The Sun Devils beat Cal on Saturday in Berkeley, 27-17.
ASU was finally successful in its goal of beating Cal on the road, something that hasn’t been done in 15 years. Not only did they manage the win on Cal’s home turf, they also did it in style against a Pac-12 opponent in their last game before a bye week (on national TV, no less). A detailed game summary can be found here.
Needless to say, the Sun Devils and their fans are feeling good. ASU proved that a starting quarterback (Cal’s Zach Maynard) can be as easily dominated as the second-stringers they’ve been facing since the start of the season. Taylor Kelly proved to be a work horse again, throwing three touchdown passes (two were caught by Kevin Ozier, one by Darwin Rogers) which combined with Alex Garoutte’s two successful field goal attempts (of the five he made) to add up to the final score in a fourth quarter that was closer than one would have expected based on first quarter play.
Cal’s loss is almost a bigger Pac-12 story than is the Sun Devil victory, even though the Devils lead the Pac-12 in scoring and total defense. I’m beginning to get the impression that Todd Graham’s Sun Devil team is quite okay with that, so long as their performance continues to remain at the same, ‘high-octane’ level so aspired to by their team philosophy.
Sun Devil Notables:
Will Sutton continues to get attention for his defensive play, earning the Pac-12 Player of the Week nod after his performance on Saturday (8 tackles, 3 sacks). [5]
Junior defensive tackle Mike Pennel is suspended for not meeting team standards, which brings his total number of suspensions this month to a total of 2 (staggering, by Todd Graham’s philosophy). No word on the length of the suspension, but his performance on the field is enough to make Sun Devil Nation hopes he reforms his ways.
Going in to a bye week, Todd Graham is using the time to focus on the basics, as well as rest and rejuvenate a Sun Devil team that has to be ready for the rest of the season (which is heavy with Pac-12 match-ups).
ASU will return October 11th for a Thursday night match-up on the road against Colorado. Until then, #FeartheFork.
