ASU fans could get away with arriving at Sun Devil stadium late for Friday's game between the Sun Devils and the visiting New Mexico Lobos.
After all, the Sun Devils went three and out on their first two drives and surrendering over 11 minutes of possession time to their opponents in the first quarter.
It wasn't until their third drive that the Sun Devils into some rhythm offensively but even after driving inside their opponent's five yard line, ASU was forced to settle for a short field goal to break a scoreless tie three and a half minutes into the second quarter.
Throughout the first half the Lobos and Sun Devils were fairly evenly matched.
Facing its second triple-option attack in two games, the ASU defense held New Mexico to 140 total yards and an average of 3.5 yards per play.
Despite that, the Sun Devils couldn't force a turnover for the seventh straight quarter which allowed the Lobos to command the time of possession much like Cal Poly did against the Sun Devils a week ago. New Mexico had the ball for over 20 minutes as opposed to just nine for ASU.
Converting on over half their third down plays (seven for 12) allowed the Lobos to stay on the field.
With three minutes left in the half New Mexico kicker Jason Sanders shanked a short punt to preserve ASU's shutout.
That came at the end of a 15 play, 62 yard drive on which the Lobos converted on two third down plays.
On the final drive of the half, ASU's offense kicked into gear for the first time and going 80 yards in eight plays.
Redshirt senior Mike Bercovici, who was just 12-20 in the first half, connected with freshman receiver Tim White for a 14-yard touchdown pass to pad ASU's lead heading into the break.
After winning the coin toss and deferring, the Sun Devils will receive the ball to start the second half.
First-half Notes
- One of the least penalized teams in the country since Todd Graham took over, ASU had two penalties in the first half, bringing its season total to 11.
- Gonzalez has made two of his three field goal attempts this season, all of which were under 30 yards.
Reach the assistant sports editor at icbeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @ICBeck21.
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