Falk leads Washington State to 37-32 win over Arizona State

Washington State coach Mike Leach earned himself a big fine and some harsh words from Arizona State coach Todd Graham after accusing the Sun Devils of stealing signs this week.

Even if the Sun Devils knew what was coming, they had a hard time stopping Luke Falk and the Cougars.

Falk threw for 398 yards and three touchdowns, helping Washington State hold off Arizona State 37-32 Saturday night in a game punctuated by heated words during the coaches' postgame handshake.

"I respectfully decline on grounds that I might be publicly reprimanded and fined, so any questions about them I really don't plan to answer," said Leach, who repeated the refrain four times.

Leach irritated the Sun Devils and Graham this week by repeating a comment from last season about Arizona State stealing signs. Washington and Oregon both used sheets to block their signs from Arizona State last season, so the sign-stealing accusations were nothing new.

But the Pac-12 came down hard on Leach for his comments this time, hitting the coach with a $10,000 fine. Graham retorted during the week and again during the postgame handshake, using a pair of expletives picked up by TV cameras that sent Leach walking away, but would not elaborate when asked about the encounter after the game.

"That's between me and him," Graham said.

Washington State (5-2, 4-0 Pac-12) had more trouble with Arizona State's defensive scheme in the first quarter, unable to get anything going as the Sun Devils dropped deep into coverage and forced Falk to throw underneath.

Once Falk adjusted, he picked the Sun Devils (5-3, 2-3) apart, leading the Cougars to 28 straight points, a run triggered by Robert Taylor's 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Falk hit Tavares Martin on a 9-yard TD late in the second quarter and Jamal Morrow on a 3-yard score in the third. The junior also laid the ball in perfectly for Gabe Marks, who became Washington State's all-time receptions leader, on a 52-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that put the Cougars up 37-21.

Falk completed passes to 11 different receivers and connected on 42 of 53 overall to keep Washington State tied atop the Pac-12 North Division with No. 5 Washington after its fifth straight win.

"We started off slow. That's on me," Falk said. "You've got to put the ball in play and give it to our playmakers, but ultimately we did a nice job of having a gutsy win and finishing the game."

Arizona State was down to its fourth-string quarterback after Manny Wilkins was injured on the opening drive and had four other starters out. The Sun Devils still managed to lead by 11 early and clawed most of their way back from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Tim White had a 70-yard touchdown on a punt return and Zane Gonzalez hit a 29-yard field goal to pull Arizona State within 37-32. But Falk and the Cougars ground down the game's final 4:36.

Wilkins ran for a 3-yard touchdown by hurdling a defender - his third hurdle of the season - before going out and freshman Sterling Dillon-Cole completed 7 of 16 passes for 86 yards in his place.

"Dillon did what he could do, he played with heart and all we had to do as an offense is keep him motivated and confident because you never know what can happen on the last series of the game," White said.

INJURED SUN DEVILS

Arizona State was banged up heading into Saturday and it only got worse as the game wore on.

The Sun Devils were missing two starters from their offense, Sam Jones and AJ McCollum, and safetyArmand Perry was out with a turf toe injury.

Wilkins did not play after the first series and linebacker Salamo Fiso, one of the keys to Arizona State's defense, had to be helped off the field in the fourth quarter.

THE TAKEAWAY

Washington State: The Cougars have come a long way since their 0-2 start to the season, keeping themselves on course for a season-ending showdown against the rival Huskies that could decide the Pac-12 North.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils' struggles against the pass continue and their offense could be in more trouble if Wilkins continues to miss time. Arizona State has lost three of four.

UP NEXT

Washington State plays at Oregon State next Saturday.

Arizona State plays at Oregon next Saturday.

Lindsay leads Colorado past Arizona State 40-16

Sefo Liufau has thrown for 1,101 yards against Arizona State, so the Sun Devils naturally expected to see plenty of passes Saturday night when the Buffaloes senior quarterback returned to the starting lineup for the first time in a month.

Instead, they got steamrolled.

