Tempe, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) – Taylor Kelly passed for 232 yards and four
touchdowns and No. 13 Arizona State overcame a first-half deficit to beat
Washington State 52-31 on Saturday.
D.J. Foster ran for 96 yards and three touchdowns for the Sun Devils (9-2, 6-2
Pac-12), who celebrated senior day by bouncing back from last week’s 35-27
loss to Oregon State, which snapped a five-game winning streak.
“We are proud of our seniors. We are proud of our program,” said Arizona State
coach Todd Graham. “That was our 27th win in three seasons. We are averaging
nine wins a season since I have been here. These guys have just been so
special to me.”
Cameron Smith had six catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns in the win and
Fred Gammage and Kody Kohl also had touchdown receptions.
Washington State (3-8, 2-7) led 21-7 in the first half and 24-21 at the break
but lost for the fifth time in its last six games.
Cougars quarterback Luke Falk passed for 601 yards — second-most in school
history — and three touchdowns in the loss. Vince Mayle caught 15 passes for
252 yards, giving him 101 catches this season.
Kweishi Brown’s interception in the third quarter led to Foster’s 1-yard
touchdown to give the Sun Devils a 28-24 lead.
They extended it to 38-24 just 3:15 into the fourth quarter on Zane Gonzalez’s
47-yard field goal and Foster’s 18-yard touchdown run, which followed Viliami
Latu’s 51-yard return of Falk’s fumble.
Linebacker Salamo Fison intercepted Falk after that, leading to Smith’s 5-yard
touchdown catch for a 21-point lead. Kohl added a 6-yard touchdown reception
and Dom Williams had a 2-yard touchdown catch for Washington State to cap the
scoring.
Washington State coach Mike Leach said “no doubt” the game was there to win.
“We went from doing a pretty good job attacking them and limiting their
overall effort today (to) if there was a turnover we just give up, we don’t
even look like the same defense,” he said.
Earlier, after five combined punts by the two teams, Falk gave the Cougars a
7-0 lead with a 1-yard sneak at the end of a 10-play drive, his first career
touchdown.
Damarious Randall intercepted Falk later in the first quarter, setting up
Foster’s 17-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second to tie the
score for Arizona State after a slow offensive start.
The Cougars responded with Rickey Galvin’s 1-yard touchdown catch at the other
end of the field to restore their seven-point lead. They went up 21-7 on Isiah
Myers’ 20-yard catch, but the Sun Devils tied the score with two touchdowns in
41 seconds.
First, Smith made a diving over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone on Kelly’s
42-yard pass. Then, defensive lineman Marcus Hardison intercepted a pass
tipped at the line to set up Gammage’s first career touchdown on a 10-yard
catch that tied the score at 21.
Myers had a 50-yard reception on the ensuing Washington State possession, but
the Cougars settled for a 27-yard Quentin Breshears field goal as time expired
to take a 24-21 lead into halftime.
Game Notes
The Cougars had 30 first downs compared to 16 for Arizona State and outgained
the Sun Devils 622 yards to 330 … Arizona State finishes the regular season
on Friday at Arizona … Washington State will end the regular season next
Saturday against Washington.
