Sept. 22, 2012
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery
TEMPE, ARIZ. -
SUN DEVILS vs. UTES: Arizona State and Utah have faced each other 24 times, and this is just the second meeting since 1993. ASU leads the all-time series 18-6, including a 14-3 record at home. The two schools were conference rivals in the WAC from 1962 to 1977, facing each other nearly every season until ASU joined the Pac-10 in 1978. In the first trip back to Salt Lake City since 1977, ASU downed Utah last season in the Utes' first season in the Pac-12, 35-14. ASU has won nine in a row in the series, including the last seven in Tempe.
NOTE ON QBS: Arizona State faced its fourth consecutive back-up quarterback when it took on Utah this week. Jon Hays made the start in place of Jordan Wynn for the Utes. Arizona State faced NAU's original starter, Cary Grossart, but he left the game early in the second quarter and forcing Chase Cartwright to finish the game. Against Illinois, starter Nathan Scheelhaase sat out while Jason Franklin missed the Missouri game.
LIGHT UP THE SCOREBOARD: The Sun Devils sit in the Top-20 with 42.7 average points scored per game. Arizona State sits in the 17th spot with points for, and 169 points overall. ASU is ranked 23rd in points against, 14.7 points per game.
NOT PLAYING COY: Chris Coyle had a coming out party against Illinois, snagging 10 catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns. Against Utah, he added five more catches for 87 yards. Those numbers put the junior in pretty select company at a school with a pretty decent history at the tight end position. His 10 grabs tie for the 15th most ever by a Sun Devil in history and also put him in a tie with Zach Milleras the most single-game snags by a tight end in school history. In addition, his 131 receiving yards are the second most for a tight end in school history behind only Todd Heap's 170 yards against Arizona in 1999. Here's a look at how Coyle's game stacks up against the greats:
Chris Coyle Career Highs
Receptions: 10 vs. Illinois (9/8/12)
Receiving Yards: 131 vs. Illinois (9/8/12)
Longest Reception: 49 vs. NAU (8/30/12)
Touchdowns: 2 vs. Illinois (9/8/12)
Todd Heap Career Highs
Receptions: 8 at Notre Dame (10/9/99).
Receiving Yards: 170 vs. Arizona (11/27/99).
Longest Reception: 50 vs. California (10/7/00).
Touchdowns: 2 vs. Arizona (11/27/98).
Zach Miller Career Highs
Receptions: 10, twice, last at Washington State (11/5/05)
Receiving Yards: 102, at USC (10/16/04)
Receiving Touchdowns: 2, vs. Iowa (9/18/04)
MORE ON COYLE: Coyle's performance did not go unnoticed. Having just posted 73 yards receiving in all of last season, the performance against Illinois garnered Coyle honors as the College Football Performance Awards Football Bowl Subdivision Tight End Performer of the Week. As of Sept. 22, Coyle leads the nation's tight ends in receiving yards on the season with 301 and is first in tight end receptions at 32. He also is earning a reputation as Mr. Reliable, having caught 22 balls thrown his way and dropping just one.
SHOW EM’ WHAT YOU GOT: ASU has now outscored its opponents 49-10 in the first quarter this year.
DOUBLE DOWN: Rashad Ross had five catches for 87 yards and one touchdown against Utah. He walked onto the field before the coin-toss with only two catches for a total of 66 yards.
THROUGH THE AIR: Taylor Kelly’s 326 passing yards is the most he has had in any game this year. Kelly had 247 vs. NAU, 249 vs. Illinois and 178 at Mizzou.
MOVE THE BALL: Arizona State had 512 total yards of offense on Saturday night against Utah. Although the Sun Devils kept the ball moving, they fell short of breaking the top six total offense games from 1996-present in a Pac-10/12 game.
