Sept. 6, 2009
Final Stats
Pocatello, ID --- Arizona State's defense was as good as advertised, holding Idaho State to zero yards in the first half, but ISU's first team defense was surprisingly stout, allowing just a lone touchdown over the first nine drives of the game. But, Arizona State scored three late touchdowns as they defeated Idaho State 50-3 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.
The fact that ISU couldn't muster much offense was offset by a brilliant defensive performance, as despite five turnovers, including a TAINT (touchdown after interception) in the second quarter by Kyle Blum, the defense allowed just one first half TD, and held ASU to five field goals over their first nine drives. Several of those came on short fields after turnovers as ASU ended the game with an average starting field position of the Idaho State 45.
ASU got a lone field goal in the first quarter from All-American Thomas Weber of 24 yards, but the Sun Devils scored 20 in the second quarter. They got a 9-yard run from Dimitri Nance after Blum's first interception, and then two more Weber field goals sandwiched around a 34-yard interception return for Mike Nixon, who had three picks and set up two second half scores with the other picks.
ISU's offense didn't help matters much, as they combined for five turnovers (four interceptions and a fumble) and a blocked punt near the end of the first half. They also had another punt breakdown when freshman Clint Brock's snap near the end of the game went over punter Jon Vanderwielen's head.
Blum struggled in his season opening start at quarterback, going 3-for-10 for 10 yards with three interceptions. Russel Hill came on in the second half and was 6-for-10 for 32 yards, but he also threw an interception. Clint Knickrehm led ISU in rushing with 24 yards, and Ben Laporta added 20, but for the game ISU was -5 rushing, due to a 32-yard loss on the bad punt snap.
But the story was the defense and a solid night by the special teams, the two botched punts notwithstanding. Freshman Phillip Pleasant led the Bengals with 10 tackles, and A.J. Storms added eight tackles and two for loss, and Chris Holmesly broke up a pass in the end zone with a jarring hit. Preseason All-America Jon Vanderwielen was brilliant, averaging 45.2 yards per kick and dropping two inside the 20. JD Ponciano got a workout with eight kickoff returns for 210 yards.
All of ISU's scoring came from Huk, who hit a 55-yard field goal with 2:28 left in the third quarter, tying the ISU record for longest road field with Pete Garces, who did it once each in 1998 and 1999. Huk's kick barely beat the play clock, and cleared the bar by about three yards.
For ASU, they spread the ball around both rushing and receiving, totaling 407 yards overall for the game, but just 5.9 per play. However, over the first nine drives and most of three quarters with the first team offense on the field for the Sun Devils, they could only muster 277 yards on 58 plays, just 4.8 yards per play. Danny Sullivan was 13-of-25 for 165 yards, and Shaun DeWitty rushed for a team-high 52 yards.
Things don't get easier for Idaho State, as they travel to Norman, Oklahoma to take on the Sooners, who were the national FBS runner-ups last year. Oklahoma lost their season-opener 14-13 to Brigham Young, and in the process lost Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Sam Bradford to a shoulder injury.
Notes: Of ISU's 11 starters on defense only four (Storms, Tuua, Amos, Wright) had more than one career start entering the game, and Storms had no starts at linebacker ... Vanderwielen's first punt was 51 yards out of bounds inside the 20. He had 15 50-yard punts last year and 18 pins ... ASU was 2-for-2 on fourth down, and ISU opponents were 7 -of-9 on fourth down last year ... The Bengals held the Sun Devils to just 3-of-13 on third down ... Blum's three first half interceptions equaled his career output entering the game ... Jarrett Huk's 55-yard field goal tied for the fourth-longest in school history and it tied for the longest road field goal in school history (Pete Garces at New Mexico in 1998, at Eastern Washington in 1999). Huk has never attempted a field goal shorter than 40 yards in his career.
