College football

Ariz. St. tops Arizona to clinch Insight Bowl bid

Sun Devils rally from 15-point deficit in 2nd half to beat Wildcats 23-20

“I took a direct shot for a deep thigh bruise,” Bell said. “The second time, I took a direct shot again. The pain traveled up to my hip, so I couldn’t lift my leg up.”

Rudy Burgess gained 43 yards in seven carries on the game-winning drive, capped by a 16-yard run to the Arizona 1. Carpenter fell in the middle of the field at the 3-yard line to set up Ainsworth’s short kick.

“There was never a doubt in my mind that that thing was going through,” Koetter said. “Jesse’s about 1,000 percent. There’s no reason to risk anything else. Jesse’s about automatic.”

The drive began with a 26-yard pass to Matt Miller, whose late drop last season helped Arizona upset the Sun Devils 34-27 in Tucson.

“I had a lot of revenge going from last year,” Miller said. “All I can say to that is ‘How do you like me now?”’

Carpenter, who struggled much of the day, came down with strep throat late this week.

“It wasn’t really a big deal until I woke up this morning and couldn’t talk,” Carpenter said. “I drank a lot of tea with honey at the hotel this morning so I could be loud enough they could hear me.”

Arizona (3-8, 2-6) led 17-5 at the half and 20-5 when Folk kicked a 47-yard field goal with 8:01 to play in the third quarter .

A personal foul facemask penalty aided a seven-play, 74-yard drive for Arizona’s first touchdown. The big play on the drive came when Tuitama tossed a lateral pass to Anthony Johnson, who threw 34 yards downfield to Bell to the Sun Devils’ 35. Tuitama threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Travis Bell for the score.

After the Sun Devils went three-and-out, the Wildcats drove 68-yards in 11 plays, using up nearly six minutes. Bell carried eight times for 40 yards on the drive, including the final yard and the Wildcats led 17-5 with 2:19 left in the half.

Gilbert Harris, replacing Bell, dropped a sure touchdown pass just before Folk’s last field goal.

“I just took my eyes off of it,” said Harris, playing despite a groin strain.

Carpenter’s third-down, 28-yard pass to Richardson started a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive after Arizona’s subsequent kickoff. Burgess burst 7 yards up the middle for the score to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 20-12 with 5:48 left in the third.

The Sun Devils took an early 5-3 lead when Arizona’s Sy Tomerlin snapped the ball far over the head of the punter Folk and into the end zone. Folk kicked the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

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