Phillip Lindsay rushed for 219 yards and three touchdowns in the Buffaloes' 40-16 romp that marked Colorado's first win over the Sun Devils in eight tries.

Lindsay averaged 8.4 yards on 26 carries and his big day included a 75-yard TD rumble on the first snap of the second half. He also scored from 13 yards out and capped it off with a 4-yard run in the final minute.

The Buffs ran for 315 yards overall compared to just 50 for Arizona State.

"We didn't play very well and my hat goes off to them because they ran the ball on us unlike anyone has ever run it the whole time I've been at Arizona State," said Sun Devils fifth-year coach Todd Graham.

Liufau threw for 265 yards on 23 of 31 passing against the nation's worst pass defense in his return to the Buffs starting lineup for the first time since spraining his left ankle at Michigan on Sept. 17.

His biggest play came when he slipped a sack, rolled left and found Bryce Bobo all alone for a 66-yard gain to the Sun Devils 9. Three plays later, Liufau took it in himself from the 3 to snap a 10-10 tie.

"We can enjoy the win tonight, but we have to go back to work on Monday and prove ourselves all over again," Liufau said.

The Buffs (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12) need just one more win to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2007.

Buffs coach Mike MacIntyre called it a breakthrough victory because "this is the first team with a winning record we beat this year and they perennially have beaten us bad."

MacIntyre's teams had lost to the Sun Devils (5-2, 2-2) by scores of 54-13, 38-24 and 48-23.

"We've usually gotten destroyed by them," Liufau said. "We want to leave a better legacy than we came in with."

Senior Zane Gonzalez's field goals of 50, 51 and 59 yards tied an FBS record for most 50-plus field goals in a game and his 59-yarder established a Sun Devils record. It was the second-longest at Folsom Field behind Mason Crosby's 60-yarder against Iowa State on Oct. 16, 2004.

ONE HARD HIT: You won't see a quarterback get hit harder than the shot QB Manny Wilkins took from Buffs inside linebacker Addison Gillam in the second half. Wilkins rolled to his left and had no protection in front of him. He also had no open receivers and Gillam had a 15-yard full sprint. Wilkins fired the ball into the Buffaloes bench but not quickly enough to avoid getting blasted with a textbook tackle. The Buffs had five sacks and six more quarterback hits. "We wanted to make a statement: when you play us, you're `gonna get hit,'" outside linebacker Jimmie Gilbert said.

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE: The Buffs had 580 yards to Arizona State's 199. That's the fewest yards they've allowed in a conference game in 15 years.

POLL IMPLICATIONS:

Colorado: After falling out of the Top 25 with their 21-17 loss at USC, the Buffs might inch their way back into the poll.

THE TAKEAWAY:

Arizona State: The Sun Devils came in surrendering more yards in the air (404.3) than any team in the country, and they gave up plenty on the ground against the Buffaloes, whose fans stormed the field after the game.

Colorado: The Buffs need some work on special teams. Jay MacIntyre's two muffed punts led to 10 points and he also let a punt bounce past him at the 30 and get downed at the 5, which would lead to a field goal. MacIntyre was concussed on his second muffed punt. Also, Davis Price was benched after missing an extra point and shanking a 26-yard field goal attempt.

UP NEXT:

Arizona State: The Sun Devils host Washington State.

Colorado: The Buffs, who extended their nation-best takeaway streak to 20 games with safety Afolabi Laguda's third-quarter interception, travel to Stanford.

Gonzalez gets record, Arizona State holds off UCLA 23-20

Arizona State sputtered offensively through the first half and lost another quarterback to injury in the second.

Good thing the Sun Devils have the most prolific kicker in college football history.

Zane Gonzalez kicked three field goals to become the NCAA's all-time leader and Arizona State grinded out a 23-20 victory over UCLA Saturday night despite losing back-up quarterback Brady White to a right leg injury.

"You're talking about a monumental accomplishment there," Arizona State coach Todd Graham said of Gonzalez. "I'm proud of Zane. That's huge."

