Arizona State Survives Upset Scare by Cal Poly

The Arizona State Sun Devils had one hell of a ride against the Cal Poly Mustangs on Saturday night, but ended up coming away victorious 35-21 to move to 1-1 on the young 2015 season.

With a slim 21-14 lead at halftime, the Sun Devils gave up a touchdown early in the second half that allowed Cal Poly to knot the score up at 21-21. It wasn’t until the final 8 minutes of the ball game that Arizona State finally put away the Mustangs.

An incredible 10-yard touchdown catch by Kody Kohl put the Sun Devils ahead at 28-21 with 7:36 remaining in the 4th quarter. The Kohl touchdown was his fifth touchdown catch in the past six games dating back to last season.

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Tim White decided to make his presence felt on the final scoring drive of the night in which he caught a 19-yard pass over the middle on a great slant route. White followed the catch up with a 59-yard rush to set the Sun Devils up at the Cal Poly 4-yard line. Bercovici rewarded White with a touchdown reception two plays later to put Arizona State up 35-21.

The Bercovici-to-White touchdown was his third touchdown toss of the game. Bercovici went 23-for-35 through the air, finishing with 283 passing yards.

The Arizona State rushing attack racked up 248 yards on the ground against the Mustangs. Demario Richard led the way with 25 rushes for 123 yards and two touchdowns. D.J. Foster chipped in with 12 rushes for 76 yards.

Foster also caught six passes for 58 yards and a touchdown in the contest. It was the 42nd consecutive game that Foster had caught a pass, leaving him just two games shy of the Arizona State school record.

Devin Lucien led the Sun Devils in receptions, seven, and yards, 79. Gary Chambers also performed well, catching three passes for 60 yards.

Christian Sam reached a career-high in tackles for the second consecutive week as he tallied 12, including two sacks, and two tackles for loss.

Jordan Simone also had 12 tackles while notching three tackles for loss. Laiu Moeakiola and Antonio Longino had 11 tackles apiece too and had three and two tackles for loss respectively. The Sun Devils defensive unit finished with 12 TFL in the game.

Cal Poly finished with eight passing attempts compared to 72 rushing attempts due to their triple-option offensive attack.

Joe Protheroe rushed 28 times for 130 yards and a touchdown. Jared Mohamed rallied off a trio of respectable runs as he finished with 11 rushes for 76 yards.

Arizona State has a shortened week before their next contest on Friday, September 18 against the University of New Mexico at Sun Devil Stadium.