| Sun Devils hang tough
Channeling Jake Plummer, who happened to be in attendance, Rudy Carpenter brought Arizona State back from a 19-point deficit to a 44-32 victory Saturday night over Oregon State in front of 56,099 at Sun Devil Stadium.
Carpenter threw for 361 yards and four touchdowns, often scrambling like Plummer to make big plays.
Plummer was inducted into the ASU Athletic Hall of Fame at halftime.
ASU (4-0) remained undefeated with its second comeback win and starts 1-0 in the Pac-10. Oregon State (2-2, 0-1) suffered its 16th consecutive loss at Sun Devil Stadium, where it last won in 1969.
"I said coming back in the Colorado game was going to pay huge dividends," Carpenter said. "In both those games, we gave away points because of turnovers, and killing ourselves, really. We knew our defense would stop them eventually, and we had to score some points, which we did."
Coach Dennis Erickson said Carpenter "had a heck of a game. He's a warrior and fights like heck to give himself a chance to win. Rudy made a lot of plays with his legs."
The Sun Devils intercepted five Sean Canfield passes, including a pair each for linebacker Robert James and safety Troy Nolan. They scored the final 13 points of the first half to get within 19-13.
James' second interception stopped Oregon State's opening drive of the third quarter, but the Sun Devils couldn't capitalize.
Tailback Yvenson Bernard ran for 30 yards on the first three plays of the Beavers' next possession. The Beavers then scored on a 20-yard rushing touchdown by wide receiver Brandon Powers off a lateral from Canfield.
That gave Oregon State a 26-13 lead, but the Beavers lost that momentum off Sammie Stroughter's poor decision to fair catch a punt at the 7-yard line.
ASU held and regained possession at the Oregon State 43. Carpenter went deep immediately to Michael Jones for a touchdown catch.
Carpenter tried to do too much in avoiding a sack on ASU's next possession. He shoveled a pass to tackle Brandon Rodd. The 303-pound senior fumbled, and the Beavers recovered.
But Nolan got the ball back for ASU with an interception and returned for 25 yards to the Oregon State 48.
Carpenter found tailback Ryan Torain on the next play for a touchdown that gave the Sun Devils their first lead, 27-26, with 16 seconds left in the third quarter.
Cornerback Justin Tryon followed with an interception and returned it 44 yards, with another 15 tacked on for a Beavers personal foul.
Carpenter iced the win with another touchdown pass to Torain for 7 yards.
As they did against Colorado two weeks earlier, the Sun Devils erred their way into a significant first-quarter hole.
Long snapper Jason Perkins overshot punter Jonathan Johnson on the fourth play from scrimmage. All Johnson could do was down the ball in the end zone for a safety just 62 seconds after kickoff.
On the second play after ASU's ensuing kickoff, tailback Yvenson Bernard rushed for a 41-yard gain. That led to Canfield's 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Howard Croom for a 9-0 lead just 3:58 into the game.
Carpenter was intercepted by cornerback Keenan Lewis on ASU's second possession.
Canfield connected with Stroughter to start the Beavers' second possession. Stroughter shed starting safety Jeremy Payton and turned the completion into a 43-yarder to the 1-yard line. Yvenson Bernard scored for a 16-0 lead with 5:29 gone.
Oregon State's Alexis Serna made a 47-yard field goal to make it 19-0 before ASU started back, following the script that worked in wiping out a 14-0 first-quarter deficit against Colorado.
They scored the final 13 points of the first half against Oregon State, starting with Carpenter connecting with Jones for a 64-yard touchdown on the second play of the second quarter.
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