Oct. 7, 2008
FOOTBALL CENTRAL
NOTES: Game 6
- USC (pdf)
2008 GAME
DAY CENTRAL
2008
ASU Football Rosters
2008
ASU Football Schedule/Results
2008
ASU Football Statistics
2008
Pac-10 Conference Statistics (pdf)
NCAA
Football Statistics
2008
ASU Football Media Guide
College
Football National Rankings
The Oregonian:
Despite the knockdowns, Carpenter stands alone
GAME INFORMATION
Date:
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Kickoff: 12:30 p.m. PT
Site: Memorial Coliseum (92,000), Los
Angeles,
Calif.
Television: ABC
Play-by-Play: Terry
Gannon
Color: David Norrie
Sideline: Todd Harris
Sun Devil Radio: 620 KTAR
AM
Play-by-Play: Tim Healey
Color: Former ASU QB and 1987 Rose Bowl
MVP Jeff Van Raaphorst
Touchdown
Radio: national broadcast
Play-by-Play: Roxy Bernstein
Color: Gino Torretta and
Jon Bloom
WHAT
TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
•
Senior QB
Rudy Carpenter is putting his name in the Sun Devil
record books, climbing the charts in several significant
passing categories
• Four Sun Devils made their first
career starts in the Cal game
• Arizona State has now now played 10 true freshmen this
season, the most in school history
• 26 members of ASU's football team played their first
collegiate road game last week
• Seven members of the team have already earned their
undergraduate degrees
• The Sun Devils were picked to finish second in the Pac-10
in the annual West Coast Media Poll. USC was picked to win
the conference the seventh year in a row.
TEMPE, Ariz. -
After a
24-14 setback against Cal in Berkeley, Arizona State
continues its road swing by traveling to Los Angeles,
California for a battle with the #8/9 USC Trojans on
Saturday, October 11. USC enters the contest 3-1, 1-1 in the
Pac-10. USC beat Oregon 44-10 last week in LA. The Sun
Devils enter the contest 2-3, 1-1 in the Pac-10 following
the loss to the Golden Bears.
MAROON AND GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY
ASU is celebrating 50 years at Sun Devil Stadium, home stadium of the Arizona
State University football team. The Sun Devils have a 244-86-3 record at Sun
Devil Stadium, including a 7-1 mark in 2007. In 1996, the playing field was
named Frank Kush Field, after the legendary Sun Devil coach. Sun Devil Stadium
has played host to 35 Fiesta Bowls, two Insight Bowls and Super Bowl XXX. Over
16 million fans have seen the Sun Devils play at Sun Devil Stadium.
ON
THE AIR
The Sun
Devil Sports Network will carry all 12 of ASU's football games live on their
10-station radio network, including flagship station Sports 620 KTAR AM. Tim
Healey (play-by-play) and former Sun Devil quarterback Jeff Van Raaphorst (color
analyst) will call the action. The USC game can be heard on 620 KTAR AM.
Touchdown Radio will be broadcasting the game nationally, with Roxy Bernstein,
Gino Torretta and Jon Bloom on the call.
LIGHTS, CAMERAS, ACTION
ABC will televise the Sun Devils match-up with the Trojans. Terry Gannon and
David Norrie will call the action from the booth. Todd Harris will man the
sidelines.
SUN
DEVILS VS. TROJANS
This will be the 25th meeting between Arizona State and USC, with the Trojans
holding a 15-9 lead, including a 7-4 mark at home. The Sun Devils have not
beaten USC since 1999, when they won 26-16 at the Coliseum.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Five games into the 2008 season, 14 different Sun Devils have caught a pass.
That's tied for sixth in the nation for the most different receivers with at
least one pass reception. Troy is the national leader with 17.
ASU
VS. CAL RECAP
Three turnovers doomed the Sun Devils, as Cal jumped out to a 17-0 lead and
never looked back in a 24-14 win. Nate Longshore threw three touchdowns for the
Golden Bears, while Rudy Carpenter was intercepted twice and Dimitri Nance lost
a fumble, leading to 14 points for California. Lawrence Guy had 2.5 tackles for
loss to lead the Sun Devil defense.
