• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Arizona State overcomes injuries to remain undefeated

Oct 14, 2007 - 7:27 AM TEMPE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Despite not having two important weapons, Arizona State remained perfect.

Rudy Carpenter threw two touchdown passes and Dimitri Nance added another score on the ground as the 16th-ranked Sun Devils posted a 44-20 victory over Washington in Saturday's Pac-10 Conference matchup.

The win was an impressive one for Arizona State, which dealt with the first-half losses of Ryan Torain (ankle) and Mike Jones (concussion). Neither player returned.

"I thought our team responded really well after we lost Mike Jones and we lost Ryan Torain, those are two of our best players on offense and I think our guys stepped up and I'm really happy about that," Carpenter said.

Carpenter went 20-of-31 for 226 yards, including a 21-yard TD pass to Rudy Burgess that gave the Sun Devils the lead for good, 20-17, with 11:11 remaining in the third quarter.

"We've played some good teams and we have just been competing," Carpenter said. "We feel good being 7-0, especially heading into the bye week."

Arizona State (7-0, 4-0 Pac-10) continued to pull away on a pair of long runs.

"Our guys are resilient, they have shown a lot this season," Sun Devils coach Dennis Erickson said. "They have worked hard and found a way to win football games. They believe and it will be an interesting six weeks to see exactly where we are at."

Nance run up the middle for a 51-yard score and Keegan Herring raced down the left sideline for a 76-yard TD as the Sun Devils extended their lead to 34-17.

"We have three really good backs and I think if we didn't have Ryan Torain, either Keegan or Dimitri would be starting anywhere else in the conference," Carpenter said.

Herring's run was the team's longest since J.R. Redmond gained 80 yards on a carry against UCLA in 1999.

Jake Locker completed 10-of-28 passes for 142 yards with one score and Louis Rankin carried 11 times for 80 yards for the Huskies (2-4, 0-3), who have dropped four straight games.

"I always worry about where my team is at," Washington coach Ty Willingham said. "This will be four games that we haven't found a way to win, so you do get concerned and I am concerned. "It's simply a disappointment. We didn't live up to the standard we thought we could live up to against Arizona State."

Safety Darin Harris' interception in the second quarter helped setup Locker's 32-yard touchdown run as Washington grabbed a 17-10 edge.