ASU line dominates WSU in tough homecoming

PULLMAN – It was supposed to be homecoming. Instead it turned into Washington State’s own episode of “Lost.”

And a multi-arc episode at that.

Twelve sacks. Twenty-three negative plays. Minus-54 yards rushing. Five penalties on offense. Three turnovers.

When the confusing, convoluted offensive day – for both football teams – was over, Washington State had lost 27-14 to Arizona State before 26,010 in Martin Stadium.

It was another loss built up front.

“We just got completely dominated from their defensive line and our offensive line, more of a domination than I’ve ever seen,” Washington State coach Paul Wulff said. “It just put so much pressure on our quarterbacks.”

More consistent pressure than true freshman quarterback Jeff Tuel admitted to have seen.

Tuel, making his second career start, was sacked nine times, including being flattened on the game’s second play by defensive end James Brooks.

The pressure was intense enough, Wulff and offensive coordinator Todd Sturdy replaced Tuel with Marshall Lobbestael for the last half of the second quarter and the start of the third.

“It didn’t matter what quarterback was back there, he was going to get hit all the time,” Wulff said. “Sometimes pulling him back, let him see some things, is good. When he came back, he played lot better football.”

But the pressure remained.

“We thought their O-line was kind of vulnerable,” Brooks said. “We did some stunts that could get to the quarterback and every starter on the D-line got a sack or two so it was a successful night.”

Brooks had 2.5 sacks, tackle Lawrence Guy another 2.5, end Dexter Davis 1.5 – plus an interception – and six others had a sack or a piece of one.

WSU’s offensive line was the same group that struggled last weekend at Oregon. Only center Kenny Alfred, who sat out the fourth quarter after suffering a deep cut on his leg, and tackle Micah Hannam, had more than two games experience at the positions they played. The other three spots were held down by two freshmen and a rarely-used junior.

“I wouldn’t say I was frustrated, I would say I was disappointed, because I couldn’t help out the defense when they helped us out,” Hannam said.

Despite being handed six turnovers, the WSU offense only took advantage of one, and that after ASU (3-2, 1-1 Pac-10) had built a 19-0 third-quarter lead.

Andy Mattingly’s interception and 13-yard return put the Cougars (1-5, 0-4) at the Arizona State 31. After losing 3 yards on a run, Tuel, who had returned the possession prior, found Jared Karstetter for a 12-yard gain. The next play was another run with another yard loss.

On fourth-and-2, Tuel play-faked, then rolled to his left. Daniel Blackledge was in the back corner of the end zone, though Terrell Carr had good coverage. Still, Tuel, who finished 11 of 22 for 175 yards, tried to loft the ball to his receiver. It fluttered, then floated toward Carr’s hands.

But Karstetter came from out of the picture to dive and grab it in front of a shocked Carr. It was Tuel’s first career touchdown pass.

“I love him for it,” Tuel said of Karstetter. “Obviously, not a very good throw. But I was just running for my life, just trying to throw it up and give our guys a chance.”

Two possessions later, Tuel tried again.

Stuck on the 1-yard line after an ASU kickoff and a 4-yard, first-down loss, Tuel dropped back into his end zone and lofted a ball down the left sideline toward Johnny Forzani.

Forzani went up at the 29-yard line, wrestled the ball away from Josh Jordan, kept his balance and raced down the field. Jordan had no chance. The 99-yard pass-and-run was the longest scrimmage play in WSU history.

“He put in a spot that was just perfect for me, outside of the defender’s hands,” said Forzani, the Calgary, Alberta, native who has just one year of football experience. “I caught it and I just took off. That’s what I do. I just kind of catch and run.”

The defense also did a lot of that.

Besides Mattingly, Louis Bland and Xavier Hicks also had interceptions. Bland and Dan Spitz knocked balls free, forcing two of ASU’s three fumbles. The six turnovers were the most Washington State’s defense has forced since 2003.

“We threw some different looks at them,” co-defensive coordinator Chris Ball said. “We played them pretty well last year against the pass. We pulled out some of that same stuff … just disguised it a little different.”

It worked. Though the Sun Devils finished with 220 yards rushing and 410 in total offense, the six turnovers kept them from making it a runaway.

“We did not help ourselves out in the turnover margin,” said ASU quarterback Danny Sullivan, who threw all three interceptions. “That’s what kept this game close.”

Sullivan, under fire in Tempe, was 19 of 29 for 169 yards, throwing one touchdown and running for another. Freshman Brock Osweiler, from Kalispell, played a couple of series and was 3 of 4 for 21 yards.

Kyle Williams gathered in a career-high 13 receptions for 126 yards and the Sun Devils’ first touchdown from 9 yards out.