By Nate Policar, ASU Sports Information
Sept. 17, 2005
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TEMPE, Ariz. - Behind 197 yards and two touchdowns from freshman Keegan Herring and another four-touchdown performance from Sam Keller, the Arizona State Sun Devils defeated the Northwestern Wildcats, 52-21, in front of a crowd of 55,029 at Sun Devil Stadium.
Striking first, Northwestern marched down field on an eight-play, 80 drive, led by quarterback Brett Basanez, who completed five of six passes on the drive, including a seven-yard touchdown strike to receiver Shaun Herbert. The Sun Devils answered back and quickly moved the ball down the field, as Keller connected with receiver Rudy Burgess on a 39-yard completion to set up a two-yard touchdown run by Herring. At the end of the first quarter, the score was even at 7-7.
The Sun Devils posted 31 points in the second quarter, beginning right away with a four-play drive that scored less than one minute into the quarter. Keller found tight end Jamaal Lewis open on the sideline for a 36-yard touchdown reception. On their next possession, Keller found receiver Matt Miller for a 65-yard completion that brought the Devils down to the Northwestern 15-yard line and set up a 27-yard field goal by Jesse Ainsworth. Three minutes into the second quarter, the Devils led 17-7.
After sophomore defensive end Kellen Mills forced a Northwestern fumble on their own 38-yard line, the Devils quickly took advantage of it and Keller found Hagan open in the end zone on a 24-yard completion. ASU then forced Northwestern into a quick three-and-out and Keegan Herring helped the Sun Devils score again with a five-yard touchdown rush, his second of the game to give the Sun Devils a 31-7 lead. Following up with an 80-yard drive, Northwestern used a combination of its passing offense and defensive penalties to score on a five-yard pass from Basanez to Herbert. However, the Devils punched it into the end zone one more time before the end of the half, as Keller connected with Burgess on a 15-yard touchdown completion. At the end of the first half, the Devils had a 38-14 lead.
With the game soundly in hand, the Devils used a balanced attack of the run and the pass in the third quarter, striking again with 4:16 remaining on a 30-yard pass from Keller to Matt Miller, the only score of the quarter. With the starters sitting for both teams, Northwestern added a touchdown on a 12-yard completion from quarterback C.J. Bacher to Rasheed Ward and the Sun Devils' quarterback Rudy Carpenter hooked up with Brent Miller in the end zone on a seven-yard touchdown to make the final count in the game 52-21.
The Sun Devils tabulated a school-record 773 yards of offense in the game, getting 409 passing yards and four touchdowns from Keller on 20-of-31 passing. Herring's 197-yards rushing performance was the 22nd best in school history and the most by a Sun Devil since 2001 (226 by Delvon Flowers vs. Oregon State). Senior wide receiver Derek Hagan led all players with five catches for 90 yards and Matt Miller recorded a game-high 103 receiving yards on three catches with one touchdown. Josh Barrett led the Sun Devils on defense with eight total tackles and Zach Catanese and Jeremy Payton both notched seven tackles each.