Sun Devil Football moves to 9-2 (7-1)

Pasadena, CA – The time finally arrived for the battle in Los Angeles, and neither team disappointed. After ASU took a commanding lead at halftime and seemed to be in complete control, UCLA battled back in the second half to close the gap and make things very interesting. In the end, the Sun Devils held on to victory and became the 2013 Pac-12 South Division Champions by beating the Bruins, 38-33.

First Quarter

Taylor Kelly and the Sun Devil offense came out guns blazing on their first drive and marched down the field with perfect balance and play calling mix. Kelly ran the read-option to perfection and then took it in from 3 yards to put the Devils up 7-0. UCLA answered immediately with a 42 yard TD pass from QB Brett Hundley on their first play from scrimmage. The Bruins followed that up with a long field goal to take the lead,10-7. The Sun Devils punched back with another solid drive capped off by a 3 yard TD run by DJ Foster.

ASU led at the end of the first quarter 14-10, and the battle was on.

Second Quarter

The game took a wild turn at the start of the second quarter as Carl Bradford intercepted Hundley on a short screen pass on the UCLA 15 yard line and walked into the end zone to give ASU a big advantage at 21-10. The Devils continued to apply pressure and drove down to the UCLA one yard line, where big Michael Eubank pounded it in on fourth down. ASU was pulling away, 28-10.

With less than two minutes left in the half, UCLA put together a quick drive, but were held to a field goal by a stout ASU defense. The Sun Devils finished the half “strong” with a quick drive of their own capped off by a 19 yard TD pass from Kelly to Jaelen Strong that would prove to be the difference later in the game.

30 more minutes to accomplish something big

Third Quarter

UCLA came out invigorated and put two quick touchdowns on the board to start the second half. Myles Jack scored from the 3 yard score and Paul Perkins ran a one yard touchdown.

All of a sudden, it was a ballgame again at 35-27, with ASU feeling some pressure. Needing a long scoring drive to calm things down a bit, the Sun Devils marched down inside the 20, but had to settle for a field goal, increasing their lead to 38-27 heading into the fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter

The Bruins kept pushing back and added another score on a 27 yard TD pass to Shaquelle Evans. They decided to go for the 2 point conversion when Sun Devil senior Alden Darby intercepted Hundley’s pass to turn UCLA away with zero points. ASU held the lead, 38-33.

Late in the game, QB Brett Hundley took over the UCLA offense with some long runs out of the pocket, but the Bruins missed a crucial field goal wide right. UCLA had a final chance with two minutes left, but penalties killed them as they were eventually pushed back to a 1st down and 30. ASU’s D-line kept strong pressure on Hundley as UCLA ran out of time and downs.

With just 5 seconds on the clock, the 2013 Pac-12 South Division Champion Sun Devils took a knee in victory formation and secured one of their most important victories in years. 

Final.

Thank you, Coach. One for the books…

 Cover image of Will Sutton in celebration was taken by @RobSchumacher1 on Twitter.