START ME UP
Now in his
fourth season under center, senior QB Rudy Carpenter is second in the nation,
behind Purdue's Curtis Painter, for the most consecutive games starting at
quarterback in college football. Carpenter has started 36 straight contests and
has seen action in 40 career games. In the Pac-10 last year, only two other
quarterbacks did not miss a game. But here is the most impressive nugget...when
Jake "the Snake" Plummer started the final 40 games of his career that ended in
1996, ASU began a stretch in 1997 that ended in 2004 (nine seasons) in which
eight quarterbacks made at least one start. Rudy took over in the eighth game in
2005 and has started every game since. He has started every game the past two
seasons, as only Andrew Walter in 2003 did the same in the past 11 seasons.
ONE OF THE PAC-10'S FINEST
Rudy Carpenter continues to be one of the top QBs in the Pac-10 Conference.
Carpenter is the active Pac-10 leader in passing attempts, completed passes,
passing yards, touchdown passes and 300 yard games. Carpenter now has 73 career
touchdown passes and has thrown for 9,346 yards in his ASU career. He currently
ranks 12th all-time in Pac-10 history for passing yards, trailing Stanford's
John Elway (1979-82) by three yards.
TOUCHDOWN RUDY
Rudy Carpenter now has 73 touchdown passes in his career. He is only the fourth
Sun Devil all-time to throw at least 60 touchdowns, joining Andrew Walter (85),
Jake Plummer (65) and Danny White (64). The 73 career TD passes is good for 7th
most in Pac-10 history, two behind Stanford's Steve Stenstrom (1991-94).
TOTAL PACKAGE
Rudy is
also climbing the Pac-10's All-Time Total Offense chart. Carpenter currently
ranks 10th all-time in total offense, accumulating 9,158 total yards. He is 51
yards shy of Oregon State's Jonathan Smith (1998-2001) for 9th all-time in
conference history.
ANOTHER RECORD
With his 733 passing yards in the first two weeks of the 2008 season, Rudy
Carpenter has established a new standard for passing yards through the first two
games in ASU history. The previous record was held by Sam Keller in 2005, when
he threw for 669 yards against Temple and LSU.
WINNING TRADITION
Rudy Carpenter has 23 wins as the starting quarterback for Arizona State, the
fourth most wins as a starter in school history. Danny White holds the all-time
record for wins by a starting quarterback, going 30-3 from 1971 to 1973. Dennis
Sproul is second with 26 wins from 1974-77. Carpenter passed Jeff Van Raaphorst,
who went 21-9-1 from 1983 to 1986, with the win over NAU on August 30. He is one
win shy of Jake Plummer for third place. Plummer went 24-16 from 1993 to 1996.
Van Raaphorst, Plummer and Carpenter are the only three QBs in ASU history who
have led the Sun Devils to a Pac-10 title.
LUCKY
13
Against NAU on
August 30, Carpenter tied a 56-year old school by completing 13 consecutive
passes. The only other Sun Devil to complete that many in a row was Dick Mackey,
who accomplished the feat against San Diego Navy in 1952. The NCAA record is 24,
held by Tennessee's Tee Martin in 1998 and Cal's Aaron Rodgers in 2004.
Carpenter also had a string of 10 straight completions against the Cardinal.
RECORD BOOK RUDY
Carpenter continues to etch his name into the ASU annals of passing history. He
is now second in career completions with 691, touchdowns with 73 and yards with
9,346 and third in attempts with 1,116. He is 26 attempts shy of Jake Plummer
for second place.
BUILDING HIS LEGACY
Over his three seasons at
Arizona State, Rudy Carpenter has found success achieved by few who wore maroon
and gold. Carpenter has started three bowl games (2005 Insight, 2006 Hawai'i and
2007 Holiday), only the second quarterback in school history to accomplish that
feat. Danny White is the only other, starting the Fiesta Bowl in 1971, 1972 and
1973. Rudy also joins Jeff Van Raaphorst (1986) and Jake Plummer (1996) as ASU
quarterbacks to lead the Sun Devils to a Pac-10 title.
NATIONAL ATTENTION
Carpenter isn't just highly ranked in the Pac-10, but in the nation as well. The
senior signal caller ranks in the top five among active FBS quarterbacks in both
passing yards and passing touchdowns. He is fifth in yards, 337 yards behind New
Mexico State's Chase Holbrook for fourth. He is third in touchdown passes,
trailing Texas Tech's Graham Harrell and Missouri's Chase Daniel.
300
GAME
Carpenter's
345 yards against Stanford was his 11th career 300-yard game and second
straight, tops among active Pac-10 quarterbacks. The Sun Devils are 8-3 when
Rudy throws for over 300 yards, including a 6-0 mark at home. He has thrown for
over 300 yards against nine different teams, including Northern Arizona on
August 30. Washington State and Stanford are the only schools he has done it
against twice.
