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With just over a minute left at AT&T Stadium on Oct. 5, 2013, then-No. 22 ASU football scored to bring it within three of then-unranked Notre Dame. Taylor Kelly threw a pick-six, and ASU scored again. This time with mere seconds left on the clock. The Fighting Irish recovered the onside kick, and the game was effectively over with 10 seconds left.
The 2014 matchup was a different story.
This time, the game felt over at halftime. It was sealed with 3:41 left. Rather than No. 22 vs. unranked, it was No. 9 vs. No. 10. Rather than 3-2 vs. 4-2, it was 7-1 vs. 7-1. The Sun Devils (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) started six different players on offense in 2014 and nine on defense. The Fighting Irish (7-2) had equal turnover. They had eight different starters on defense and five on offense. But most importantly was the change at quarterback.
The addition of senior Everett Golson for last season's Irish quarterback Tommy Rees had as much of an impact as expected — just in complete opposite fashion. Golson turned the ball over five times, four by interception and one by fumble.
Video by Ben Margiott | Multimedia reporter
Irish coach Brian Kelly called the mistakes "maddening."
"Sooner or later, (Golson has) got to take it on himself to take care of the football," Kelly said. "We’re at that point now where it hurt us in the game. He knows it."
The mistakes hurt the Fighting Irish critically. ASU had 28 points off turnovers. Every pass the Sun Devils tipped went for an interception.
The Sun Devils returned two picks to the house. Another was caught by redshirt junior defensive end Marcus Hardison already on the Notre Dame 23-yard line. Junior cornerback Kweishi Brown had the other, which was made in the end zone to save a touchdown.
None of them came cleanly — every interception by the Sun Devils was tipped either by the defensive line or an Irish receiver.
"The ball was tipped," said redshirt senior safety Damarious Randall, who was the benefactor of a tip from Hardison. "I just saw the ball in the air, and I just broke and got it."
Although it seemed as if it was piling on, peaking at a 34-3 advantage, each of the five Sun Devil turnovers turned out to be critical. The Irish fought back to make it a three-point difference, 34-31, with 6:37 left in the game. The momentum was turning — Graham said he could feel it — but the crowd stayed in it, chanting even after the Irish score.
Graham had one message to his team:
"I kept saying, 'Hey we're winning!' " Graham said. " 'They're not winning; we're winning!' "
Randall and redshirt sophomore linebacker Salamo Fiso were the only two defensive starters who remained from last year's game loss to Notre Dame. Junior running back D.J. Foster didn't play in last year's game. He led the Sun Devils in rushing Saturday afternoon, running the ball 21 times for 120 yards.
Junior defensive tackle Jaxon Hood, who didn't play Saturday because of personal issues, said he thought ASU got "over the hump" before the Stanford game this season — the advantage he gave the Cardinal last season. Foster mentioned that hump again after the game, but it wasn't the team's hump. It's the hump of the national media.
"We knew that this was the hump we needed to get over to kind of make out name, nationally," Foster said. "We knew that we needed to get this win to impress some people."
Last season, the Sun Devils didn't win the "big games." The Sun Devils lost twice to Stanford, on a national stage at AT&T Stadium in the Shamrock Series game against Notre Dame and in their bowl game to Texas Tech.
They got over their own hump last season. With this win, ASU now has the attention of the nation. That comes when a team begins to approach the lofty national title expectations its coach sets.
"I passed that trophy when I was walking into Wells Fargo (Arena)," Graham said. "It was kind of nice. I like seeing that thing. I'm determined to bring it to the Valley."
Reach the reporter at ewebeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EvanWebeck
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