This Date in College Football Belt History – November 4

Casey — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:38:01 +0000

The 22^nd ranked, 6-2 UCLA Bruins of coach Terry Donahue traveled to Tempe to meet the 4-4 Arizona State Sun Devils of coach Bruce Snyder. The Bruins planned to reclaim The Belt led by All-American OT Jonathan Ogden as well as All-Pac 10 players RB Karim Abdul-Jabbar & C Mike Flanagan but the Sun Devils had other ideas. The Bruins led 27-10 at the half but 4 fumbles & 7 penalties gave the Sun Devils all the chances they needed for a comeback. Arizona State’s All-Pac 10 QB Jake Plummer threw for 312 yards with 2 touchdowns leading the Sun Devils to a 37-33 victory to retain The Belt. UCLA took a 3-0 lead when PK Bjorn Merten hit a 39-yard field goal & when CB Paul Guidry returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown, the Bruins had a 10-0 lead. The Sun Devils responded with a 16-play, 89-yard drive capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by RB Michael Martin. Merten connected from 22 yards as UCLA pushed the lead to 13-7 before Arizona State’s PK Robert Nycz hit from 26 yards to get the Sun Devils within 3 points at 13-10. UCLA then put together an 11-play, 80-yard drive with Abdul-Jabbar scoring on a 1-yard run for a 20-10 advantage. UCLA’s QB Cade McNown scored on a 4-yard touchdown run with 0:06 left in the half as the Bruins took the 27-10 halftime lead. The Sun Devils scored on a 9-yard touchdown run by All-Pac 10 WR Keith Poole on their opening drive of the 3^rd quarter & Plummer connected with RB Ricky Boyer to get the Sun Devils close at 27-24. The next 4 UCLA possessions resulted in a safety & 3 fumbles. The Bruins tried a reverse handoff on a punt return but Arizona State’s CB Lamont Morgan tackled UCLA’s WR Derek Ayers in the end zone for a safety. After a Sun Devils’ punt, Arizona State’s S Traivon Johnson recovered an Abdul-Jabbar fumble & on the next play, Plummer found WR Kenny Mitchell for a 27-yard touchdown pass giving Arizona State a 34-27 lead after Plummer scored on the 2-point conversion. UCLA drove to the Arizona State 9-yard line on their next possession but McNown fumbled & Johnson was there to recover again. The Sun Devils could not score on that turnover but McNown fumbled again on the next Bruins’ drive & LB Derek Smith recovered for Arizona State. Nycz hit a 36-yard field goal giving the Sun Devils a 37-27 lead with 8:51 to play. UCLA drove 80 yards in 11 plays with McNown scoring on a 5-yard touchdown run but the Sun Devils were able to run off the last 5 minutes without incident. Poole finished with 9 catches for 167 yards with his rushing touchdown for Arizona State while Abdul-Jabbar finished with 207 yards rushing with a touchdown but the critical fumble. McNown threw for 289 yards but 2 fumbles that thwarted drives for UCLA. Arizona State finished the season 6-5 while the Bruins finished 7-5 in Donahue’s final season. UCLA would play for The Belt again in 2004.

The College Football Belt

Tale of the Tape: Washington at Arizona State

Casey — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:03:10 +0000

by Paul Casey Gotham

Setting: The desert gets a little warmer this afternoon when Lorenzo Romar and his #23 Washington Huskies (15-5 /6-2) make their annual trek to Tempe for a Pac 10 tilt with Herb Sendek’s #14 Arizona State Sun Devils (16-4 / 5-3).

Plots: It’s a match up of ranked teams both coming off a loss: Washington at Arizona 106-97; Arizona State to Washington St. 65-55.

Washington hits 46 per cent from the field including 34.6 per cent from behind the arc and 67.5 per cent from the stripe for 79.8 ppg.

ASU drops 48.9 per cent of their field goals with 36.4 per cent of the trifectas and 73.4 per cent from the line for 71.4 ppg.

The Huskies grab 46 boards per game with 7.4 steals and 3 blocks.

The Sun Devils pull down 34 boards, make 6.4 steals and block two shots per game.

Sub plots: In a game that is destined to be decided by single digits, the Sun Devils are 4-0 this season in games where the difference is six points or less. The Huskies are 2-3 in such affairs. ASU has beaten the last four ranked opponents they have played including a 61-58 OT triumph over UCLA on January 17th.

Flashback: ASU holds a 34-31 lead in the series that started in 1977-78, but UW has won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the Pac 10 combatants. ASU’s 77-63 win in Seattle was the Sun Devils first win in the series since 2004.

Conflict: Husky forward, Jon Brockman, leads the nation in double-doubles. Yeah you read that right Jon Brockman is the active leader for double-doubles. Here’s the top five:

Jon Brockman, Washington. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Jeff Adrien, Connecticut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
John Bryant, Santa Clara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

But Brockman will have to deal with James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph. At 6’5″ it may be easy to overlook Harden, but the sophomore grabs 5.6 boards and scores 22 per game. Pendergraph pulls down 7.6 bounds per game and finishes 13.4 per game. Last time out Pendergraph scored just 8 points.

Senior Justin Dentmon ranks third on the Huskies’ list of career steals with 153. The guard also dishes out 3.1 assists per game.

But ASU’s Derek Glasser is as steady a point guard in the nation as there is with a 2.3 assist to turnover ratio including zero miscues in 42 minutes of play versus UCLA. Glasser has just three turnovers in the last 108 minutes of play.

Washington’s Isaiah Thomas leads all freshmen in the Pac 10 with 16.3 ppg. The 5’8″ guard has scored in double figures 18 of 20 games this year including three 20 point outbursts in the last six games.

Resolution: The Sun Devils are 8-1 at home this season and have too much balance for the Huskies.

First Team All Casey

G Jeff Teague Wake Forest

G Stephen Curry Davidson

G/F Jodie Meeks Kentucky

F Blake Griffin Oklahoma

F Terrence Williams Louisville

2nd Team

G Jerel McNeal Marquette

G Dionte Christmas Temple

F James Johnson Wake Forest

F Luke Harangody Notre Dame

F Tyler Hansbrough UNC

Pickin' Splinters » Arizona St. Sun Devils

This Date in College Football Belt History – November 4

Tale of the Tape: Washington at Arizona State