Arizona State holds off UCLA, 24-20

By T Erickson  |   Saturday, November 10, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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The Arizona State Sun Devils have made a habit of starting out slowly in nearly every game they've played this year. Today's game against the UCLA Bruins wasn't any different.

The Bruins jumped off to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter of play, holding ASU to 31 total yards and forcing punts on all three Sun Devil possessions. UCLA's offense was nearly as sluggish as ASU, registering just 61 total yards; their lone touchdown of the quarter was set up by Terrence Austin's 68-yard punt return at the 5:42 mark.

The Sun Devils finally hit the scoreboard with a Rudy Carpenter to Kyle Williams 3-yard toss midway thru the second quarter. UCLA's Kai Forbath banged in a 42-yard field goal--his second of the game--with just over two minutes remaining in the half. ASU responded with a 53-yard field goal with no time on the clock, made possible by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty on the Bruins.

The momentum of the game was noticeably shifting, even though the scoreboard read 13-10 in UCLA's favor at the half.

Aside from their loss to Oregon last week, Arizona State has owned the third quarter in each of their games this season. The Bruins learned that today as Arizona State scored twice in the first eight minutes of the third quarter to take the lead for good, 24-10. ASU's first score came on a Dmitri Nance 11-yard zig-zag touchdown run, and then Keegan Herring ripped off a 71-yard score on their very next possession.

UCLA counterpunched on the ensuing kickoff when Matthew Slater went 89 yards for the score. It was Slater's third kickoff return for a touchdown this season, which set a new UCLA team record and tied USC's Anthony Davis for the Pac-10 record. It was also the final points scored in the game.

The fourth quarter was scoreless with the Bruins and Sun Devils swapping failed drives. With 41 seconds remaining, K/P Thomas Weber buried UCLA at their own 3-yard line with a perfectly executed, coffin-corner punt.

Bruin QB Osaar Rashaan moved his team out to their 31-yard line with seven seconds remaining. UCLA's last gasp attempt to win the game came as Rashaan scrambled for a 23-yard gain before passing the ball across the field as a lateral to offensive lineman Shannon Tevaga. Tevaga rambled for another 14 yards before tossing the ball up for grabs in an illegal forward pass that ended the play, the game, and quite possibly, Karl Dorrell's career at UCLA.

Standout performances for the Sun Devils were turned in by Keegan Herring, who rushed for 115 yards on 22 carries, including the 71-yard touchdown run, and Chris McGaha, who hauled in 9 passes good for 123 yards. UCLA was led by kicker Kai Forbath, who was perfect on two field goal and two PAT attempts, and Matthew Slater with his 89-yard TD kickoff return. The Bruins sacked Rudy Carpenter five times and backup QB Danny Sullivan once, with safety Chris Horton logging three of the sacks.

Both starting quarterbacks turned in marginal performances: Carpenter was 16 of 32, 201 yards, 1 TD, and zero INTs. Rashaan was 14 of 28, 178 yards, and his one interception killed the last serious fourth quarter drive by the Bruins with 4:20 left in the game.

Be sure to check out a gallery of action photos from the ASU - UCLA game that will be posted this weekend on RealFootball365's College Football front page photo gallery.
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