Sept. 28, 2002
Recap|Box Score|Quotes|Photo Gallery
Arizona State (4-1, 1-0) 65, Stanford (1-2, 0-2) 24
Official Start Time: 12:37 p.m. Game Time Temp: 92? Attendance: 51,443
McDonald For All-American: Junior wide receiver Shaun McDonald had another impressive game with 10 receptions for 221 yards and one touchdown. His 221 receiving yards rank as the third most in ASU single-game history, behind the 232 yards from Eric Guliford (12 receptions) in 1990 and the 227 yards by Ron Fair in 1989 (19 receptions). With his TD reception in the first quarter, McDonald is now tied for third place for TD catches in a season (11) with Keith Poole (1996) and J.D. Hill (1970). With 19 career TD receptions, McDonald is seventh in the ASU record books.A Scoring Record: Arizona State is celebrating its 25th anniversary of competition in the Pac-10, and today they broke a long-standing scoring record in a league game. The 65 points scored are the most in a Pac-10 game by the Sun Devils since scoring 62 against the Stanford Cardinal on Oct. 24, 1981 at Sun Devil Stadium. The Cardinal QB in that game was John Elway. ASU's 65 points are the most since scoring 66 against UTEP in 1977 (Oct. 22).Walter Has Career Day: Sophomore quarterback Andrew Walter (Grand Junction, Colo.) recorded a career day, passing 22-for-37 for 414 yards and five touchdowns. He became the first Sun Devil since Jeff Krohn to throw for over 400 yards (432; Oregon; 10/28/00). His five touchdowns are tied for third best in ASU single-game history, with Krohn also throwing four vs. Oregon. Walter is now 47-for-82 with 12 TD passes this year for 807 yards.Canidate Continues to Impress: Redshirt freshman tailback Cornell Canidate led ASU in rushing for the fourth straight week with 77 yards on 15 carries (5.1 avg.) and three touchdowns.The All-Time Series: With the victory, ASU now leads the all-time series with Stanford 12-7 including a 7-3 advantage in Tempe. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak to the Cardinal, including a 51-28 loss on Sept. 22, 2001 in Palo Alto. The Cardinal had outscored the Sun Devils 130-65 in the previous three meetings, with ASU's single-game output Saturday matching the scoring efforts of the previous three games.Pac-10 Openers: Arizona State now holds a 8-15-2 all-time record in Pac-10 Conference openers since joining the league in 1978. The Sun Devils picked up their first conference opener since beginning the 1997 conference slate with a 13-10 victory at Oregon State on Sept. 27, a streak of four losses that included last year's 51-28 loss at Stanford. This year's game marked the second straight season that ASU and Stanford kick off the conference season against each other.First Quarter and First Half Full of Offense: The first quarter saw Stanford and ASU combine for 46 plays from offense for a combined 434 yards. ASU quarterback Andrew Walter was 10-for-18 for 202 yards and three TD's. ASU's Shaun McDonald caught five passes for 117 yards in the first half alone. ASU had 338 total yards in the first half on 44 total offensive plays (16 first downs). Walter's four TD passes in the first half tied his career high and ranked fourth in ASU single-game history.The Unck and Amobi Defensive Wrecking Crew: Senior linebackers Josh Amobi and Mason Unck combined for two turnovers in the first half. On both plays, Unck forced the fumble while Amobi recovered. Unck finished with a team-leading 13 tackles (5 solo, 8 assisted), one TFL and three forced fumbles. Amobi had four tackles and two fumble recoveries for 37 yards.The Heat Wave: Temperature at kickoff was 92 degrees. Other hot day games on record include 91? (Sept. 26, 1987 vs. Nebraska), 92? (Sept. 28, 1996 vs. Oregon) and 92? (Oct. 9, 1999 vs. UCLA).A Long Drive: ASU's 91-yard scoring drive in the first quarter is the longest in the last 11 games, dating back to Oct. 13, 2001 vs. USC. It is the second longest drive by the Sun Devils under Coach Koetter.Arizona State Game Notes: Andrew Walter's interception in the first quarter was his first of the year (33-for-54 going into the play) and is only the second INT thrown by a Sun Devil quarterback this year (Andy Goodenough vs. Nebraska)... Skyler Fulton's 14-yard TD reception in the second quarter was his second of the year and third of his career... sophomore wide receiver Daryl Lightfoot broke his career high with four receptions in the first half... he finished with five catches for 87 yards and a touchdown... the 31-yard punt return by Lightfoot was a season-long for the Sun Devils... redshirt freshman Joey Smith and true freshman Mike Davis Jr., each recorded their first career interception... ASU forced seven turnovers.Stanford Game Notes: The opening scoring drive, highlighted by a 47-yard pass from Chris Lewis to Nick Sebes, took only 1:12... the 68-yard TD run by Casey Moore was the longest run from scrimmage this year for the Cardinal... Moore recorded his second career 100-yard rushing game and with 113 yards in the first half fell just three yards short of his career high (116)... Moore ended with 116 yards on the day... the 38 points given up in the first half are the most for Stanford since allowing 48 in the season opener in 1999 vs. Texas and 42 vs. Oregon in 1998.