On a day when the Arizona State Sun Devils would punt the ball five times, it was a perfectly executed fake punt that served as the lone highlight from a disappointing 38-24 loss in Pullman against the Washington State Cougars.
Needing to regain momentum after watching its early 14-0 lead completely disappear, head coach Todd Graham called for the fake when faced with a 4th & 12 at the Washington State 40-yard line. Trailing by three and in the "no man's land" part of the field, the decision was a sensible one.
Our No. 6 play of ASU's 2015 season looks at the execution of that roll of the dice:
Play No. 6: Matt Haack and D.J. Foster's fake punt vs. Washington State
With the third quarter salting away and a 17-14 deficit on the scoreboard, it was clear that Arizona State's second drive of the second half was going to be a big one. A score, whether it be via a field goal or touchdown, was needed to claim some of the momentum back from a rolling Cougar team.
It took six plays to get into fringe field goal range, but back-to-back sacks of quarterback Mike Bercovici quickly foiled those plans.
A short completion on third down got the offense back to the 40, but with 12 yards still to go to move the chains, it appeared that the Sun Devils would have to punt the ball away.
Instead, Haack and company caught the WSU coverage team sleeping. The junior delivered a strike to Foster, who would run all the way to the 13 before being brought down.
It would take seven more plays after the fake, but a determined maroon and gold offense eventually found the end zone. The score gave them a 21-17 lead, their last advantage before Washington State took over in the final 15 minutes of the game.
Here's the full play, courtesy of Pac-12 Networks (Play starts at 1:51):