ASU football, thanks to their defense, pulled off an upset of No. 5 Washington 13-7 improving their record to 3-3 and 2-1 in Pac-12 play.
ASU football hosted the No. 5 team in the country and pulled off an upset in dramatic fashion. The Sun Devils came out on top over the Washington Huskies in a defensive battle 13-7.
The Sun Devils (3-3, 2-1 in Pac-12) shut out the Huskies (6-1, 3-1) until 5:32 left in the fourth quarter, holding one of the highest scoring offenses in the country to just seven points.
“That’s the best defensive performance since I’ve been here,” ASU head coach Todd Graham said. “I’m just really proud of our guys. It was a big-time win, a monumental win for our program. We’re not surprised.”
Arizona State’s defense held the UW offense to just 230 yards of total offense. The Sun Devils got after junior quarterback Jake Browning all night, combining for five sacks and only allowing Browning to throw for 139 yards.
“The poise that they showed when adversity struck, knowing that when they put themselves in certain situations to just stay grounded and stay leveled,” ASU quarterback Manny Wilkins said of his defense. “They held their ground the whole game against the No. 5 team in the country.”
ASU was leading the entire second half until Browning decided to take matters into his own hands and run with the ball. He scampered for 10 yards to get to the 1-yard line, and on the next play, he punched it in with a QB sneak to cut the deficit to 13-7.
The Sun Devil offense showed what it was made of on the final drive of the game. Wilkins and company drove the ball down the field to the Washington 37 yard-line. The drive stalled, however, and it turned into fourth down for the Sun Devils.
Arizona State elected to go for it with two minutes to go in the game up 13-7. Wilkins dropped back to pass and found junior tight end Ceejhay French-Love for a 30-yard gain down the sideline to seal the upset win.
“We just executed,” Wilkins said about the fourth down conversion. “Ceejhay made a helluva play. It was a low ball, and for a tight end, that guy has really good ball skills. He just trusted his training and we executed at the end to seal the game.”
The Sun Devils went into victory formation and took the clock down to zero. Wilkins finished with 245 yards on 29-for-41 passing.
The Huskies had a few chances to get some crucial points in the third quarter. Redshirt freshman kicker Van Soderberg missed a 27-yard field goal at 8:10 left.
It turned out to not be a night to remember for Soderberg as he missed his second field goal of the night with 50 seconds left in the third quarter. It was a 21-yard kick that bounced off the right field goal post.
“That’s hard because they can make those (field goals) in their sleep, and they do at practice over and over again,” UW head coach Chris Peterson said. “That’s hard on everybody. We’ve got to play better red zone football. It’s never going to be pointed at any one person around here, that’s for sure. We don’t want to settle for field goals anyways. They can make those field goals, that’s what is discouraging about it.”
Washington immensely struggled on offense for a team that was successful all year until this game. The Huskies only went 3-for-14 on third down, finished only 1-for-3 in the red zone, and had four three-and-outs.
“Tough day at the office,” said Peterson. “We could not get any rhythm going whatsoever. And when we did on offense, we’d get a penalty or couldn’t chaptalize in the red zone. We fought hard, we played hard.”
Washington senior wide receiver Dante Pettis had seven receptions for 56 yards. Arizona State’s leading receiver was N’Keal Harry, tallying nine receptions for 79 yards.
ASU’s only touchdown of the game came on its first possession. The Sun Devils set the pace of the game in their favor with an eight-minute and eight-second, 16-play, 63-yard drive capped off by a 1-yard rush from senior running back Kalen Ballage for the score.
“We know what this team is capable of, we’ve always known that so it’s frustrating to have this record, you know, losing a few close games, but I think it’s going to just put us in the right place mentally and with our momentum to be able to move forward and attack any team that we play,” said Ballage. We just beat the No. 5 team in the country. We know we can play with anybody. So that’s not a question, our talent is not a question, it’s the mindset.”
Next: ASU Football: Rapid Reaction of Devils’ upset win vs. Washington
Arizona State travels to Utah next weekend for another Pac-12 bout against the Utah Utes. Kick-off time and broadcasting networks are to be determined.