|
 Kyle Williams made all of the Sun Devils’ big plays Saturday. He made a big one for the Wildcats, too — muffing a fair catch on a punt, a mistake that led to the winning field goal on the last play as Arizona beat ASU 20-17 at Sun Devil Stadium.
More photos, click here!
ASU seniors reach milestones, click here!
Rivalry through the decade, click here!
Williams mishandled a punt with 1:03 left in the game. Alex Zendejas, an Ironwood High School graduate, kicked a 32-yard field to win it with no time left.
 Williams, a senior from Chaparral High, scored both touchdowns and set up the Sun Devils’ field goal with a 53-yard punt return. The Sun Devils had tied the game at 17-17 with 2:20 left after Williams made a brilliant diving catch on 14-yard pass from Danny Sullivan for a touchdown. Thomas Weber kicked the point after to deadlock the game.
“If it wasn’t for Kyle, it might not have been a ballgame,’’ ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. “I feel bad for him because he didn’t deserve to have it end like that.”
It looked like ASU would have one chance to score the game-winner when the Devils forced the Wildcats to punt. Williams settled under it, signaling for a fair catch.
“It looked like he was having trouble making up his mind,’’ Erickson said.
The ball slipped though his hands and was picked up by Mike Turner at the ASU 22. The Wildcats moved it to the 15 before Zendejas came on to win it.
ASU lost its sixth straight game, ending its season 4-7 overall and 2-7 in the Pacific-10 Conference. This was Arizona State’s second straight losing season, the first time the Devils’ have had successive losing seasons since 1946-47.
Arizona is 7-4 and 5-3 and will close out its season with a game Dec. 5 at USC. The victory in all likelihood assures Arizona of a second straight bowl appearance.
ASU came into the game with the 91st best offense in the nation (out of 120 NCAA Football Bowl Series) and for three quarters couldn’t live up to that lofty ranking.
 The Sun Devils didn’t score until through the third quarter when Weber kicked a 26-yard field goal. They did not put together a sustained drive until the fourth quarter. ASU finished with 265 yards total offense.
Dimitri Nance finsihed with 115 yards on 23 carries. Williams had nine catches for 130 yards.
Arizona rolled up 303 yards total offesne.
Arizona sophomore quarterback Nick Foles, who came into the game with a 69 percent completion rate, had a sub-par game. He completed 24 of 42 passes for 148 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Sun Devils started out the game great.
On the Sun Devils’ first play from scrimmage, Samson Szakacsy threw 44 yards to Williams, a play that went to the Arizona 31. Then Dimitri Nance broke off a 15-yard run to the 16.
Three plays went nowhere. A false start on fourth down moved the Devils back 5 more yards. Weber missed a 36-yard field goal attempt.
After Nance’s run on the second play from scrimmage, ASU netted a loss of 11 yards on the nine offensive plays it ran in the first quarter. The Devils did not pick up another first down until late in the second quarter. ASU did not get the ball inside Arizona’s 20 again until midway through the third quarter.
ASU finished the first half with three first downs and 79 yards total offense.
The Wildcats were not much better. They finished with 166 yards in the first half. But a long run up the middle and a blocked punt and return were enough to give Arizona a 14-0 lead.
Keola Antolin went 67 yards for a touchdown with 3:54 left in the first quarter. Zendejas kicked the point-after to make it 7-0.
After another three-and-out by the Sun Devils, William Wright gave the Wildcats great field position with 38-yard punt return to the ASU 25. That set up a field goal try by Zendajas, which was partially blocked and hit the crossbar, falling short.
Nance gained 3 yards on a fourth-and-inches play, giving ASU its third first down of the game with 5:04 left in the half. Three plays later, Orlando Vargas blocked a punt, picked up the ball at the 23 and ran in for a touchdown. Zendejas’ kick made it 14-0.
After another three-and-out, Trevor Hankins shanked a punt that went 29 yards, giving Arizona the ball at its 49 with 2:07 left in the half. But the Wildcats stalled at the ASU 33 and the Sun Devils took over on downs.
Nance ran – and the Devils lost 2 yards, a fitting way for the half to end.
A 59-yard punt by Hankins and a block-in-the-back penalty left the UA starting from its 6 with 8:59 left in the third quarter. The Wildcats were forced to punt.
Williams returned the punt 53 yards to the Wildcat 16. The Devils were able to get the ball to the 9, setting up Weber’s 26-yard field goal that made it 14-3 with 6:50 left in the third quarter.
Sullivan, who replaced Szakacsy in the first half, hit Williams with a 44-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter,.Weber’s extra point cut the Wildcats’ lead to 14-10.
Arizona responded by going 63 yards on 11 plays to set up a 30-yard field goal by Zendejas to push the lead to 17-10. |