EFFICIENCY EXPERT
Carpenter went 22-28 against NAU on August 30, a completion percentage of .786.
It marked his second-highest career completion percentage in a game he had at
least 20 passing attempts. His career best was in 2005 against Washington at Sun
Devil Stadium, when he completed 27 of 34 passes for a .794 completion
percentage. In that game he threw for 401 yards and three touchdowns in a 44-20
victory. Against Stanford, Carpenter went 27-36, a 75% completion rate.
SUPERB START
Carpenter's 388 yards against the Lumberjacks set a new school record for most
passing yards in the first game of a season. Joe Spagnola held the previous
record of 369 on Sept. 20, 1969 vs. Minnesota.
ON WATCH LISTS
Entering his final season, Carpenter finds himself a candidate for several major
awards. He is on the Watch List for the Maxwell Award, presented to the top
player in college football, the Davey O'Brien Award, awarded to the best
quarterback in the country, the Unitas Golden Arm Award and the Walter Camp
Foundation Player of the Year award.
FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME
Four Sun Devils made their debuts in the starting lineup against the Golden
Bears, including two true freshmen. Junior Tom Njunge got the start at right
tackle, freshman Clint Floyd started at safety, freshman Lawrence Guy started at
defensive tackle and junior Stanley Malamala started at tight end. LB Mike Nixon
also recorded his first career interception against the Golden Bears.
LEAVING ON A JET PLANE
Arizona State traveled the
NCAA limit 64 players to Cal last week, with 26 of them making their first ever
collegiate road trip. That's 41% of the travel roster that had never played on
the road in college before.
GOOD AND FRESH(MAN)
When OL Zach Schlink took the field against Georgia on September 20, he set a
new school record by becoming the 10th true freshman to play this year. The
previous record was held by the 1994 team, which saw nine true freshmen see game
action. The 10 who have played this year are: OL Zach Schlink, WR Gerell
Robinson, S Clint Floyd, RB Ryan Bass, CB Josh Jordan, LB Shelly Lyons, LB
Brandon Magee, DL Lawrence Guy, SN Thomas Ohmart and DE Jamaar Jarrett. Seven
redshirt freshmen have also played this year: OL Adam Tello, LB Oliver Aaron, DE
James Brooks, TE Dan Knapp, WR T.J. Simpson, LB Colin Parker and OL Garth
Gerhart. Florida State is the national leader, with 22 true freshmen having seen
action. The 10 for ASU ties the Devils for 14th most in the nation, tied with
four other teams.
WHO'S BACK
38
letterwinners return from the 2007 Pac-10 championship squad, including seven
starters on both sides of the ball. Rudy Carpenter returns for his fourth season
as the signal caller for the Devils. Carpenter will have an experienced and
talented receiving corps, led by Mike Jones and Chris McGaha. The two combined
for 107 catches, 1,599 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2007. Keegan Herring returns
to lead the running attack, and he will be teamed with Dimitri Nance and Shaun
DeWitty in the backfield. Herring enters 2008 as the 10th-leading rusher in
school history, gaining 2,234 yards in his career. Dexter Davis will lead a
stout defense that finished as the third ranked unit in the Pac-10 last year.
Davis has totaled 18.5 sacks in his two plus seasons in maroon and gold. Travis
Goethel and Mike Nixon will anchor the group of linebackers, after the two
combined for 129 tackles a season ago. Troy Nolan is the leader of the defensive
backfield after intercepting six passes in 2007, returning two of them for
touchdowns. 2007 Lou Groza Award Winner Thomas Weber returns on special teams,
looking to improve on a 2007 campaign that saw him go 24-25 on field goals and
handle the punting duties.
SUMMER CATCH
Senior WR Michael Jones has been a two-sport athlete at ASU for three years,
spending his springs with the Sun Devil baseball team. But this summer was
different for Jones, who was drafted in the 29th round of the 2008 MLB Draft by
the New York Yankees. Jones spent his summer in Tampa, Florida as a member of
the Gulf Coast Yankees in the Rookie League. He appeared in 15 games, collecting
nine hits, including five doubles. Jones showed no rust from his summer of
baseball, hauling in a team-leading 26 receptions for 376 yards and a touchdown.
He had 162 yards against NAU on Aug. 30, his fourth career 100-yard game.
