Devils’ Wish Comes True With Boring Win In Pac-10

After tormenting their fans and their coach the previous two weekends, Arizona State finally got an easy win.

The fourth-ranked Sun Devils scored three touchdowns in the first quarter, including a pair within 22 seconds, and never were seriously threatened in Saturday’s 41-9 win over Stanford.

“We were hoping to get a boring fourth quarter and we were fortunate enough to have it,” said ASU coach Bruce Snyder, whose team needed frantic comebacks the previous two weeks against UCLA and Southern California. “I’m really pleased that the defense shut them down in the second half.”

Linebacker Pat Tillman led an ASU (8-0 overall, 5-0 Pac-10) defense that allowed just 93 total yards - and no points - in the second half to the Cardinal (2-5, 1-3).

Tillman had a team-high eight tackles, including two for losses, a fumble recovery and an interception. He also broke up another pass, nearly making another interception on the play.

“In the second half, we just had to stop them, we couldn’t let them come back,” Tillman said. “The defense was kind of rusty in the first half but really got the kinks out in the second half.”

Tillman, a 5-foot-11, 200-pound junior from San Jose, may be relatively short for a linebacker. But Snyder said he makes up for it with intensity and intelligence.

“Tillman just had a monster day, really a monster day,” Snyder said. “He’s not very big, but football players come in all sizes and he is simply a football player.”

Jake Plummer threw for two touchdowns and ran for another for ASU. He was 21 for 34 and had 151 of his 316 passing yards in the first quarter, when he had winds gusting up to 40 mph at his back.

Plummer, with 28 touchdown passes and just nine interceptions in his last 13 games, now has 61 career TD passes fourth in the Pac-10.