Gonzalez hit from 35, 23 and 46 yards to reach 89 career field goals , passing Florida State's Dustin Hopkins, who had 88 from 2009-12.

Arizona State (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) needed all of those after struggling offensively in the first half and watching White limp off with a right leg injury in the fourth quarter.

Making his first career start with Manny Wilkins out, White had some shaky moments, but led the Sun Devils on four scoring drives in the second half.

He finished with 179 yards passing and a touchdown with an interception, but couldn't put any weight on his leg after being injured in the fourth quarter.

"Hopefully, we'll get good news on Brady, but it doesn't look good," Graham said.

UCLA (3-3, 1-2) had a strong defensive game, holding the high-scoring Sun Devils to 275 total yards.

Offensively, the Bruins had trouble getting out of their own way.

UCLA had four turnovers and missed on two scoring opportunities in the first half, when JJ Molson missed a pair of field goals.

The worse news could come from the training table.

Quarterback Josh Rosen left in the first half with a right leg injury , but returned in the third quarter to throw touchdown passes to Jordan Lasley and Nate Iese .

The sophomore was unable to come back after injuring his right shoulder on a hard hit in the fourth quarter. He threw for 400 yards on 24-of-43 passing with an interception.

"Josh is beat up. He is beat up," UCLA coach Jim Mora said. "He has taken some horrible hits because we can't protect for him."

It didn't help that the Bruins couldn't run the ball at all, finishing with minus-1 yard rushing on 23 carries.

With no running threat to worry about, Arizona State was able to ramp up its pressure on Rosen, repeatedly knocking him to the ground.

"We can't run the football at all," Mora said. "When you can't run the football and you have to throw every down then they can pin their ears back and come after you, which they do. Unfortunately we couldn't protect tonight, either."

THE TAKEAWAY

UCLA: The Bruins struggled offensively most of the night even when Rosen was in and they could be in bigger trouble if the sophomore is out for an extended time. UCLA also must find some way to get its run game rolling or there could be more games like this.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils moved into a tie atop the Pac-12 South with Colorado and Utah, but need to get Wilkins back. Arizona State's defense gave up more big plays in the passing game, but came up with the big stops when it counted.

ZANE'S RECORD

Not only did Gonzalez break the NCAA record , his final kicked ended up being the game-winner. The senior had to give it a little body english, but the 46-yard kick early in the fourth quarter curled just inside the upright.

"It wasn't exactly the best kick; I was pretty nervous about it, looking at it the whole way," Gonzalez said. "It was a perfect snap, a perfect hold and I didn't hit it the best. I was watching it the whole way and (holder Matt Haack) was hitting me on the back."

UP NEXT

UCLA plays at Washington State.

Arizona State plays at No. 21 Colorado next Saturday.

Darnold propels USC to rebound win over Arizona State, 41-20

Sam Darnold passed for 352 yards and three touchdowns in his first home start, and Southern California emerged from its rough September with a 41-20 victory over Arizona State on Saturday night.

JuJu Smith-Schuster caught seven passes for 123 yards and a career-high tying three TDs for the Trojans (2-3, 1-2 Pac-12), who emphatically avoided their first 0-3 start to conference play since 2001 with a blowout of the previously unbeaten Sun Devils (4-1, 1-1).

USC racked up 34 consecutive points to take a 41-6 lead during the middle two quarters, and Smith-Schuster scored on catches of 5, 3 and 67 yards. Justin Davis had a 37-yard TD run among his 123 yards rushing for the Trojans.

Arizona State lost starting quarterback Manny Wilkins shortly before halftime when he was hurt while getting sacked by Rasheem Green. After averaging 48.8 points in their first four games, the Sun Devils didn't reach the end zone against USC's inspired defense until Brady White threw a 13-yard TD pass to Raymond Epps with 8:37 to play.

Darnold was confident and exciting in front of the Trojans' home fans, rushing for a 3-yard score while going 23 for 33 with no interceptions. The freshman replaced Max Browne as USC's starter last week at Utah.

