SEATTLE, Wash. — After watching three straight games slip into the loss column due to self-imposed mistakes, ASU desperately needed to find a way to eliminate the woes and get a victory.
On a gloomy, rainy Saturday night in Seattle, the Sun Devils did just that and kept their bowl hopes alive with a 24-14 victory over Washington in front of 65,685 people at Husky Stadium.
The win snapped ASU’s nine-game losing streak against FBS opponents and ended its eight-game losing streak in the Pac-10.
“It’s a relief,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. “I certainly didn’t want to go home with an extension on that [streak]. Just to get that win is huge for us right now.”
ASU’s last FBS and Pac-10 victory came against UW, who the Sun Devils have now beaten seven straight times.
It also wasn’t a coincidence that it was ASU’s cleanest game in some time. The Sun Devils didn’t shoot themselves in the foot with penalties and didn’t lose the turnover margin.
“We had one turnover and four penalties,” Erickson said. “You have to do that to win, and when you do that, you win. That is a pretty good example of it.”
With rain pouring down for most of the game, ASU’s offense was not bothered by the added wetness.
“I like how we performed offensively in the rain,” Erickson said. “We threw it and caught it, and we did all the things we needed to. [The rain] was as bad as I have seen it, and I have been here a lot of years.”
ASU jumped out to a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a touchdown pass from redshirt junior quarterback Steven Threet to junior receiver Gerell Robinson. The four-yard strike capped a 14-play drive that started on ASU’s own 10-yard line.
UW freshman Jesse Callier took the ensuing kickoff 51 yards and gave the Huskies great field position. That return sparked the UW offense and after a nine-play, 41-yard drive, UW senior quarterback Jake Locker scored on a two-yard run to even the score.
The barrage of points in a short period of time continued as ASU needed just 1:49 to drive down the field and regain the lead on a one-yard touchdown run by Threet, who finished 21-of-34 with 288 yards passing and two touchdowns.
The offensive pace slowed in the second quarter. UW drove into ASU territory a couple of times, but a failed fake field goal and a dropped pass on fourth down prevented the Huskies from putting points on the board.
The Sun Devils took over after the dropped fourth-down pass with 1:01 left in the first half and went 65 yards in just 42 seconds, getting a big touchdown before the half.
Threet threw a lob pass up in the direction of Mike Willie, who rose above UW sophomore cornerback Desmond Trufant and came down with the football in the end zone, giving ASU a 21-7 halftime advantage.
“I knew I had to make a play before halftime,” Willie said. “The clock was counting down, and Steven threw a great ball for me, and I have to catch that.”
UW had a chance to cut into the lead on its opening drive of the second half, but couldn’t.
UW junior kicker Erik Folk missed a 52-yard field goal, but was given another chance after ASU was flagged for an illegal substitution. Folk, who was a perfect 7-for-7 coming into the game, missed again, this time from 47 yards out.
The Sun Devils returned the favor on the next drive. ASU kicker Thomas Weber was wide left from 47 yards and the lead remained at 21-7.
With the momentum back on its side, UW drove down the field only to be faced with another fourth down on the ASU side of the field.
UW coach Steve Sarkisian again elected to go for it, and this time it paid off. Locker executed the play and found senior receiver D’Andre Goodwin for a 15-yard touchdown to bring UW within seven.
Husky Stadium was rocking, and the game seemed to be swinging in UW’s favor. That continued when Threet made one of ASU’s few mistakes.
Faced with a third down in UW territory, Threet had Robinson open down the middle, but he threw high, causing the ball to be tipped and eventually intercepted by junior linebacker Cort Dennison.
The ASU defense rose to the occasion and regained momentum and stability, forcing a three and out and getting the ball back.
The offense took advantage, and Weber made it a two-possession game by connecting on a 22-yard field goal with 6:32 left to play.
Again, ASU’s defense held and forced a turnover on downs.
It appeared that Weber had kicked another field goal to increase ASU’s lead with just less than four minutes to play, but a holding penalty negated the successful kick.
Instead, ASU was backed up 10 yards and Weber missed a 40-yard try.
Locker tried to lead his team to a comeback, but junior cornerback Omar Bolden intercepted the senior to seal the victory.
ASU’s defense held Locker to just six rushing yards on 11 carries.
“We wanted to take away his legs; he can run with the best of them,” ASU senior safety Max Tabach said. “We felt like if we kept him in the pocket and the secondary did their job that the front seven would do their job of rushing him.”
The Sun Devils’ defensive line wreaked havoc on Locker all night thanks to outstanding efforts from defensive ends Junior Onyeali and Jamaar Jarrett.
“Junior Onyeali really played well,” Erickson said. “He made Jake step up, and we were able to control what he was doing.”
Willie finished with five catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. It seemed as if whenever ASU needed a big first down, Threet looked to Willie.
“He did a great job of finding windows and getting open for us,” Threet said. “He caught the ball well and got some yards after the catch on third down, which was big.”
Now ASU will try to do something it hasn’t done in awhile, build on a conference win.
“We have to keep that 1-0 mentality,” Willie said. “We are going to have fun on the airplane, but when we get home we are going to have to toss it out and start on whoever we have next.”
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu
