Redshirt junior safety Jordan Simone celebrates with his teammates after forcing a Washington three-and-out in the first half of the Sun Devils' game against the Huskies. ASU leads 10-0 at halftime. (Photo by Andrew Ybanez)It was fitting that in a game where offenses struggled, that defensive touchdowns wrote the narrative of No. 14 ASU football's 24-10 win in Seattle on Saturday.
Battling chilly temperatures and wind gusts in excess of 50 miles per hour amplified the concerns of both teams coming into the contest about generating offense, as the wet conditions on the field and on-and-off rain added to the adverse predicament of playing on the road in one of the loudest stadiums in college football.
In Kelly's first game back from more than a month off after suffering an ankle injury against Colorado, he exhibited bursts of speed on read options, and connected with his favorite target, redshirt junior wide receiver Jaelen Strong (two catches, 32 yards) including a 16-yard touchdown catch with less than five minutes left in the second quarter.
ASU's regular starting quarterback passed Jake Plummer to become third all time in total offensive yards, now with 8,931.
Kelly regained his composure, shaking off rust and leading the Sun Devils on the game-winning drive, a methodical, nine play, 75-yard possession that elapsed 4:14 of game time, culminating on a seven-yard touchdown on an impressive diving catch in the right corner of the end zone on a desperate toss as he faded away, somehow reaching its target, redshirt junior Gary Chambers.
A late, helmet-to-helmet hit from junior outside linebacker Cory Littelton on Kelly, who was already shaken up and being brought down by another defender after his release, but the shot taken by Littelton was let go without a penalty marker being thrown. Despite this, there was nothing further to indicate that Kelly was affected significantly.
The Huskies (5-3, 1-3 Pac-12) boasted an intimidating front seven, responsible for sacking Kelly three times. However, he threw for 180 yards and two touchdowns, completing 14 of 25 passes.
Once again, ASU's defensive and special teams units played outstanding: redshirt sophomore linebacker Laiu Moeakiola led the way with 8 tackles and two and a half sacks, including a forced fumble recovered by redshirt junior defensive lineman Demetrius Cherry.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Sun Devils (6-1, 4-1 Pac-12) put up the first points of the night on a 16-yard touchdown reception from Kelly to Jaelen Strong, completing a six play, 50-yard drive.
His counterpart, redshirt freshman Troy Williams, made his first career start in place of sophomore Cyler Miles, and threw for just 61 yards, finishing 12-19.
A game dictated in large part by prohibitive weather conditions appeared to play right into the hands of the Huskies, who established a bruising running game that ate up a significant amount of the game clock in the fourth quarter.
Dual threat linebacker/running back Shaq Thompson presented a unique challenge to the ASU defense, which couldn't stop the top Husky back — he ran for 98 yards on 21 carries — but contained him enough to keep UW's offense from reaching the end zone.
UW didn't manage a single offensive touchdown, but was given a faint spark when Kelly made his lone mistake of the night — a 63-yard interception returned by senior linebacker John Timu for a score, the sixth defensive touchdown for Washington on the season, which broke a program record set in 1951.
The Huskies had one last chance to tie the game with under a minute to play, when freshman defensive back Armand Perry stepped in front of a Troy Williams pass and streaked 61 yards to the end zone untouched, the exclamation point on a statement road game in the return of its emotional leader and senior captain.
With the win, ASU improved to 4-1 in conference and officially becomes bowl eligible.
Reach the assistant sports editor at smodrich@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @StefanJModrich
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