THE TAKEAWAY

Arizona State: The Sun Devils came crashing back to reality with this embarrassment, and Wilkins' long-term health could be an even bigger problem. They struggled to move the ball with either quarterback, and the defense was thoroughly overmatched - not for the first time this season, either. Arizona State has work to do.

USC: Just in time, the Trojans put together a comprehensively strong performance against a quality opponent. Their talent repeatedly shone through, and Darnold injected confidence and fun into a sometimes tentative team. USC still must scrap to get back in the Pac-12 race while keeping Helton's job safe, but the Trojans are in position make a run with three of their next four games at home.

UP NEXT

Arizona State: The Sun Devils return to Tempe to host UCLA. They beat the Bruins in Pasadena last year.

USC: The Trojans stay home to face surprising Colorado, which jumped to 4-1 with a blowout win over Oregon State. The Buffaloes are 2-0 in Pac-12 play after losing 40 of their first 45 league games.

Devils use late interceptions to beat Bears 51-41

Failure to force turnovers had been a big problem for Arizona State this season.

Until the final three minutes Saturday night.

The Sun Devils picked off Davis Webb twice in that span and D.J. Calhoun returned a Cal onside kick attempt 42 yards with 48 seconds to play in a 51-41 victory over the Bear in the Pac-12 opener for both teams on Saturday night.

Laiu Moekiola returned the second interception 28 yards for a touchdown to put the Sun Devils (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) ahead 44-34 with 2:52 remaining.

"You can't throw two picks in the fourth quarter and expect to win," Webb said. "That is on me. If you turn the ball over, you are probably going to lose."

Webb's fifth touchdown pass of the night, 26 yards to Demetris Robertson, cut the lead to 44-41 with 54 seconds to play. But Calhoun grabbed the onside kick try and ran untouched to the end zone.

Manny Wilkins completed 21 of 30 passes for 290 yards and a touchdown for Arizona State and ran 23 times for 72 yards and three scores.

Salamo Fiso's interception set up the last of Zane Gonzalez's three field goals, a 23-yarder that careened off the right upright, to put the Sun Devils ahead for good 37-34 with 2:55 remaining.

On the first play after the subsequent kickoff, Moekiola picked off Webb's short pass and returned it for the score.

"You see veteran guys make big plays tonight when it mattered," Arizona State coach Todd Graham said.

Webb completed 31 of 55 for 478 yards for California (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12). He wrapped up his night with a lost fumble.

"Clearly turnovers, clearly turnovers," Cal coach Sonny Dykes said, "and we just didn't make any breaks for ourselves down the stretch."

Chad Hansen, who entered the game the national leader in yards receiving and receptions, caught 10 passes for 110 yards for Cal, but had just two catches for six yards in the second half.

The Bears led 24-10 at the half before allowing Arizona State to score 41 second-half points, 31 in the fourth quarter.

"First half, that's on me," Wilkins said. "I just have to get things rolling a bit quicker, but we'll be good, 4-0."

Arizona State took the second-half kickoff and drove 75 yards for a touchdown.

"The big drive they had was at the start of the third quarter," Dykes said. "They really ran the ball well on that drive and that gave them some confidence that they can run it against us. It seemed like we got on our heels at that point."

THE TAKEAWAY

California: Nothing changed the perception that the Bears have one of the top passing offenses in the country, but it wasn't enough. Webb had thrown only two interceptions in the first three games.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils are gaining a reputation as a fourth-quarter team. They rallied to beat Texas Tech, UTSA and California.

FAMILIAR FOE

The Sun Devils knew all about Webb. As a freshman at Texas Tech, he threw for 403 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-23 upset victory over Arizona State in the 2013 Holiday Bowl.

UP NEXT

California: The Bears return home to face Utah next Saturday.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils go to Los Angeles to play USC on Saturday.

