Photo: Mark J. Rebilas/ US Presswire
At first glance, a 34-9 win over a Pac-10 foe would conjure up images of a solid defensive performance, coupled with a dominating offensive show. That wasn’t the case on Friday night at Sun Devil Stadium. But, at least half of it was true.
ASU tied what is believed to be an NCAA record with four defensive touchdowns in their 25-point win over the Bruins. Paul Unga started the defensive frenzy by returning a fumble 17 yards for a touchdown in the 2nd quarter. UCLA quarterback Kevin Craft was pressured from behind, and fumbled. The ball went forward and bounced on the ground several times when UCLA running back Derrick Coleman half-heartedly picked it up, but did not try to advance it. Most players on the field had assumed that the whistle had blown, and an incomplete pass was called. It wasn’t. ASU linebacker Mike Nixon then slapped the ball out of Coleman’s hand and Unga picked it up, and very slowly, took it into the end zone to complete one of the strangest plays you’ll ever see. That was only the beginning of the weirdness.
Travis Goethel intercepted a pass off of a deflection, and returned it 38 yards for a score to put the Devils up 14-3. In the third quarter, trailing 17-9, UCLA was driving deep in ASU territory, when Kevin Craft, trying to hook up with a receiver in the end zone, was picked off by ASU safety Troy Nolan, who made a spectacular play and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown, for ASU’s third defensive score. Just :46 later, Nixon picked off a Craft pass and he took it to the house from 45 yards out, and the rout was on.
It was a rare, complete domination on defense by the Sun Devils.
The offense, on the other hand, did next to nothing. The Sun Devils dinked and dunked in the passing game for a total of 101 yards in the air. Their running game was stuffed all night by the UCLA defense, who allowed only 21 net yards on 24 carries. The Sun Devils’ longest “drive” of the night was 28 yards, and that ended in an interception when quarterback Rudy Carpenter underthrew Nate Kimbrough on a long pass down the middle of the field in the 3rd quarter.
Want more ugliness? ASU had only 10 first downs, and was a putrid 2 for 13 on 3rd down conversions. The Sun Devils amassed 200 yards in defensive returns on their four touchdowns, and only 121 yards while they actually had the ball. During the third and fourth quarters, fans were actually rooting for the Sun Devils to punt the ball back to UCLA, feeling that the defense gave them a better chance to score. They were right.
But, a win is a win. The Sun Devils are now 5-6, and can wrap up a bowl invitation with a win over Arizona next week in Tucson.
And special recognition has to go out to one member of the ASU defense. Senior linebacker Morris Wooten was a man possessed on Friday night. Wooten registered 17 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. That’s the way a senior is supposed to play in the final home game of his career.
