong, completing his final four passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns as the Sun Devils scored twice in 41 seconds to tie the game at 21-21 with 2:31 left in the second quarter. Kelly’s second touchdown was a 10-yard pass to Fred Gammage, the first of his career.

With that TD, Kelly became the Sun Devils all-time leader in points responsible for (516), passing Andrew Walter, who finished with 510 during his four-year career.

The Sun Devils picked off Falk twice in the first half. Damarious Randall’s interception was his third in as many games, while Marcus Hardison recorded his second of the season. Hardison also sacked Falk twice in the game for his team-leading ninth and 10th sacks of the season, seven of which have come in the past five games.

Foster caught two first-quarter passes, including a 42-yard grab for the Sun Devils’ first first down of the game, giving him at least one reception in each of the 38 games he has played at ASU. That streak is tied for the ninth longest among active FBS players.

Of Matt Haack’s six first-half punts, five traveled better than 50 yards, including a season-best 65-yarder on punt No. 6. Entering the game, Haack had seven punts of 50 or more yards on the season..

THE BAD

Of the Sun Devils’ first 13 offensive plays, seven resulted in a loss of yardage, including four sacks of Kelly. ASU totaled minus-24 yards in its first four possessions. The offense went three-and-out on six of its first seven drives and totaled 135 yards on 29 plays at the half. ASU was 0-for-6 on third-down conversions for the half.

Eight of Kelly’s first 11 pass attempts went incomplete, either because of drops or misreads by the three-year starter. The three throws he did complete gained 44 yards.

The Sun Devils’ defense jumped offsides four times in the first half, and a fifth would-be penalty was declined. Hardison was guilty twice, including once on third-and-4 that gave Washington State an automatic first down on the way to its second touchdown. Two possessions later, Washington State scored its third touchdown, aided by three offsides calls against the Sun Devils.

Washington State outgained the Sun Devils by 202 yards in the first half. Of the 337 yards the Cougars gained in the first half, 329 came via the air, as Falk completed 21-of-37 passes with 10 plays of 15 or more yards.

For the third straight game, ASU’s opponent scored first. The Sun Devils had scored first in seven of their first eight games, with their game at USC being the lone exception.

STAT OF THE GAME

35: The number of points off turnovers for the Sun Devils, who began the day 11th-best in the nation in converting turnovers into points (90).

HE SAID IT

“Just so proud of our seniors. I could care less about stats. To me, we whipped them and dominated them in the second half. I’m thrilled to death we’re 3-0 on Senior Day.” -ASU coach Todd Graham

NOTED

Before Saturday, the last 11 a.m. kickoff at Sun Devil Stadium was Nov. 27, 1999, when ASU beat UA 42-27.

Receiver Jaelen Strong did not dress, missing his first game of the season because of a concussion suffered last weekend at Oregon State.

The Sun Devils’ 11 scholarship seniors, tied for the second-smallest class in the nation behind Temple’s eight, were honored pregame.

A representative from the Alamo Bowl, as well as scouts from six NFL teams (Cardinals, Dolphins, Giants, Jets, Niners and Titans), were in attendance.

UP NEXT

The Territorial Cup.

The Sun Devils travel to Tucson to play Arizona in the final game of the regular season Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning two hours earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

ASU has won each of the last two meetings against the Wildcats, including 58-21 last season at Sun Devil Stadium. The 58 points were the most scored in the series since the Sun Devils dropped 56 on the Wildcats in 1996.

UA has not beaten ASU in Tucson since 2008.

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Fork Report: Arizona State Sun Devils wake up, rally to beat Cougars