ASU hoping win is start of streak

It took nine games and the only winless team in major college football to help bring it out, but the Arizona State offense that Dennis Erickson anticipated seeing before the season finally was on the field on Saturday.

Sun Devils held struggling Huskies to just one TD

The Sun Devils ran the ball consistently, forcing the defense out of the Cover 2 formation that has frustrated the receivers for much of the season.

When it counted in the second half, they scored touchdowns, not field goals, in the red zone.

They had manageable third-down situations, converting seven of their 14 opportunities.

And the offensive line helped make it all work with sound blocking.

“It was what I wanted to see all along,” Erickson said. “It’s been a long time. It was nice to get to the end zone instead of kicking field goals and getting some turnovers and stopping them on defense. Those were the things we anticipated doing and have done some this year, but we haven’t done enough of it.”

The challenge for ASU, which ended a six-game losing streak, is to maintain that success during the last three games of the season. Erickson’s team must win each of them to qualify for a bowl invitation.

“It’s nice to come into this building on a Sunday and have a team meeting and see smiles on people’s faces,” Erickson said. “It’s like anything in life. You can only take it for so long before you have to have some success. We’ve got a chance to play well in the last month. We’re capable of doing it; we just have to do it.”

The Sun Devils have had a 100-yard rusher in two straight games. Erickson said that he plans to keep the same strategy that worked at Washington — start Shaun DeWitty and have him do the early-game physical running, then go to Keegan Herring for a change of pace.

The running success forced the Huskies to play their safeties in, which freed up receiver Michael Jones for 11 catches, including two for touchdowns in the second half.

“We just had to stay with our plan and stay patient,” quarterback Rudy Carpenter said.

“We knew if we kept on going, we would get our chances to score, and we did. The most important things are that we ran the ball well, and the offensive line protected well. If you do those things, you are going to win games.”

A golden opportunity to build on the offensive success awaits ASU. Washington State, which visits Sun Devil Stadium this week, has the lowest-ranked defense in the bowl subdivision.

“I see improvement with our guys, and that’s the biggest thing,” Erickson said.