ASU found its rhythm Saturday night, showing more consistency one week after a wake-up-call loss to Baylor raised questions about the team's direction.
Freshman Cardae Mack found his groove late in the game, exploding up the middle for a 67-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Mack led the run game as ASU prevailed over Hawaii 30-12 at Mountain America Stadium.
He finished the night with a team-high 13 carries for 154 yards and two touchdowns, the most by a Sun Devil freshman since Keegan Herring in 2005.
"Truly a blessing," Mack said about his performance. "Everybody did their part. I've been practicing hard, doing everything right in practice; it's paying off."
Senior wide receiver Reed Harris opened the scoring for the Sun Devils, snatching an 18-yard reception for ASU's first score of the game.
In the first half, senior wide receiver Omarion Miller and Harris were the only Sun Devil wide receivers to catch a pass. The duo finished the night with 14 receptions combined. Harris finished with 91 yards and two touchdowns, while Miller brought in 78 yards.
The Sun Devils scored on over half of their first-half drives with two touchdowns and a field goal. Junior quarterback Cutter Boley benefited from time in the pocket and no offensive penalties, keeping drives moving.
Boley finished 21-for-31 with 189 yards and two touchdowns, adding 40 yards on the ground.
"Our guys were a lot more (intentional) in how we played," coach Kenny Dillingham said. "I thought we played harder. I thought that was clear. I still think we're trying to figure us out, though. That's just being transparent."
Lightning in the area delayed the start of the second half as rain poured down and the Sun Devil faithful left the stands for shelter.
Hawaii came out of the delay slowly, and the Sun Devils used that to their advantage, holding the Rainbow Warriors scoreless in the third quarter.
Junior defensive back Kyan McDonald found himself in the right place at the right time midway through the third quarter after Hawaii wide receiver Kainoa Carvalho popped the ball back up to McDonald's hands for the Sun Devils' lone takeaway of the night.
"Going out there and playing with passion," junior linebacker Martell Hughes said about the defense's improvements. "That was the biggest thing that was missing last week."
Hawaii quarterback Micah Alejado gave ASU's defense trouble all night long, extending plays by rolling to his left. After dotting a 47-yard pass on the first play of the game, Alejado connected deep with junior wide receiver Audric Harris for a 32-yard touchdown. Harris was the lone touchdown scorer for the Rainbow Warriors.
The fourth quarter got ugly for the ASU defense as back-to-back pass interferences, followed by a personal foul penalty, had Hawaii looking to make things interesting. The Sun Devil defense hunkered down and forced a turnover on downs, getting the ball back to the offense and effectively putting the game away.
"I thought we communicated better," Dillingham said on defensive improvements. "We had people on people. I know that sounds boring and fundamental, but that wasn't always the case last week. So, that was a step forward."
ASU will look to find some of its best football of the season as it heads to Lubbock to take on No. 11 and reigning Big 12 Champions Texas Tech on Oct. 17.
Edited by Alex Swift and Alan Deutschendorf III.
Reach the reporter at eapache3@asu.edu.
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Eric Pacheco is a junior studying sports journalism. This is his second semester with The State Press. He previously served as Editor-in-Chief of the Riverside City College student newspaper Viewpoints.
