Devils Leash the Huskies in Hall of Fame Game Upset 13-7

Mike Stockman
Phoenix Area Sports

TEMPE, AZ (October 14, 2017) The Arizona State University Sun Devils' defense put a leash on the #5 Washington Huskies at Sun Devil Stadium on Saturday, October 14, in the Hall of Fame Game, upsetting the Pac-12 rival by  a score of 13-7.

ASU's defense sacked Huskies Browning six times.

The Devils welcomed eight new members into the Sun Devils Athletics Hall of Fame during Saturday's game. Alejandro Canizares (Men's Golf), Amy Hastings-Cragg (Track and Field/Cross Country), Emily Westerberg (Women's Basketball), Aaron Aguayo (Track and Field/Cross Country), Andrew Walter (Football), Jim Newman (Men's Basketball, posthumously), Ron Davini (Baseball), and Adria Engel (Women's Tennis) were honored at halftime.

Having the Hall of Famers honored before and during the game must have inspired the Devils whose offense scored first on a one yard touchdown run by Kalen Ballage. The offense produced six first downs, 82 total yards offense in the first quarter to the Huskies' 17 yards.

Brandon Ruiz connected on a career long 52 yard field goal and a 25 yard field goal making the score 13-0 mid-way through the second quarter.

By halftime, the Devils offense had 163 total yards, with Manny Wilkins completing 17-22 passes for 125 yards.  The defense played at a level not seen for quite some time, sacking Jake Browning three times, and holding the #5 Huskies to 42 total yards offense. The Devils led 13-0.

Huskies' QB needed more than his sideline's help.

In the third quarter, the Devils intensity continued as the defense kept the Huskies scoreless, adding another sack and shutting out the Huskies high powered offense for the third straight quarter.

It was not a good night for the Huskies' kicker who missed two field goals in the fourth quarter. The Devils defense added two more sacks.

With less than six minutes left in the game, the Huskies' QB Browning finally gets them on the board when he scored on a one yard sneak.

With 2 minutes left, the Devils had the ball and went for the win on a fourth down gamble pass which put the Devils on the Huskies' seven yard line where they ran out the clock for the upset.

In the post game press conference, Coach Todd Graham said "This was the best overall performance from every aspect of our team. I'm proud of our coaches and our players." He also mentioned his pleasure in seeing the fans rush the field after the victory. "That was awesome, that was the best atmosphere tonight since I've been here." He very confidently stated "We whooped them - we outplayed them.". He finished with "That was old school defense tonight".

The Huskies (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) have a bye week before hosting Pac-12 rival UCLA on October 28.

The Devils (3-3, 2-1 Pac-12) travel to Salt Lake City, Utah on Oct 21 to play the Utah Utes. Game time is TBD.