PASADENA, Calif. — In the most improbable fashion, ASU rolled into the Rose Bowl and pulled off one of the most surprising upsets of the early college football season to stun No. 7 UCLA 38-23.
The Sun Devils (3-2) entered the game as 14-point road underdogs, yet they led by 19 points after out-gaining the Bruins (4-1) by nearly 100 yards on the ground.
ASU took a 15-10 lead into the break at halftime, and opened the scoring with 11:05 in the third quarter on a read-zone keep by redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici, who streaked down the near sideline untouched for a 34-yard score.
Senior running back D.J. Foster capped a six-play, 63-yard drive on an 11-yard catch that gave the Sun Devils their largest lead of the game.
Bruins redshirt junior running back Paul Perkins answered with a one-yard rushing touchdown and junior wide receiver Thomas Duarte (six catches, 101 yards and two touchdowns) hit pay dirt for the second time on a 17-yard pass from freshman quarterback Josh Rosen.
Bercovici threw for 273 yards and two scores, completing 60 percent of his passes.
Rosen finished with 280 yards, completing 22 of 40 attempts and two touchdowns.
The game was put on ice when sophomore running back Kalen Ballage carried several defenders with him to push his way into the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown.
UCLA, having used all of its timeouts, could do nothing but watch as the clock ticked down to zero.
Reach the sports editor at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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