(Photo: Allyson Cummings/WCSN)
No. 9 Arizona State took advantage of five turnovers to build a 34-3 lead over No. 10 Notre Dame in the first half and survived a huge second-half comeback attempt to pull out a 55-31 win in the biggest non-conference game in the history of Sun Devil Stadium.
The Fighting Irish scored first in front of a sold-out crowd with a 46-yard field goal on the opening drive of the game for Notre Dame, but 34 unanswered points for ASU set the tone and put the game out of reach before halftime.
Most of the points were accumulated due to numerous mistakes by the Notre Dame offense; namely, quarterback Everett Golson who finished the game with three interceptions and two fumbles. One interception was returned 59 yards for a touchdown by safety Damarious Randall and one fumble was recovered by Tashon Smallwood and quickly converted into a 13-yard touchdown for Jaelen Strong six seconds later.
The ASU offense had a severe lull in the second half which allowed the Fighting Irish to cut the 31-point lead to just 3 in the fourth quarter, but the early onslaught proved insurmountable for Notre Dame, and the game was nearly decided by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Kelly to Demario Richard with under five minutes left to play. The final nail in the coffin came on a 58-yard pick-six by Lloyd Carrington with under 4 minutes to play.
Player of the game: Marcus Hardison
The senior defensive end has quietly played like the best player on the ASU defense throughout the 2014 season and led the group again on Saturday with perhaps his best ever game. Hardison added to his team-leading sack total, batted down two Golson passes and hauled in an interception after another Golson pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage by Demetrius Cherry. Hardison was also a big factor in the containment of Golson, who managed just 11 rushing yards on 15 attempts.
Biggest concern: Second-half lulls
Arizona State began its season with three unimpressive opponents and dispatched each with ease; however, the team looked less impressive in the third quarter of each game. Against UCLA, the third-quarter struggles continued, as ASU allowed 21 points to the Bruins en route to a bad loss. Those struggles seemed to fade in the few wins that followed, but against Utah and now Notre Dame, they seem to have returned. Coming out of the locker room after halftime emotionally flat is a bad habit that ASU will absolutely have to kick with just a few games left on the schedule.
Unsung hero: ASU offensive line
Notre Dame isn’t a team that blitzes often and isn’t a team that racks up sacks; however, Taylor Kelly has been a very sack-able quarterback as of late. In wins over Washington and Utah, Kelly was brought down 11 times behind the line of scrimmage, but against the Fighting Irish, he was only sacked once. Couple that with 159 yards rushing for the combination of D.J. Foster and Demario Richard against the stout front of Notre Dame and it was a pretty successful day for the big men up front.
Stat of the game: 28 points off turnovers
The story of the game was absolutely the struggles with ball security by Notre Dame and the ability of ASU to take advantage in an early avalanche of points. ASU managed to avoid turnovers altogether until an untimely interception in the fourth quarter for Taylor Kelly put the Fighting Irish in business, but it was too late to mount a significant comeback.
What’s next?
The win will certainly move ASU up in the CFB Playoff rankings and put them in prime position to compete for a spot in the four-team playoff. After a murderer’s row of sorts, the Sun Devils will get a bit of a break in level of competition, as the struggling Oregon State Beavers are next on the docket. A long roadtrip to Corvallis, Ore. is never easy though, and Todd Graham will have to preach the message to his young team of not playing down to inferior competition.
You can reach Adam Stites on Twitter @AdamStitesASU or by email arstites@asu.edu
