Even if the University of Utah's Utes boasted a 3-1 record and a highly ranked defense, no one gave them a chance against Arizona State Saturday night in hot Sun Devil Stadium. Oddsmakers made them 151/2-point underdogs, and one ASU player allowed that he "wasn't as nervous this week." It was, after all, only Utah.
In the end, with 44,324 fans watching, Arizona State prevailed, but there was plenty to get nervous about. Score it Arizona State 21, Utah 15, but the game was not secure until Kevin Miniefield intercepted Frank Dolce's overthrown pass at midfield with 30 seconds left.The Utes had led 7-0 early in the second quarter, and trailed only 10-7 at halftime. The Sun Devils scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown with 11:47 left in the game, thanks to the play of a backup quarterback, a freshman wide receiver and a freshman running back.
The Ute offense, asleep much of the night, awoke on the ensuing series and marched 76 yards for a touchdown: an 18-yard pass from Frank Dolce to Bryan Rowley with 4:03 remaining.
After Utah's defense forced ASU to punt, the Ute offense got the ball back with 1:15 left. But an intentional grounding penalty and then the interception ended any chance for a victory.
Thus, ASU is 3-1 and Utah is 3-2.
"Utah is a fine football team," said ASU coach Larry Marmie. "They have a strong defensive team that could really cause problems . . . this was a very important football game for our team. We needed it."
Said Utah coach Ron Mcbride: "I'm proud of our football team. We took a squad that beat USC and played them to a standstill."
Penalties and continuing problems on offense ultimately cost Utah the game. The Utes were penaltized nine times, compared to the Sun Devils' three. The offense managed a mere 331 yards and two touchdowns. Utah's best offense, as usual, came via the pass. Facing the nation's top pass defense, Dolce completed 17 of 35 passes for 217 yards - most of them to Rowley, who had 8 catches for 86 yards.
For its part, the Utah defense, ranked fourth nationally, held ASU to 392 yards, with linebackers Anthony Davis and Kelvin Lambert and safety Reggie Alston totaling 11 solo tackles each.
The Utes shut down junior Kurt Lasher, ASU's backup quarterback, except for a couple of critical plays. It was Lasher's 48-yard pass completion to freshman Derrick Land that set up the game-winning 6-yard TD run by freshman Mario Bates.
"They just made the big plays and we didn't," said McBride. "The big play from our standpoint was ASU's long pass. That really hurt us."
With starter Bret Powers sidelined by a shoulder injury, Lasher was named the starter earlier this week. He had attempted one pass all season and the Sun Devils, who are loathe to pass anyone, were reluctant to let him throw early. But after the Ute defense stuffed the run, they turned to the air. Lasher completed 13 of 20 passes for 204 yards.
Similarly, the Utes finally turned to the pass game after a scorless first quarter. With the ball at midfield, Henry Lusk, a redshirt freshman who plays second-string at both safety and tailback, raced behind the ASU secondary and gathered in Dolce's underthrow pass at the 4-yard line. Two plays later, Keith Williams sliced into the end zone behind the blocking of fullback Demere Smith to give Utah a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.
Then it was Lasher's turn. On ASU's next possession, facing third and 5, he connected with wideout Eric Guliford for 21 yards, and then capped an 11-play, 77-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Eric Moss on a crossing pattern underneath the Ute coverage. That tied the score at 7-all midway through the second quarter.
On their next possession, the Sun Devils took the lead. Parnell Charles broke three tackles to turn a bad play into a 19-yard gain. Then Lasher passed 24 yards to Guliford at the 17. A delay of game penalty and a fumble forced ASU to settle for a 37-yard field goal by Mike Richey with 1:16 left in the half for a 10-7 halftime lead.
On the Utes' opening possession of the second half, Dolce was hit by Greg Kordas, and David Dixon recovered his fumble at the Utah 46-yard line. That was just the start of a fateful ASU drive. The Utes seemed to have averted disaster when they blocked a field goal attempt, but they never gained possession of the ball. The officials ruled that after the block, Utah's Todd Lawson touched the ball beyond the line of scrimmage and then fumbled it. Dixon recovered the fumble for ASU at the 17-yard line.
The bad breaks for Utah weren't finished yet. On fourth and one, Lasher threw an incompletion, but the officials whistled Utah for defensive holding, giving ASU a first down at the 7. The Sun Devils seemed bound for a touchdown, but on third down at the 4, defensive end Keith Embray sacked Lasher, forcing the Sun Devils to settle for a 25-yard Richey field goal and a 13-7 lead.
The Sun Devils finally put the game away early in the fourth quarter on one big play: the 48-yard pass from Lasher to Land, which set up Bates' 6-yard TD. Parnell Charles' PAT run gave ASU a 21-7 lead with 11:47 remaining.
The Ute offense finally awakened. On the ensuing series, the Utes, behind the running of Charlie Brown and the passing of Dolce, moved 76 yards in 9 plays for a score: the 18-yard touchdown pass from Dolce to Rowley, who spun out of a tackle at the 5 and raced into the end zone. Dolce completed a pass to tight end Greg hoffman for the 2-point conversion, cutting ASU's lead to 21-15 with 4:03 remaining.
That proved to be too little too late.