• Recap
• Bleachers

Carpenter, Arizona State hold on to defeat Washington in OT

Oct 29, 2006 - 2:47 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Rudy Carpenter proved that perhaps he does deserve to be Arizona State's starting quarterback.

Carpenter threw a game-winning 25-yard touchdown pass to Brent Miller as Arizona State held on for a 26-23 overtime triumph against Pac-10 Conference rival Washington.

It was the second straight victory for the Sun Devils (5-3, 2-3 Pac-10), who were coming off last weekend's 38-3 rout of Stanford.

A sophomore, Carpenter won the starting job this preseason from Sam Keller, who then transferred to Nebraska. Carpenter struggled throughout the first half of the season but has shown signs of improvement over his last two games.

On Saturday, Carpenter completed 16-of-22 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns, one week after going 14-of-15 for 160 yards and a score against Stanford.

Carpenter was helped Saturday by Arizona State's dominant running game, which featured a 1-2 punch of Ryan Torain and Keegan Herring. Torain gained 98 yards on 23 carries while Herring ran for 98 yards and two TDs on just six attempts.

Arizona State entered the fourth quarter with a 20-6 lead thanks to the solid running of Torain and Herring, but Washington forced overtime by scoring 14 consecutive points in the fourth quarter.

The Huskies took a 23-20 lead on their opening possession in the extra session thanks to Michael Braunstein's 47-yard field goal, but the Sun Devils sealed the victory two plays later when Carpenter hooked up with Miller for the game-winning TD.

Carl Bonnell completed 9-of-23 passes for 67 yards and two interceptions before being replaced in the fourth quarter by Johnny DuRocher, who went 4-of-8 for 40 yards and a TD. Louis Rankin collected 134 total yards for Washington (4-5, 2-4), which fell to 15-11 all-time against Arizona State.