SEATTLE — There was finally some whooping and hollering, some chants and some smiles in the Arizona State locker room.
The Sun Devils were a little pent up after a stunning two months without a victory.
“It’s been forever,” Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter said. “It’s been the longest two months of my life. It’s been terrible.”
Thanks to Carpenter’s steady hand, the Sun Devils’ six-game losing streak ended Saturday night. Carpenter threw a pair of second half touchdowns to Michael Jones, and Arizona State kept its slim bowl hopes alive by pulling away for a 39-19 win over winless Washington.
Washington (0-9, 0-6 Pac-10) showed emotion for the first time in weeks and used every gimmick in its playbook. The Huskies used reverses, direct snaps, even a double pass that ended with quarterback Ronnie Fouch catching a 6-yard touchdown from receiver Cody Bruns, but it wasn’t enough for the only FBS team in the country without a victory.
The Huskies’ losing streak was extended to a school-record 11 games. The previous worst was a 10-game skid during the 1968-69 seasons.
“Tonight was different because we tried to get all of them in and tried to get all of them in early,” Washington lame-duck coach Tyrone Willingham said of the trickery. “That was just part of our being a little bit more aggressive with what we were doing.”
The Sun Devils (3-6, 2-4) defense held strong against Washington’s ploys, and a pair of key stands early in the third quarter gave Carpenter an opportunity to rally his squad and win for the first time since Sept. 6 against Stanford.
Now the Sun Devils’ focus turns to their final three games — woeful Washington State, UCLA and rival Arizona — fully aware they need all three to reach a bowl game.
Coach Dennis Erickson, who grew up coming to games at Husky Stadium, beat Washington at home for the first time in his career.
“Just getting a win is the important thing,” Erickson said. “I haven’t been very lucky here, obviously, so it was nice to win here.”
ASU’s bowl hopes appeared shaky early in the third quarter after Washington’s Chris Stevens blocked a punt and the Huskies took over at the Arizona State 14. But the Sun Devils defense held the Huskies to a second consecutive field goal inside the 10 — giving Washington a 19-16 lead — before Carpenter went to work.
Taking advantage of a short field, Carpenter quickly led the Sun Devils 41 yards, capped by his 6-yard toss to Jones in the back of the end zone to give Arizona State a 23-19 lead, a play Jones said he could catch with his eyes closed. On their next possession, Carpenter hit Jones on a 2-yard fade to push the advantage to 30-19.
Jones finished with a career-high 11 catches for 146 yards.
“When you’re winning and catching balls, that’s what it’s all about,” Jones said. “You want to go out and have fun.”
Carpenter hit seven straight passes during the two decisive scoring drives. He finished 22 of 31 for 218 yards — including a batted pass he caught for a 1-yard loss. Equally important for the Sun Devils was a surprising 144 yards rushing from backup Keegan Herring, including a 29-yard touchdown sprint with 6:46 left that firmly put the game away. Herring had 100 yards in the second half.
Washington’s coaches decided to let its players have a little fun on the offensive side, throwing nearly every trick play at the Sun Devils. It worked for a while.
Fouch set up his second-quarter touchdown catch by hitting D’Andre Goodwin on 53-yard strike, one of three plays in the first half to go for more than 25 yards.
Washington didn’t have an offensive play of longer than 21 yards in its previous two games, blowout losses to Notre Dame and USC.
But the Huskies offense started to bog down as Fouch became wildly inconsistent. He missed on nine straight throws at one point in the second half. The Huskies offense continually went backward, having just 8 yards of total offense in the second half until a late 39-yard run.
Most damaging, Washington drove inside the Arizona State 5 three times in the second half and came away with six points. Fouch finished 13 of 40 for 192 yards, with two interceptions.
“We came out ready to play. We got hyped in the locker room; tried to come out and have a big day,” offensive tackle Ben Ossai said. “(The) first half went well. Third quarter went well and then it went a little down hill.”
Arizona State got a 44-yard fumble return for a touchdown from Troy Nolan on the first play of the second quarter as Washington tried to convert a fourth-and-1 at its own 43. Thomas Weber also kicked three first-half field goals for the Sun Devils.
“We’ll take a win. We’ll take any win after six losses,” Erickson said. “It’s good to get that feeling back.”
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