PULLMAN, WA -- With Arizona State's offense struggling much of the season, it fell to the Pacific-10's best defense to keep the Sun Devils in the game against Washington State on Saturday.
The defense came up big, sacking WSU quarterbacks 12 times and virtually shutting down their offense, for a 27-14 win.
"We come in with the attitude that we are going to put the game in our hands and win it," said ASU defensive end James Brooks, who had 2 1/2 sacks. "Every starter on the defensive line got a sack or two."
Washington State had only 181 total yards of offense, and 99 of those came late on the longest touchdown pass in school history. The Cougars running game was a minus-54 yards on the day. They fumbled five times, losing two.
Ugly as the WSU offense was, Arizona State's wasn't much prettier. The Sun Devils lost three fumbles and were intercepted three times. Starting quarterback Danny Sullivan was yanked at one point for freshman Brock Osweiler.
"Inexcusable," was ASU coach Dennis Erickson's take on the turnovers.
Erickson was knocked down and briefly out when one of his players, receiver Gerell Robinson, ran into him in the third quarter. The veteran coach was woozy, but stayed on the sidelines.
"I wasn't going no place," Erickson said.
Kyle Williams had a career-high 13 catches for 126 yards and a touchdown as Arizona State (3-2, 1-1 Pac-10) beat WSU for the sixth-straight time. Dimitri Nance rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
Washington State (1-5, 0-4) relied on its defense in posting its closest conference loss so far. For the most part the defense came through with six turnovers. It tied its season low in points allowed.
"The defense did the things necessary for us to win the ballgame," said WSU quarterback Jeff Tuel, who completed 11 of 22 passes for 175 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
"It's very frustrating," coach Paul Wulff said of WSU's inability to capitalize more on the turnovers.
The best offensive moment for WSU came midway through the fourth quarter, when WSU was pinned on its 1-yard line. Tuel launched a pass downfield to Johnny Forzani, who had caught two passes for 50 yards all season. Forzani got behind his defenders, caught the pass, and outran the Sun Devils for a 99-yard touchdown that was the longest in team history. It surpassed a 97-yard touchdown pass from Steve Birnbaum to Nian Taylor in 1998.
It was the first touchdown pass for either Tuel or Forzani, and cut ASU's lead to 27-14 with 11:33 left. But neither team scored the rest of the game.
"I've been doing so many things wrong," Forzani, a junior college transfer, said. "They gave me a chance to do something right."
Arizona State led 13-0 at halftime, holding WSU to 29 yards. The Sun Devils struck quickly on their first drive of the second half. Williams gained 53 yards on a reverse and Nance ran the final nine yards for a touchdown.
Andy Mattingly's interception gave WSU the ball on ASU's 31. On fourth down, Tuel threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to a diving Jared Karstetter and WSU trailed 19-7 with 2:22 left in the third.
A botched fake punt by WSU gave Arizona State the ball on the Cougars' 34 early in the fourth. Cameron Marshall scored on a 10-yard run and the Sun Devils led 27-7.
Then came Tuel's 99-yard bomb to Forzani.
Sullivan, who was booed at home last week, completed 19 of 29 passes for 169 yards. He was intercepted three times, but threw a touchdown pass to Williams in the first quarter. He was yanked briefly for freshman Brock Osweiler.
"I'm not going to cry about it," Sullivan said. "I'll just sit here and take my dues and hopefully good things start coming for this offense."
Washington State was held scoreless in the first quarter for the sixth-consecutive game. The team's opponents in those six games have scored a combined 84 points during first quarters.
Late in the second quarter, Sullivan marched the Sun Devils 78 yards in nine plays, running the final seven yards himself for a touchdown. The conversion kick by Bobby Wenzig missed, one of two he missed in the game.
Arizona State's defense ranks first in the Pac-10, allowing just 232 yards per game.
