The ASU football team left Sun Devil Stadium on Saturday with its first shutout in 12 years, but not before causing Frank Kush Field to be littered with a heavy load of yellow laundry.
The Sun Devils (4-6, 3-4 Pac-10) committed 10 penalties for 104 yards in their 31-0 win against Washington State.
It marked the third straight game ASU had a double-digit penalty tally.
“We’d like to cut them down,” Erickson said “A couple of [the penalties] were [due to] overaggresiveness. I can deal with that.”
In the first quarter Saturday, a holding penalty negated a 25-yard pass from senior quarterback Rudy Carpenter to junior wide receiver Kyle Williams that would have put the Sun Devils at the WSU 36-yard line.
Instead, the Sun Devils were unable to move the chains after the penalty and were forced to punt.
In the second quarter, a pass completion that put ASU inside the Cougar 40-yard line was called back due to an ineligible receiver downfield penalty. The Sun Devils were again forced to punt.
While penalties on offense stalled drives, several flags on defense gave the opposition good field position.
Following an ASU touchdown on its first drive of the second half, sophomore Thomas Weber booted the ensuing kickoff out of bounds giving WSU the ball at its own 40-yard line. A personal foul penalty committed by the Sun Devils after the kick then gave 15 more yards to the Cougars, allowing them to start their drive inside ASU territory.
“There’s too many [penalties] without a doubt,” Erickson said. “Again, we’re playing a little more aggressive than we have to.”
The Sun Devils are currently eighth in the Pac-10 in penalties, averaging just shy of eight per game for 69 yards.
Starters get rest
Tuesday’s practice provided a heavy workout for many of ASU’s younger players. First-string players participated in only a small portion of the session, making way for many of ASU’s scout team players to receive increased repetitions.
“It’s nice to see them out there practicing and running something other than the scout offense or defense,” Erickson said. “It’s good for them to get out there with a little enthusiasm and give the other the other guys a little rest.”
Erickson said scout team players would see more practice time on Wednesday before the team begins prepping for UCLA on Thursday.
Injury front
Junior offensive lineman Shawn Lauvao (ankle) practiced on Tuesday and should be ready to play against UCLA on Nov. 28.
Freshman defensive tackle Lawrence Guy missed practice on Tuesday to take care of what Erickson called an “academic thing.” Erickson said Guy would return to practice on Wednesday.
“That’s one good thing about the bye week; you can take care of other things,” he said.
Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu.