CATCH IT
Arizona State
boasts one of the top returning wide receiving corps in the Pac-10. Mike Jones,
Chris McGaha and Kyle Williams all return for the Sun Devils, giving Rudy
Carpenter and ASU a dangerous arsenal. Kerry Taylor has added himself to that
arsenal, grabbing 11 balls for 204 yards and two scores so far this year. Taylor
had 53 receiving yards all of last season. The four wide receivers have combined
for 217 receptions, 3,130 yards and 23 touchdowns dating back to last season.
McGaha led the 2007 team with 61 catches for 830 yards, while Jones was the
scoring leader, finding the end zone 10 times. He had 46 receptions for 769
yards to go along with the 10 TDs. Williams caught 29 passes for 360 yards and
six scores.
TOM THE TOE
Sophomore
kicker Thomas Weber returns in 2008, hoping to duplicate one of the greatest
seasons by a kicker in Arizona State history. The winner of the 2007 Lou Groza
Award, presented annually to the nation's top placekicker, a First-Team
All-American by the Associated Press and a First-Team All-Pac-10 honoree, Weber
was sensationally consistent during his freshman season, connecting on 24-of-25
field goals (96.0 pct.), with a long of 53 yards. A three-time Pac-10 Conference
Special Teams Player of the Week in 2007, Weber set numerous Sun Devil records
in only his first college season, including a record streak of 17 made field
goal attempts to begin the year (also a nation-leading streak for the season)
and a nation-high accuracy rating. The Downey, Calif., product ranked first in
the Pac-10, fifth in the nation and tied the Sun Devil single-season record for
points by kicking (118) set by Mike Barth as a senior in 2002, while also
placing sixth in the country with 1.85 made field goals per game. A sharpshooter
off the kicking tee and in the classroom, Weber added First-Team Pac-10
All-Academic honors to his list of accomplishments as a rookie in 2007. In
addition to his near-perfect kicking reputation, Weber took on the added
challenge of taking over punting duties midway through the season and averaged
39.3 yards on 47 punts for the year. He has not missed a beat so far in 2008, as
he is 8-10 thus far on field goal attempts, including a long of 49. He has
scored 37 points and has also punted 23 times for an average of 42.6 yards a
kick. He is on the Ray Guy Award Watch List for punting, as well as the Lou
Groza Award Watch List for placekicking.
SACK MASTER DEX
Junior
defensive end Dexter Davis has wasted no time this season establishing himself
as one of the best pass rushers in the Pac-10. So far in 2008, Davis has 4.0 QB
sacks, six tackles for loss and 13 total tackles. He has started all 31 games in
his Sun Devil career and has already totaled 20.5 sacks, 30 tackles for loss and
86 tackles. Davis enjoyed one of the most sensational freshman seasons by a Sun
Devil defender in school history in 2006, earning Pac-10 All-Freshman honors and
honorable mention freshman All-America recognition by The Sporting News. The
Phoenix, Ariz., native recorded a team-best and Pac-10 freshman season-high 6.0
quarterback sacks, the third-most by a Sun Devil rookie in school history. He
was just as impressive during his sophomore campaign, posting a team-leading
10.5 sacks, third most in the Pac-10. He was a Second Team All-Pac-10 selection
after recording 33 total tackles, including 13.5 for loss. He also forced three
fumbles and recovered another. Davis is on the preseason watch list for the Ted
Hendricks Award, the Nagurski Trophy and the Lombardi Award. His 20.5 sacks put
him sixth in school history. Terrell Suggs is ASU's all-time sack leader,
recording 44 from 2000 to 2002.
HELMETS AND MORTAR BOARDS
Seven members of the 2008 Sun Devil football team have already earned their
degrees from Arizona State University. Rudy Carpenter, Mike Jones, Wes Evans,
Angelo Fobbs-Valentino, Nate Kimbrough, Troy Nolan and David Smith have all
graduated from Arizona State University. The seven graduates is tied for
8th-most in the nation.
IN THE BLOGOSPHERE
Mike Nixon will be writing a weekly diary for The Sporting News about the 2008
season. He is one of 22 FBS student-athletes who will write the weekly column,
and one of only two from the Pac-10. It can be read at today.sportingnews.com.
YOUNGSTERS
Arizona State has one of the smallest senior classes in the nation. ASU has 15
seniors on their roster, one of five teams with that amount. The others are
Colorado, Nevada, Notre Dame and Oklahoma State. Only 12 teams in the country
have fewer seniors. Nine of the 15 on the roster began their careers at ASU.
