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It's tough not to just give one to the entire team because winning a championship of any sort is a team effort and honestly everybody deserves some recognition. However their were players last night that went above and beyond to help this team accomplish its goals.
The captain of the Sun Devil ship made even more of an impact with his legs than his arm. He finished with 99 yards and a touchdown on the ground to lead all rushers. Kelly read the linebackers and the defensive ends well all night on read option plays. This allowed him to gain large chunks of yards at a time, including a long 23-yard run that set up a 19-yard strike to Jaelen Strong to give the Sun Devils a 35-13 lead going into the half. Even more importantly, Kelly was accurate and didn't throw any interceptions after a shaky game against Oregon State, he came back against the Bruins completing 20 of 27 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown.
Chris Young
Young's presence was felt more in the second half. He had three sacks on the night which were key to stopping the UCLA drives in the fourth quarter including one very late in the fourth quarter for 13 yards that pushed back a UCLA field goal attempt that Ka'imi Fairbairn ended up missing from 38-yards out. If it weren't for Young's sack, it was a chip shot for Fairbairn and it would have brought the Bruins within a field goal of ASU. Young had three total sacks totaling 27 yards lost against UCLA. He continues to lead the team in tackles on the season with 84, far ahead of second place Alden Darby who has 54 on the year
Bradford showed off his leadership and stepped up on the biggest stage yet for the Sun Devils. Although the season is far from over, number 52 played one of his best games as a Sun Devil in a game he's been working towards his entire career at ASU. The redshirt junior had eight tackles on the night, a sack, and a key interception that he took 19 yards to the house to start the second quarter. It was exactly what ASU needed to build on what would be a three-touchdown quarter for the Sun Devils. The man from Norco, California exuded confidence all night and worked well sideline to sideline. Not to mention he was part of the defense that despite allowing UCLA back into the game, held them scoreless for the last 11 minutes to allow the Sun Devils to win the Pac-12 South.
Honorable mention: The entire ASU defense in the last 11 minutes.
UCLA had all of the momentum in the world and for the Sun Devil defense to come out, put their foot down, and not allow another point to be scored is something to be commended. Remember this is Myles Jack and potential NFL first round draft pick Brett Hundley here, this was no easy task and the ASU defense came through in the end.