ASU rides second-half surge to win over Washington, 44-20

October 13, 2007

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Arizona State has a knack for slow starts.<separator></separator>When the No. 14 Sun Devils wake up, look out.<separator></separator>Trailing Washington by four at halftime, the Sun Devils stormed back for a 44-20 victory on Saturday night behind a 76-yard touchdown run by <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/herring_keegan00.html"… Herring</a> and a 57-yard touchdown run by <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/nance_dimitri00.html">… Nance</a>.<separator></separator>"One thing about this team, they keep fighting," coach <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/erickson_dennis00.html… Erickson</a> said. "I don't know how good we are but we have won seven games, and we'll take it right now."<separator></separator>The Sun Devils (7-0, 4-0 Pac-10) are among only six remaining major-college unbeatens, along with Ohio State, Boston College, South Florida, Hawaii and Kansas. ASU takes next week off before playing host to No. 2 California, which lost to Oregon State on Saturday.<separator></separator>Washington (2-4, 0-3) has lost four straight.<separator></separator>"We didn't make plays," Washington coach Ty Willingham said. "I really don't know how to explain it."<separator></separator>For the fourth time in seven games, ASU overcame a double-digit deficit or trailed in the second half. The Sun Devils have outscored their opponents 136-29 in the second half.<separator></separator>"We're having a lot of fun competing every week," quarterback <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/carpenter_rudy00.html"… Carpenter</a> said.<separator></separator>The Sun Devils took a 20-17 lead early in the third quarter on a 21-yard pass from Carpenter to <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/burgess_rudy00.html">R… Burgess</a>, who made a leaping catch at the pylon and got a foot down before tumbling out of bounds.<separator></separator>Five minutes later, Nance broke through the right side of the line for a career-long 57-yard score to put the Sun Devils up 27-17.<separator></separator>Herring then went around left end and raced 76 yards down the sideline for the longest run of his career. The junior finished with 119 yards on 10 carries.<separator></separator>Asked about his offensive line, Herring said, "I think I might marry one of them."<separator></separator>Herring and Nance played big roles on a night the Sun Devils lost starting tailback <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/torain_ryan00.html">Ry… Torain</a>, who injured his left leg early in the first half and watched the rest of the game on crutches. Erickson said Torain "sprained his foot pretty seriously."<separator></separator>Said Carpenter: "I've been saying for a while that we have three really good backs."<separator></separator>Carpenter completed 20 of 31 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns for Arizona State, with one interception.<separator></separator>Carpenter won his 18th game as a starter, tying <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/walter_andrew00.html">… Walter</a> and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/kealy_ryan00.html">Ryan Kealy</a> for third in school history. Carpenter, a junior, needs seven wins to pass the leader, Jake Plummer.<separator></separator>Washington redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Locker completed 10 of 28 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown, and he had an interception returned for a touchdown. Locker also ran 32 yards for a score.<separator></separator><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/weber_thomas00.html">T… Weber</a>, a redshirt freshman, stretched his Arizona State-record streak to 14 straight successful field goal attempts with kicks from 33, 24 and 20 yards.<separator></separator>Arizona State followed what has become a familiar script, spotting its opponent a lead and then rallying. The Sun Devils trailed Colorado 14-0 after one quarter, Oregon State 19-0 after one quarter and Washington State 17-14 in the third quarter.<separator></separator>On Saturday night, ASU jumped ahead 3-0, after opening the game with a 16-play, 59-yard drive. Washington answered with a 36-yard pass from Locker to Marcel Reese, who made a sliding catch in the back of the end zone.<separator></separator>ASU took a 10-7 lead on a 3-yard pass from Carpenter to <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/williams_kyle00.html">… Williams</a>. The Huskies made it 17-10 on a 32-yard run by Locker, who sliced through the middle of the line and outraced several defenders to the goal line.<separator></separator>The Sun Devils caught a big break at the end of the first half. They had a first-and-goal at the Washington 8 with 8 seconds left and no timeouts. Carpenter tried to run for a score and was stopped at the 1 as time expired. But officials ruled he had stepped out of bounds at the 7 with 1 second remaining, allowing Weber to kick a 24-yard field goal that cut ASU's halftime deficit to 17-13.