RUNNING DOWN HIS DREAM
From the moment he set foot on ASU's campus, senior Keegan Herring has had a
smile on his face and a hunger for yards. Over his three seasons with the
Devils, Herring has been one of the most dependable backs in the Pac-10. He
leads all Pac-10 returners with 2,330 career yards, good for 10th most in school
history. One of the quickest athletes in the conference and a home run threat on
every carry, Herring has scored 19 times and has had at least one carry for over
65 yards in each of his three seasons. Arizona State's leading rusher a season
ago, Herring totaled 815 yards on 154 carries, the third straight he has gained
over 500 yards.
MOVING ON UP
With
his 2,330 career rushing yards, Herring finds himself 10th on Arizona State's
all-time rushing list. He is 144 yards short of Ben Malone (1971-73) for 9th on
the list. Herring also has six career 100-yard games, including three in 2007.
His career high for yards in a game is 197 against Northwestern in 2005.
HOME SWEET HOME
For
the second straight season, Arizona State began the year by playing its first
four games at Sun Devil Stadium. Last season, ASU went 7-1 at home, winning its
first six. ASU was the only team in the Pac-10 to open with four straight at
home, and one of only five teams in the nation to play their first four games on
their home field. Duke, Louisville, Indiana and Nebraska are the others.
Nebraska opened the season with five straight home games.
WATCH LISTS
Several Sun
Devils are on preseason watch lists for national awards. Senior Safety Troy
Nolan, who led the team with six interceptions a year ago, is on the watch lists
for the Bednarik Award, the Nagurski Trophy, the Thorpe Award and the Lott
Trophy. He is also a candidate for the senior CLASS Award. Seniors Rudy
Carpenter and Keegan Herring are both on the Maxwell Award watch list, while
junior Dexter Davis joins Nolan on the Nagurski Trophy watch list. Davis is also
on the Lombardi Award list and the Hendricks Award list. Carpenter is also on
the Davey O'Brien Watch List, given to the nation's top QB and the Walter Camp
Player of the Year Award Watch List. 2007 Lou Groza Award winner Thomas Weber is
on the watch list for the 2008 award as well as for the Ray Guy Award. Herring
is also on the Doak Walker Award list. LB Anthony Reyes has been named a
semifinalist for the Draddy Trophy. Keegan Herring was named to the AFCA Good
Works Team.
PRESEASON HONORS
Kicker Thomas Weber has found his name on a number of preseason All-American
teams. Weber is a First Team selection by The Sporting News, Athlon Sports and
Playboy, while Phil Steele has him on the Third Team.
TEAM CAPTAINS
Senior
quarterback Rudy Carpenter and senior safety Troy Nolan were named team captains
after a vote by the team. Head coach Dennis Erickson will designate two
additional game captains on a weekly basis. Morris Wooten and Keegan Herring
were the game captains at Cal.
FOUR YEAR QBs
Senior
quarterback Rudy Carpenter is one of only five four-year starters at the
quarterback position in the Bowl Subdivision. Curtis Painter of Purdue, Mike
Teel of Rutgers, Willie Tuitama of Arizona, Pat White of West Virginia and Drew
Willy of Buffalo are the others.
PASS IT ON
Rudy
Carpenter has now completed a pass to 32 different receivers in his four years
at Arizona State. All but two of those were completed to a wide receiver, tight
end or running back. The other two? OL Brandon Rodd and himself.
The following players have
caught a pass from Rudy Carpenter:
Gerell,
Robinson, Mike Jones, Kerry Taylor, Kyle Williams, Chris McGaha, Jovon Williams,
Shaun DeWitty, Dimitri Nance, T.J. Simpson, Dan Knapp, Rudy Burgess, Brent
Miller, Tyrice Thompson, Keegan Herring, Ryan Torain, Brady Conrad, Andrew
Pettes, Nate Kimbrough, Zach Miller, Jamaal Lewis, Brandon Smith, Terry
Richardson, Derek Hagan, Matt Miller, Moey Mutz, Chad Christensen, Jeff Gray,
Stephen Bisnett, Cornell Canidate, Preston Jones, Brandon Rodd and Rudy
Carpenter.
NEXT UP
Arizona State
will take a week off before returning to Sun Devil Stadium for a match-up with
the Oregon Ducks on October 25.