Ballage's late TD sends Arizona State past UTSA 32-28

 Kalen Ballage scored on a 2-yard run with 3:15 to play and Arizona State rallied from 16 points down in the second half for a tough 32-28 win over Texas-San Antonio on Friday night.

Ballage, who tied an NCAA record with eight touchdowns a week earlier against Texas Tech, capped the rally when he took a direct snap and powered over the goal line. The touchdown was set up by a defensive pass interference penalty on third down one play earlier.

Zane Gonzalez kicked four field goals, including two from 54 yards, for Arizona State (3-0) and became the Pac-12 career scoring leader.

Manny Wilkins passed for 264 yards and two touchdowns for the Sun Devils. He threw a 27-yard score to N'Keal Harry with 3 seconds left in the first half. His 45-yard pass to Frederick Gammage in the fourth quarter cut the UTSA lead to 28-25.

Dalton Sturm passed for 229 yards and three touchdowns for UTSA (1-2). He also ran for 82 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

"Never give up," Arizona State linebacker DJ Calhoun said. "We came in thinking we could run past this team. We were a little cocky."

THE TAKEAWAY

ARIZONA STATE: It was a victorious but ragged trip home for coach Todd Graham. The Sun Devils found themselves with a lingering hangover after their touchdown party in the desert last week. The points were much tougher to come by in the Alamodome as the Sun Devils were plagued by turnovers and drives that stalled and settled for field goals.Kalen Ballage produced little against the Roadrunners until the game-winning drive and even set up a Roadrunners touchdown with a fumbled punt return.

"That was as hard of a win as we've had," Graham said. "We showed a lot of youth and made a lot of youthful mistakes."

UTSA: If one game can be a confidence builder and a crusher, this is it. The Roadrunners are playing just their sixth season of football and punched above their weight for nearly four quarters, but couldn't hold on against an opponent from a Power 5 conference. First-year coach Frank Wilson will ache about letting this one get away, but at least he found the quarterback that should lead the Roadrunners into their Conference USA schedule.

"We believe we can play with anybody in the country," UTSA safety Michael Egwuagu said. "We believed that coming in and we believe it after."

UP NEXT

ARIZONA STATE: The Sun Devils start Pac-12 play at home against California on Sept. 24.

UTSA: The Roadrunners play at Old Dominion on Sept. 24 to start their Conference USA schedule.

Ballage scores 8 TDs, Arizona State beats Texas Tech 68-55

Kalen Ballage tied an NCAA record by scoring eight touchdowns and had 185 all-purpose yards, helping Arizona State outlast Texas Tech 68-55 in a wild game Saturday night.

Two teams known for scoring points in bunches put on an offensive show in the desert, trading big plays and touchdowns on seemingly every snap.

Arizona State (2-0) opened up its playbook in an attempt to keep up with the Red Raiders.

Ballage was the focal point, scoring seven touchdowns on direct-snap runs and another on a 39-yard, double-reverse flea flicker. The junior matches the record set by Illinois' Howard Griffith in 1990.

Texas Tech (1-1) tried to keep up behind Patrick Mahomes, who threw for 540 yards and two touchdowns. The Red Raiders bogged down offensively in the second half, though, and had little defense against the quick-snapping Sun Devils.

Mahomes had two passes intercepted by Gump Hayes, including one that set up Ballage's seventh TD in the fourth quarter.

Ballage followed with a 75-yard run up the middle to match the record on his 13th touch of the game. He also tied the FBS record with four touchdowns in the second quarter.

THE TAKEAWAY

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders proved they can still put up points, but continue to have problems defensively. Texas Tech allowed Manny Wilkins to pick through its secondary and had no answer when Arizona State went to its Wildcat set with Ballage in the red zone.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils have found their rhythm offensively after struggling for most of three quarters against Northern Arizona last week. Wilkins played confidently, throwing for 351 yards and two touchdowns, while Ballage gave them an unexpected scoring punch by matching his touchdown total of the three previous seasons combined.

UP NEXT

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders host Louisiana Tech next Saturday.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils play at UTSA on Friday.

