(Photo: Jack Harris/WCSN)
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Coming into Saturday’s road game at Oregon State, ASU football’s bowl hopes appeared murky. The Sun Devils, sitting at 5-5, were fresh off a collapse at UCLA and reverting to their old ways defensively.
On a foggy afternoon at Reser Stadium, ASU cleared the path to a bowl game by holding off the Beavers 40-24. The ghosts of an upset loss in 2014 — along with the specter of falling below .500 — have been exorcised.
“That’s a big accomplishment for our program,” ASU head coach Todd Graham said. “Our guys were focused, came in and got after it.”
The Sun Devil offense got off to a quick start on the opening possession of the game. Graham and his assistants talked all week about wanting to take more deep shots downfield, and that’s exactly what ASU did en route to a 23-yard touchdown pass from Manny Wilkins to Kyle Williams.
Just 1:16 into the game, it was 7-0 Sun Devils. They were back in the red zone less than five minutes later.
ASU established the run early despite its plans to take deep shots in the passing game. Demario Richard, who finished with 17 carries for 119 yards and three touchdowns, was the catalyst for the Sun Devils’ ground attack.
Both Richard and Ballage continually picked up chunk plays against an undersized and outmatched OSU defense. Ballage finished with 103 yards on 19 carries and Wilkins ran for 60 of his own.
ASU’s second score of the afternoon came on a 1-yard pass from Wilkins to Curtis Hodges. Wilkins said that play, along with the Sun Devils’ successes on the ground, was a product of exploiting matchups.
“They had somebody 5-foot-9 that was guarding somebody 6-foot-7,” Wilkins said, referencing the Hodges play. “So we took advantage of those matchups and continued to execute our gameplan.
“At the end of the day we came out with the ‘W’ and that’s all that matters.”
OSU began to fall apart late in the first quarter when ASU’s JoJo Wicker forced an intentional grounding that resulted in a safety. 17- and 1-yard touchdown runs by Richard made it 30-0 with 4:44 left in the first half.
The Beavers would reclaim minimal momentum in the final moments of the second quarter, though, when a quality drive was capped off with a 1-yard touchdown run for Ryan Nall. Trailing 30-7 at the break, OSU nearly got itself back in the game in the second half.
An uneventful third quarter saw the two teams exchange field goals. ASU reclaimed a 30-point lead early in the fourth on a 3-yard run by Richard, but the Beavers just wouldn’t go away.
OSU scored on 1- and 4-yard runs by Trevorris Johnson and Darell Garretson, respectively, making it 40-24 Sun Devils with 7:27 to go. The Beavers had a shot to get within a possession late before Garretson fumbled and Wicker fell on it.
It wasn’t pretty, but ASU got the win it needed to become bowl eligible. The Sun Devils are 6-5 with only the Territorial Cup remaining in the regular season.
“We came out and we were laser focused,” Graham said. “I was very impressed with how they handled the trip and just their determination.”
Graham mentioned that, because of the stops along the way, Corvallis was a hard place for the team to get to. ASU’s journey to six wins had its fair share of roadblocks as well.
It wasn’t always clear, but here the Sun Devils are; the fog of an uncertain season temporarily burned off.
