Walter’s 6 TD passes lead ASU

TEMPE, Ariz. — Overall, Andrew Walter has had better games. His performance in the fourth quarter against UCLA, however, was as good as it gets.

The senior threw for 415 yards and six touchdowns, two in a late rally, to lead No. 21 Arizona State to a 48-42 victory over the Bruins on Saturday.

“I saw some people clearing out with seven minutes, two scores down, and that kind of got me fired up,” Walter said. “Maybe they should do that every game. But there were so many plays out there that we left, all it was was a matter of time and, thank God, finally it came around to our time.”

Walter tied Danny White (1971) for the second-most TD passes in a game by an Arizona State quarterback, and his 76 career scoring passes are one shy of John Elway’s 22-year-old Pacific-10 Conference record.

Walter has 21 TD passes this season against six interceptions, although the Bruins (4-3, 2-2) picked him off three times in an erratic but sometimes brilliant (25 for 51) performance.

Derek Hagan had three scoring grabs, including a 46-yarder with 6:36 left in the game to start the Sun Devils (6-1, 3-1) on their way back from a 42-31 deficit.

Walter threw behind Rudy Burgess on the two-point attempt and UCLA’s Ben Emanuel II knocked him out of bounds. But the Bruins went three-and-out, and Walter passed Arizona State into a 43-42 lead with a 65-yard throw to Terry Richardson with 4:51 to play.

Walter then found Brent Miller in the back of the end zone for two points.

“The momentum swings in this game were many,” said Sun Devils coach Dirk Koetter, who beat one of the Los Angeles-based conference members for the first time in seven tries.

“They came back. I give them credit. But, ultimately, the good guys won.”

The Sun Devils were blown out 45-7 by No. 1 Southern California a week ago in the Coliseum.

Maurice Drew and Manuel White ran for UCLA TDs, and Drew Olson passed for a career-high 325 yards and hit Mercedes Lewis and Tab Perry for scores.

But Olson, with five interceptions coming in, threw four this game.

“If I don’t throw those four interceptions, especially in the red zone, it’s a different game,” Olson said.

Perry also completed the last 12 yards of a huge play that pulled UCLA into a 28-all tie in the third quarter.

White began it with a 55-yard run, including yardage gained by Junior Taylor, who recovered White’s fumble but then lost the ball himself before Perry picked it up at the 12 and scored with 7:48 left in the third.

After the first of Jesse Ainsworth’s two field goals for the Sun Devils, UCLA got its first lead at 35-31 on White’s scoring run following a 61-yard burst by backup Chris Markey.

Jarrad Page set up UCLA’s last TD with a 10-yard interception return to the ASU 38, and the Bruins capitalized nine plays later with Perry’s 9-yard scoring catch.

“We had an opportunity late in the game to do something in a great environment, here in this stadium with a great crowd, and we couldn’t hang on,” UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said. “I’m just disappointed. That’s all I can say.”