Wilkins, Sun Devils pull away for 44-13 win over NU

Arizona State and its new quarterback turned an uncomfortably close game into a fourth-quarter blowout.

Manny Wilkins passed for 180 yards, ran for 89 and a touchdown and even hurdled a would-be tackler in his first college start and the Sun Devils pulled away for a 44-13 victory over FCS foe Northern Arizona on Saturday night.

Arizona State led just 10-6 before scoring on its final seven possessions.

"The second half was about more what I expected," Sun Devils coach Todd Graham said, "and the first half was nerve-wracking. We expected to score a lot more points in the first half than we did."

They scored 24 points in the fourth quarter.

"We'll be fine," Wilkins said. "I take complete accountability for that (the slow start) and next week we'll get rolling faster."

Freshman N'Keal Harry took a lateral from Wilkins and raced 34 yards for a touchdown and Kalen Ballage ran 30 yards for a score in the outburst.

Northern Arizona's Case Cookus completed 23 of 33 passes for 369 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown to Elijah Marks. Marks had eight catches for 174 yards.

Wilkins, a redshirt sophomore who was named the starter by coach Todd Graham on Friday, completed 20 of 27 passes with one interception.

"He had some things you see a first-time starter do," Graham said, "and then he did some great things."

Zane Gonzalez kicked three field goals, including a career-long 53-yarder, for the Sun Devils, who haven't lost to the Lumberjacks since 1938.

"At times, we showed ourselves to be very capable; a team that can play at a high tempo," NAU coach Jerome Souers said. "But what I'm concerned about mostly is our ability to deal with adversity that came in the second half."

The game looked like an Arizona State romp at the start.

Ballage returned the opening kickoff 27 yards and the Sun Devils went 44 yards on seven consecutive running plays with Wilkins running 13 for the touchdown.

The Lumberjacks took the second-half kickoff, with Cookus completing passes of 39, 14 and 12 yards, and advanced to the Sun Devils' 1-inch line. But a false start penalty and delay of game pushed them back and Haack's 23-yard field goal cut Arizona State's lead to 10-6.

Gonzalez's 53-yarder boosted the ASU advantage to 13-6 with 7:35 left in the third quarter.

Arizona State linebacker Marcus Ball was tossed from the game after he was called for targeting in a helmet-to-helmet hit with NAU receiver Jabril Taylor. Ball must sit out the first half of the Sun Devils' game against Texas Tech next Saturday. Graham said linebacker Salamo Fiso and defensive lineman Ami Latu didn't play because of disciplinary reasons.

STRANGE PLAYS

When Wilkins took off up the middle in the second quarter he literally hurdled North Arizona's Keith Graham. The run helped set up Gonzalez's 33-yard field goal.

And as the first half ended, Cookus let it fly in a `Hail Mary' under extreme pressure. The Sun Devils' Kareem Orrtried to catch it, but it bounced off his chest and into the hands of Butler at about the 10-yard line and he took off toward the end zone. But his toe barely went out of bounds at the Sun Devils' 2-yard line and the half ended.

Northern Arizona had the ball at the end only because of another bizarre occurrence. Lumberjacks' punter Dylan Kegans dropped the snap and then kicked the ball 13 yards downfield, where it bounced off the helmet of a Sun Devil and into the arms of Northern Arizona's Corbin Jountti for a first down.

THE TAKEAWAY

Northern Arizona: The Lumberjacks are picked to win the Big Sky and they stayed with the Sun Devils most of the night. Cookus, a sophomore, looks to put up big numbers when Northern Arizona drops to competition its level.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils and their young quarterback finally found their rhythm late in the third quarter to give them a boost of confidence with the Red Raiders coming to town next week.

UP NEXT

Northern Arizona drops down considerably in the level of competition when the Lumberjacks travel to Western Illinois next Saturday.

Arizona State needed their late surge to gain some confidence because the Sun Devils face a much sterner test when they are host to Texas Tech next Saturday.