Notre Dame Grinds Up Arizona State, 28-9

Arizona State dropped out of the national championship picture a month ago. Now, it can’t even get to .500.

The Sun Devils were dominated by No. 22 Notre Dame on Saturday, 28-9, at Tempe, Ariz., as the Irish used an opportunistic defense and a powerful rushing attack to win their third in a row.

The loss dropped the Sun Devils to 2-4.

Autry Denson scored twice on one-yard runs for the Irish (4-1) and A’Jani Sanders returned one of three interceptions off Arizona State’s Ryan Kealy 25 yards for another score.

Jarious Jackson, who last week became the first Notre Dame quarterback to rush for 100 yards in a game since Tony Rice in 1989, only rarely ran option plays and had only seven yards.

He did, however, throw a seven-yard pass to Malcolm Johnson for the first points of the game and finished seven for 13 for 69 yards.

Arizona State had only a 22-yard field goal by Stephen Baker until J.R. Redmond’s one-yard run with 10:38 left.

However, the Irish countered immediately, with Joey Goodspeed bolting 60 yards up the middle to set up Denson’s second score.

Goodspeed, a 240-pound fullback, had 109 yards in four carries.

The Sun Devils opened with Kealy operating out of a shotgun formation, but it didn’t help. He threw two interceptions in the first 17 1/2 minutes, the second returned by Sanders for a 14-0 Irish lead.

The Irish, who trailed at halftime in their first two games, led this one 14-3 at the half thanks mainly to their defense.

Linebacker Brock Williams, who batted a potential first-down pass away from Lenzie Jackson to shorten Arizona State’s first series, picked off a pass the next time the Sun Devils got the ball, hauling it in after Kealy threw behind Brian Forth.

That started an 11-play, 87-yard drive for Notre Dame’s first touchdown.

Kealy’s next interception was even more costly. Sanders got it in full stride and stepped past a diving Marvel Smith for the touchdown that sent the Irish to a 14-0 lead with 12:27 remaining in the second quarter.

Washington 53, Utah State 12--Quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, starting in place of injured Brock Huard, ran for two touchdowns and passed for another to lead the Huskies over the Aggies in a nonconference game at Seattle.

The sophomore quarterback scored on runs of one and nine yards in the first half when the Huskies (3-2) took a 39-0 lead en route to ending a two-game losing streak. Tuiasosopo also had a 15-yard scoring pass to Dane Looker in the third quarter when the Huskies went ahead, 53-0.

Washington set a school record with 13 sacks against Aggie quarterbacks Riley Jensen and Logan Galli, with linebacker Todd Johnson leading the charge with 3 1/2 sacks. Jensen was sacked 11 times.

Utah State (1-5) had five turnovers and was penalized a school-record 19 times.

Utah State received $400,000 in January to replace the Miami Hurricanes after Washington Coach Jim Lambright decided he wanted to soften his schedule. The Aggies played the Huskies for the first time since 1904.

Tuiasosopo made his second career start because Huard suffered a separated shoulder against Arizona last Saturday.

Tuiasosopo completed 11 of 21 passes for 194 yards and one touchdown and one interception, and rushed for 34 yards and two scores in five carries.

Freshman tailback Willie Hurst, starting his second game, scored two touchdowns on two-yard runs in the opening quarter, when return specialist-turned-kicker Joe Jarzynka booted the Huskies’ first field goal of the season, a 35-yarder. Hurst had to leave the game in the first half with a bruised hip.

Oregon State 30, Stanford 23--Ken Simonton ran for 207 yards and two touchdowns, and the Beavers overcame a Cardinal-record 450 yards passing by Todd Husak as they won for the first time at Stanford since 1968.

Simonton, who earlier had a 17-yard touchdown run, scored on a four-yard run with 5:42 left to break a 23-23 tie.

Stanford (1-5, 0-3 Pacific 10 Conference) had one more scoring chance after that, but Husak was intercepted in the end zone and Oregon State (4-2, 1-2) ran out the clock.

The go-ahead touchdown was set up when Stanford’s Troy Walters fumbled a punt at his own 30. Four plays later, Simonton scored on a sweep.

Husak was 26 for 48 with scoring passes of 27 yards to DeRonnie Pitts and 30 yards to Dave Davis, but also threw two interceptions. He broke the Stanford passing record of 430 yards set by Steve Dils in 1978.

In the game, Husak, a junior, also broke the conference season record for the most pass attempts without an interception.

His streak ended at 159 passes, breaking the mark of 150 set by California’s Pat Barnes in 1996.

The Beavers, who broke a 14-game conference losing streak, had gone 12 games without a win at Stanford Stadium.