Sun Devil defense keeps its cool

PULLMAN, Wash. - The Arizona State football team was stranded in the Northwest after Saturday’s game, as the charter plane that was assigned to the squad was stuck in Las Vegas due to a malfunction.

Seems that the aircraft’s de-icing mechanism was on the fritz. However, the subsequent delay was much more tolerable to the Sun Devils, because whatever warms their hearts and minds was working just fine.

In the 40-degree cold and driving wind of the venue that has been most unpleasant to it in recent years, ASU kept its composure and conviction. As a result, it made the key plays late that preserved a 27-24 victory against Washington State at Martin Stadium.

"If this team doesn’t have character and heart, we fold," Sun Devils coach Dirk Koetter said. "Washington State came back on us in the second half, and the momentum switched over pretty heavily. A lot of teams would fold in that situation, and I’m glad ours didn’t do that.

"That’s a Pac-10 win on the road, a win in Pullman, a tough place to play, and a win in cold weather. That’s as good as it gets right now."

By hitting that trifecta, ASU (5-4 overall, 3-3 Pac-10), which has recovered from a midseason three-game losing streak to win two in a row, is now one victory from qualifying for a bowl game.

"The last couple of games, we’ve been making the plays when we needed to," said cornerback R.J. Oliver, who had a critical end-zone interception near the end of the first half. "A lot of people thought we would pack it in because we lost some big games. But the players have stuck together."

In the end, the Sun Devils did it with a unit of the team, the defense, that has been maligned at times this season. ASU denied the Cougars (3-6, 0-6) twice inside the 30-yard line in the fourth quarter.

"We play in the Pac-10, where offenses shine," outside linebacker Jamar Williams said. "To have a win like this made in big part by the defense, I can’t explain how great it feels."

The first time, Washington State momentarily tied the score at 27-all with a field goal. But the Sun Devils were called offside, and Cougars coach Bill Doba took the yards — and the points off the scoreboard — making it fourth-and-1 at the ASU 4.

Running back Jerome Harrison, who finished with 240 yards rushing to retake the lead in the nation, took a pitch and went off right tackle, where Williams and middle linebacker Dale Robinson combined to stop him for a loss.

The play was personal atonement for Williams, who was the guilty party on the offside penalty the play before.

"I put that on myself. It was my fault," Williams said. "I told the defense, ‘Just rally with me, and I promise I’ll stop them.’ We made a great play, me and Dale, and we stopped them."

On its next series, WSU drove to the Sun Devil 23, where on third down, defensive tackle DeWayne Hollyfield sacked Alex Brink for a 12-yard loss. That made Loren Langley’s field-goal attempt into the wind a 52-yarder, and it was wide left.

"The fourth-down stop was a huge defensive play," Koetter said. "So was the interception before the half. And the sack to knock them out of (short) field-goal range.

"We can sit here and complain and whine about how our defense has been this or our defense that this season, but when there was a play that had to be made, we did it."

In his second career start, quarterback Rudy Carpenter was 28-for-43 for 381 yards and two touchdowns. However, the most noteworthy pass in the game was not thrown by him.

On the Sun Devils’ first series, tailback Rudy Burgess took a pitch, ran to his right and heaved the ball downfield, where wide receiver Derek Hagan caught it in stride for a 43-yard score.

The scoring reception was the 26th of Hagan’s career, a school record. It was also a play that was not working successfully in practice last week, but when the Cougars’ defense was keying on the run earlier in the drive, QB coach Mark Helfrich talked Koetter into springing the play.

"That play looked horrible in practice," Koetter said, "but Helfrich was all over it, saying, ‘Call it, call it.’ It was a little against my better judgment, not because I didn’t think we could do it, but because it looked like Rudy was never going to throw that thing."

It was the first TD pass not thrown by an ASU quarterback since 2001.

"I was a little shaky during the week. I threw a couple (wounded) ducks," Burgess said. "We just had to get our timing down. We did today."

However, perfecting the Burgess throw was kids’ stuff compared to what had been the Sun Devils’ most daunting practice task — healing broken hearts and getting minds refocused after their Bowl Championship Series dreams died in October.

And those hearts and minds appear repaired, if Saturday’s temperature check is any indication.

"When we lost three games in a row, it was not a good feeling in the locker room," Hagan said. "We had to stick it out and come back fighting. Now, we’ve got two wins, and our goal is to finish (the regular season) on a four-game win streak. We’ve got two wins left."