In a battle of two teams still fighting for bowl eligibility, the visiting Washington Huskies descended upon Sun Devil Stadium Saturday afternoon and put on a clinic in the first half, leading ASU 17-3 at the break.
The Huskies (4-5) struck first on junior kicker Cameron Van Winkle’s 35-yard field goal with 9:57 to go in the first quarter.
With 6:50 to go in the first quarter, freshman Myles Gaskin’s 1-yard touchdown run capped a seven-play, 77-yard scoring drive to put Washington up 10-0.
The Sun Devils (4-5) were anemic offensively, going three-and-out three times and were shutout until the 2:21 mark of the second quarter, when junior kicker Zane Gonzalez drilled a 40-yard field goal to cap a six-play, 32-yard drive that amassed 2:25 of game clock.
The scoring drive was the longest in terms of game clock and total yardage for ASU on the afternoon.
In ASU’s first six drives, redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici and Co. didn’t record more than 20 yards per drive, and junior punter Matt Haack had seven boots in the first half alone.
Junior tight end Daniel Darrells hauled in a 29-yard touchdown catch, and was left wide open on a busted coverage in the secondary for a easy find from freshman quarterback Jake Browning.
Browning threw for 209 yards and completed 15 of his 30 passing attempts, and Gaskin led the way on the ground with 98 yards on 12 carries; the Huskies totaled 341 yards in the first half to ASU's 133.
Linebacker Laiu Moeakiola and senior safety Jordan Simone were injured in the second quarter.
Simone left the game and was examined in the locker room and returned to the field wearing a hat and using crutches, and was later ruled out for the rest of the game.
Moeakiola’s return from a shoulder injury is doubtful.
The Sun Devils have the option to receive the second half kickoff.
Reach the sports editor at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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