Arizona State rallies to beat Cal in desert shootout
Arizona State rallies to beat Cal in desert shootout
TEMPE, Ariz. —
Davis Webb watches as much video as any college player in the country, but he’s certainly not going to be in a hurry to cue up the final six minutes of Saturday night’s game.
After leading Cal to leads as large as 14 points and seemingly being in complete control of the teams’ Pac-12 opener, the graduate transfer threw two interceptions in a three-play, fourth-quarter span — giving the Sun Devils their first lead and a game-clinching score in a 51-41 victory.
Cal (2-2, 0-1) had won nine of its past 11 games against Arizona State (4-0, 1-0) and hadn’t lost in Tempe since 2007, but a pristine desert night in the shadow of A Mountain offered a fitting backdrop for the “Maroon Monsoon” to make history.
The whole game offered its share of surprises.
Cal came into the game with the nation’s second-best passing offense, and Arizona State was the country’s worst passing defense.
Cal had trouble stopping the run in each of its first three games, and Arizona State had its way rushing against its first three competitors.
[...] few of the predicted story lines played out.
Webb completed 32-of-56 passes for 478 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions, but Cal’s rushing offense was even more impressive.
The Bears rushed 36 times for 165 yards against the Sun Devils, who came in allowing 73.7 rushing yards per game and having racked up 77 plays of zero or negative yards.
Arizona State running back Kalen Ballage has nine touchdown runs, which would be good for 19th nationally if he were a team unto himself.
[...] as he was limping on a sprained left knee, the Sun Devils asked quarterback Manny Wilkins to do a little of everything.
The graduate of San Marin-Novato completed 21 of 30 passes for 290 yards and a touchdown.
Webb completed 5 of 7 passes for 93 yards, including a 19-pass scoring strike to Demetris Robertson for a 7-0 lead five minutes into the game.
Chad Hansen had five catches for 42 yards on Cal’s second scoring drive.
After the Bears went ahead 17-3 in the first half’s final four minutes, Arizona State put together a scoring drive with a little help from the opponent.
Cal was whistled for a pass interference and a roughing-the-passer penalty on consecutive plays, and Wilkins ran three times for 31 yards, including an eight-yard scoring scamper that trimmed the Sun Devils’ deficit to 17-10.
With only 84 seconds on the clock and one timeout, Cal executed a two-minute drill to perfection.
Arizona State used a methodical 75-yard drive to cut its deficit to 24-17 in the opening five minutes of the second half.
The teams traded third-quarter field goals, including a 44-yarder by Zane Gonzalez that tied him for fourth on the NCAA’s all-time list.
After playing from behind for the better part of three quarters, Arizona State finally tied it 27-27 on a three-yard run by Wilkins with 9:44 remaining in the fourth.
Cal needed only 38 seconds to retake the lead.
Webb threw a screen pass to Tre Watson on a 3rd-and-9 play from the Bears’ 26-yard line.
Watson got a nice block that gave him a path to the sideline, and he outraced the Sun Devils 74 yards for the go-ahead score.
In a perfect representation of how starkly contrasting the game was compared to what was expected, run-heavy Arizona State tied it 34-34 on a 30-yard pass to Jay Jay Williams, the first catch of his career.
Salamo Fiso, returning from a three-game suspension, intercepted a Webb pass and returned it 22 yards to Cal’s 15-yard line with 6:12 left on the clock.
Gonzalez’s 23-yard field hit the upright and slid through to put the Sun Devils up 37-34 — their first lead of the game, with 3:17 left.
Webb, who orchestrated most of the night, threw his second interception in a 3½-minute span.
The second one was a pick by Laiu Moeakiola, who returned it 28 yards for a 44-34 lead and will send Webb into some rough video sessions.
Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
Email: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron
Cal schedule
at San Diego State
at Arizona State
at Oregon State
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at USC
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