By the numbers: Sun Devils take down No. 5 Washington in wild 13-7 victory
By Jordan Kaye
In a game that seemed to shred all expectations and smash all predictions, Arizona State got to celebrate like it was 1996 after the Devils knocked off No. 5 Washington 13-7 Saturday in Tempe.
The last time ASU knocked off a top-5 team was, indeed, 1996 when the Devils shutout No. 1 Nebraska — and like this week, led to thousands of fans filling up the Sun Devil Stadium sod (only no goalposts came crashing down Saturday).
Neither offense exactly lit up the scoreboard, but here are some numbers that stuck out and helped the Devils celebrate in a wild night in the desert.
2:
This number could be set aside for many things: The number of field goals Washington missed inside of 30 yards, total touchdowns in the game, or the amount of sacks that UW had on Wilkins, but those are all obvious. This number represents both of Washington’s first downs in the first half. Yes, two. The Huskies couldn’t get anything going early and the lack of chain movement was in large part due to UW’s inability to convert on third down — which brings us to the next number.
3:
As the bells echoed through Sun Devil Stadium 14 times Saturday, signifying an opposing third down, on only three of those occasions did the ensuing play end with Browning and the Huskies’ offense staying on the field. The Devils seemed to blitz Browning every chance they had — and rarely did it let them down.
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124:
Total distance, in yards, of the field goals attempted by ASU kicker Brandon Ruiz. The freshman put through both a 52 and 25-yarder in the second quarter, but couldn’t connect on a 47-yard try in the fourth quarter.
5:
The number of sacks the Sun Devils had on UW quarterback Jake Browning. It was a group effort from the Sun Devil front that saw seven different ASU players getting a piece of a sack. Browning was running all night, and with plenty of help from the ASU secondary in coverage downfield, he had nowhere to go with the ball — giving ASU all day to get to him.
42:
This wasn’t some mediocre offense that ASU held in check — coming into Saturday, the Huskies averaged 432.3 yards a game. Washington’s offensive pedigree coming into Saturday’s contest makes the ASU defensive performance that much more impressive, In the first half alone, the Sun Devils held Washington to a measly 42 total yards. The UW offense showed more life in the second half, but still only finished with 230 yards.
5-5:
ASU and Washington were a flawless 5-5 on its fourth down conversions, but none was bigger than the Manny Wilkins to Ceejhay French-Love connection on 4th-and-3 with just under two minutes to go in the game. The conversion, which Todd Graham said afterwards he would have attempted even if his team faced 4th-and-8 in that situation, all but sealed the win for the Devils who were aggressive all night.
7:
Coming into Saturday’s game, Huskies’ punt return man and all-around all-purpose machine Dante Pettis was averaging 31.8 yards a return. Against ASU, he gained a total of just seven yards on three returns. The Sun Devils didn’t give him much space to run on his three tries, and on his one real opportunity to break a long return, Arizona State held him to only a 10-yard gain.
Next: ASU Football: Sun Devils knock off No. 5 Washington Huskies
$25,000:
President Michael Crow and Arizona State may have to fork over a cool $25,000 for the field storming that ensued after the Devils’ big upset win. Per Pac-12 rules, a school will be fined $25,000 for its first offense of field or court storming — and although it is still unknown if ASU will receive the punishments, they don’t think they’re too concerned.