TOP SIX TOTAL OFFENSE GAMES FROM 1996-PRESENT IN A PAC-10/12 Game
667, #7 Oregon (Oct. 28, 2000)
651, @Arizona (Nov. 23, 1996)
623, Oregon (Nov. 15, 1997)
597, #5 Oregon (Sept. 25, 2010)
595, UCLA (Nov. 26, 2010)
591, Oregon (Sept. 28, 1996)
NO LONGER #1: Taylor Heinicke threw for NCAA record 730 yards on Saturday as Old Dominion rallied to beat New Hampshire 64-61 in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both teams. What does this have to do with ASU? Houston's David Klingler held previous record, throwing for 716 yards against Arizona State on Dec. 2, 1990.
BETTER SUITED FOR HANDKERCHIEFS: The Sun Devils haven't given the referees much reason to reach for their pockets this season. ASU was penalized just once for five yards against Illinois (on what appeared to be a purposeful delay of game to create some space for a punt). That marked the lowest single-game total since 2006, when ASU was penalized once for five yards against Washington State. On the year, ASU has had just 20 penalties for 140 yards. ASU had just its second penalty on defense called in the Utah game. Here's a look at ASU's lowest single game penalties since 2006:
FEWEST SINGLE-GAME PENALTIES SINCE 2006
Pen/Yards -- Opponent (Date)
1-5 -- Vs. Illinois (2012)
1-5 --vs. Washington State (2006)
3-20 --Vs. UCLA (2006)
3-20 -- Vs. USC (2007)
4-30 -- Vs. NAU (2012)
4-35 -- Vs. UNLV (2008)
4-31 -- Vs. Washington (2010)
4-35 -- Vs. USC (2010)
4-40 --Vs. UC Davis (2011)
MARSHALL OF THE TOUCHDOWN: With his touchdown against Utah, Cameron Marshall has rushed for 33 touchdowns in his career with Arizona State. He is one of only 11 Sun Devils all time to score at least 20 touchdowns on the ground and just the fourth to eclipse 30 career rushing touchdowns. Marshall currently in third on ASU's all-time rushing TD list, surpassing J.R. Redmond, and sitting just Woody Green (39) and Leon Burton (34).
Most Career Rushing TDs in ASU History
TDs -- Player, Years
39 -- Woody Green, 1971-73
34 -- Leon Burton, 1955-58
33 -- Cameron Marshall, 2009-Present
32 -- J.R. Redmond, 1996-99
28 -- Art Malone, 1967-69
25 -- Ben Malone, 1971-73
23 -- Nolan Jones, 1958-61
JUST KICKING IT: Alex Garoutte bumped his extra point streak to 66 against the Utes, going 4-for-4 on extra points. He also notched his second, third and fourth field goal of the year from 22, 22 and 43 yards out against Utah and is now 18-27 in his career. Garoutte turned in a solid season in his first year as the kicker. Garoutte finished the year with 108 points, tops on the team. He finished the 2011 season 52-53 on PATs, with his only miss a block and closed out the year with 45 straight extra points.
RETURN RECORD: Jamal Miles now has 1,645 kickoff return yards in his career. With a 14-yard return against Utah, Miles tacked on to his record in the top spot. Rudy Burgess (2004-07) sits at the number two in Sun Devil history. Chris Hopkins (1992-95) is third with 1,225 yards. In his prior three seasons in Tempe, Miles has returned 69 kickoffs for 1631 yards and three touchdowns. Miles totaled 788 of those yards last season, the second highest single-season total in ASU history. Miles' total was second only to the 879 yards that Burgess gained in 2007. Miles has 66 career kick returns, giving him an average of 23.7 yards per return. Burgess had 68 returns, with an average of 22.3 yards per return. Miles has three kick return TDs, while Burgess had one.
EMERSON HARVEY: Arizona State University football will commemorate a milestone this season by honoring Emerson Harvey, the school's first African-American football student-athlete 75 years ago and played a major role in breaking the color barrier throughout the Southwest. The Sun Devils will recognize Harvey, who joined the roster in 1937, with black-and-white circular helmet stickers with Harvey's jersey number (57).