ASU football sleepwalked through the first quarter in Tempe Saturday, failing to cross midfield once on its first four drives, moving the ball a total of 45 yards, and called on junior punter Matt Haack to punt five times.
The second half wasn't much better for the Sun Devils (5-5), as they found themselves climbing back from a 17-point deficit. After crossing the 50-yard line for the first time, ASU managed a 6 play, 32-yard drive that resulted in a 40-yard field goal by junior placekicker Zane Gonzalez.
The Sun Devils headed to the locker room trailing 17-3, their worst performance in a late-season, homecoming game in recent memory – they had scored 21 and 20 points in the first halves of previous homecoming games in 2014 and 2013, respectively.
"We seemed sluggish or something," head coach Todd Graham said following the game. "I think seven people missed a sack on the same play."
Not to be defeated, however, the leadership in the Sun Devil locker room flipped the switch to finish out the second half. ASU scored on three straight possessions, one to close the third quarter and on the opening two of the final frame.
Without a doubt, the quintessential moment for the Sun Devils was when the defense began to force turnovers, something that had been severely lacking in ASU's previous three-game losing streak.
Following a Gonzalez field goal to complete the comeback and put ASU ahead 20-17, the Sun Devil defense looked to take the wind out of Washington's sails, and they did exactly that.
Browning, fresh off a sack that forced a 2nd down and 18 from the ASU 44-yard-line, threw a lofted pass towards the sideline that was snatched up by senior cornerback Kweishi Brown. Brown had recently broken up a pass play on the other end that would've resulted in a UW touchdown had it not been for his quick hands.
The very next play, sophomore running back Kalen Ballage exploited an enormous hole in the Washington defense and left the defenders in his rear-view as he cruised for a 48-yard touchdown that all but sealed it for the Sun Devils.
"Those turnovers were big and it was fun," Graham said. "When you pour into these kids and you see the hard work ... they played hard and played with character, it is great to see."
The final four possessions for the Huskies sealed their fate as interceptions from Brown, sophomore linebacker Christian Sam and redshirt sophomore linebacker Marcus Ball along with a fumble forced by redshirt sophomore free safety James Johnson carried the Sun Devils to their fifth win of the season.
Reach the reporter at csafran@asu.edu and follow @ChrisSafran on Twitter.
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