Sun shines on the Sun Devils
TEMPE, Ariz. – Coach Dirk Koetter and quarterback Andrew Walter both were marveling Monday at the performance their Arizona State Sun Devils put together Saturday night.
The 44-7 rout of then-No. 16 Iowa in front of a rowdy, capacity crowd of 71,700 at Sun Devil Stadium boosted Arizona State to No. 22 in the national football rankings.
“Our execution was right on, as crisp as I’ve seen it,” Koetter said. “That’s a great feeling as a coach because that means everybody’s doing their job. Everybody is contributing.”
Walter threw for 428 yards and tied his career high with five touchdown passes, and Arizona State shut out the Hawkeyes until Warner Belleus’ 83-yard punt return for a score with 18 seconds remaining.
“As far as any game I’ve played – sixth grade to now – that was as thorough an all-around performance as I’ve been a part of,” Walter said.
The Sun Devils (3-0) had Monday off, then begin preparing for their Pac-10 opener at home against Oregon State (1-2) Saturday night. As of Monday, about 55,000 tickets had been sold.
“I would hope that we get those other 16,000 seats sold so we can have that home field advantage,” Koetter said. “It helps a lot. Don’t think that Iowa’s quarterback wasn’t bothered by that crowd. They had a couple of false-start penalties. It’s tough when you’re the opposing quarterback and you can’t hear yourself think.”
Walter, who broke Jake Plummer’s school record for touchdown passes in the game with 66, said the energy in the stadium was as good as he’s seen in his five seasons at the school.
“It was sweet. It was about perfect for one night.”
Nine Arizona State players had at least one reception, led by Derek Hagan, who had more than 100 yards receiving for the sixth game in a row. Freshman tight end Zach Miller caught 10, including his first two collegiate TD passes.
Defensively, Arizona State never let the Hawkeyes even close to a score until the late punt return. Iowa gained 100 yards – 44 passing and 56 rushing. ASU linebacker Jamar Williams was named Pac-10 defensive player of the week Monday after he had a sack, a tackle for loss and an interception, and kicker Jesse Ainsworth was the conference’s special teams player of the week.
Both Koetter and Walter downplayed the national ranking.
“It’s a nice mention, but it really doesn’t matter after week three,” Koetter said. “If we take care of our business and play like we can, the polls will work themselves out. We’ll get all the credit we deserve if we keep playing that way. And if we don’t, we’ll be out just as fast as we were in.”