Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Arizona State powers past Colorado 41-30 for 600th win

Arizona State’s Jay Jay Wilson (9) sacks Colorado quarterback Steven Montez (12) during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State won 41-30. (Matt York / Associated Press)
Associated Press

Demario Richard ran for 189 yards and a touchdown, helping Arizona State power past Colorado 41-30 Saturday night in Tempe, Arizona, for the Sun Devils’ 600th win as a program.

Arizona State (5-4, 4-2 Pac-12) trailed by 10 in the third quarter, but turned to its power-running game to bull through the Buffaloes (5-5, 2-5). The Sun Devils had 274 of their 381 rushing yards in the second half and finished with 583 total yards.

Arizona State’s Manny Wilkins threw for 202 yards and a pair of scores, adding 95 yards and a touchdown rushing. The Sun Devils also kept Colorado’s Phillip Lindsay in check for most of the night, holding the nation’s third-leading rusher to 80 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns.

Steven Montez threw for 345 yards and a touchdown, but the Buffaloes were plagued by multiple dropped passes, including one by Shay Fields that would have been a sure touchdown – he was 15 yards behind the Sun Devils – on a trick play.

Arizona State thought its defensive deficiencies were straightened out with impressive wins over Washington and Utah in consecutive weeks.

The Sun Devils regressed last week against No. 17 Southern Cal, allowing the Trojans to pile up 607 yards through a slew of big plays and missed tackles by ASU.

Now they had to stop Lindsay, the final of the nation’s top 3 rushers to face Arizona State this season.

The Sun Devils didn’t fare so well against the other two, allowing Stanford’s Bryce Love to run for 307 yards and San Diego State’s Rashaad Penny to pick up 216.

They did a good job of preventing Lindsay from breaking off any big runs in the first half, but allowed Montez to hurt them with the passing game to set up Lindsay for scoring runs of 1 and 6 yards.

California 37, Oregon State 23: Ross Bowers passed for 259 yards and two touchdowns, including a 25-yarder to Jordan Veasy that gave the Golden Bears (5-5, 2-5 Pac-12) some breathing room and they went on to defeat the Beavers (1-8, 0-6) in Berkeley, California.

Patrick Laird rushed for a career-high 214 yards and a touchdown while Matt Anderson kicked three field goals to become California’s career-scoring leader while helping the Bears snap a two-game losing streak.

Cal’s second win in seven games also moved coach Justin Wilcox’s team closer to the postseason. The Bears need to beat either Stanford or UCLA to become bowl eligible for the second time since 2011.