House of Sparky - Showdown in Salt Lake City: ASU vs. Utah CoverageFluently Speaking Victoryhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47079/fave.png2015-10-18T15:00:02-07:00http://www.houseofsparky.com/rss/stream/92955082015-10-18T15:00:02-07:002015-10-18T15:00:02-07:00ASU vs. Utah: Game Balls
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<p>An outstanding performance from the ASU defense was squandered in their 34-18 loss to Utah.</p> <p>It was no secret that coming into this week, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.houseofsparky.com/">Arizona State Sun Devils</a> objective was to contain the likes of Utah running back Devontae Booker. The players were able to solve the issue he posed, however were unable to figure out how to slow down the No. 4 <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.blocku.com/">Utah Utes</a>' passing game Saturday night before it was too late.</p>
<p>Regardless, there were some courageous efforts made by multiple Arizona State players this week, despite the result not ending in their favor. Below are this week's Game Ball recipients.</p>
<h4>
<span>DJ Calhoun</span>, LB - No. 3 (Sophomore)</h4>
<p>Utes quarterback <span>Travis Wilson</span> was under duress the entire contest. While he found success for a majority of the contest, Calhoun managed to bring him down not just once, but twice, aiding in the defense's valiant attempt to carry the team to victory.</p>
<p>The true sophomore finished the game with three total tackles (two solo), and the two sacks brought his season total to 4.5 sacks through seven games.</p>
<h4>
<span>Jordan Simone</span>, S - No. 38 (Senior)</h4>
<p>Wilson had a day picking apart the Sun Devils secondary, but Simone did his damage in run support and even in getting after the passer.</p>
<p>Simone managed to reach Wilson on two separate occasions to earn two sacks to go with his game-high 12 tackles (nine solo, two for a loss) and a pass breakup.</p>
<h4>
<span>Salamo Fiso</span>, LB - No. 58 (Junior)</h4>
<p>The nation's leading tackler extended his numbers in the loss, tallying nine total takedowns (five solo, three for a loss).</p>
<p>Fiso anchored a stubborn front-seven unit that helped stymie Utah's reliable rushing game throughout the first three quarters of the matchup.</p>
<h4>
<span>Tashon Smallwood</span>, DT - No. 90 (Sophomore)</h4>
<p>Arizona State's ability to slow down the Utes' rushing attack started with the efforts of the defensive line, and Smallwood was the key to its success early on.</p>
<p>Finishing with seven tackles (two solo, 0.5 for a loss), Smallwood was instrumental to contain a burgeoning Utah run game which featured one of the most dynamic running backs and revered offensive lines in the country.</p>
<h4>Tim White, WR - No. 12 (Junior)</h4>
<p>White had an abominable drop that cost the Sun Devils six points during the third quarter. All things considered, the JUCO transfer supplied the Sun Devils with their lone touchdown of the evening when he returned a kickoff 100 yards, giving ASU a huge boost in momentum in the early stages of the game.</p>
<p>White finished the game with two receptions for 25 yards on six targets and four kickoff returns for 169 total yards, earning him 194 all-purpose yards in the defeat.</p>
https://www.houseofsparky.com/2015/10/18/9562873/asu-vs-utah-fiso-simone-led-defense-shows-grit-in-loss-to-utesKaelen Jones2015-10-18T10:00:02-07:002015-10-18T10:00:02-07:00Five takeaways from the loss to Utah
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<p>What stood out in ASU's 34-18 defeat to Utah. Here are my five takeaways. </p> <p>SALT LAKE CITY - Just when the ASU offense was making strides on offense, they run into the buzzsaw that is the Utah defense. The Utes swarmed <span>Mike Bercovici</span> and ASU's skill position players all game in route to a 34-18 victory in Salt Lake City.</p>
<p>The Utes now hold a two-game lead over every team in the South, the Sun Devils would need to win out and have Utah finish 6-3 in conference in order to win the Pac-12 South. Here are my takeaways from Saturday night's contest.</p>
<p><b>1. Utah is Really Good: </b>This should be the overlying theme of the game. Yes, the Sun Devils shot themselves in the foot and they could have played better, but Utah looked faster, stronger and more physical. They controlled the ASU offensive line and quarterback <span>Travis Wilson</span> made all the plays he needed to.</p>
<p>The Utah crowd was fantastic and the conditions did not help the Sun Devils - neither did not having sophomore running back Demario Richard. The ASU defense made it clear they were going to stop Utah's star running back <span>Devontae Booker</span> and make Wilson beat them. The senior threw for 297 yards and had two touchdown passes in the first half.</p>
<p>The ASU offense was held to a season-low 15 rushing yards and Mike Bercovici was sacked five times. It was not a pretty night for the ASU offense but most of that has to do with how good the Utah defense played. Their defensive line wrecked havoc and their secondary did not allow any big plays for touchdowns. When their backs were against the wall, the Utah defense surrendered field goals instead of touchdowns.</p>
<p>I would be surprised if the Utes lost two games in the Pac-12 and I expect them to be in contention for the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/college-football-playoff" class="sbn-auto-link">College Football Playoff</a> for the rest of the season.</p>
<p><b>2. Something is Wrong with <span>D.J. Foster</span>: </b>Foster may go down as the most dynamic football player to play at ASU. He is surely bound for the school's Hall of Fame and will likely be playing on Sundays pretty soon. That being said, something is just not the same this year with ASU's explosive wide receiver.</p>
<p>Or his he a running back? Foster caught just three passes against Utah for a measly 11 yards. He carried the ball one time for a five-yard loss. That means that on the road against the No. 4 team in the country, Foster touched the ball four times for a total of six yards.</p>
<p>At first I just thought he was having a difficult time transitioning to wide receiver, however is looks as if there is something more to the story.</p>
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<blockquote data-partner="tweetdeck" class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I asked both ASU coach Todd Graham and Mike Norvell if DJ Foster is 100 percent. They said he was banged up, nothing more.</p>
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) <a href="https://twitter.com/DougHaller/status/655632974768029696">October 18, 2015</a>
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<p>It is quite possible that Foster is dealing with a nagging injury that is not bad enough to keep him out of games, but is bad enough to hinder his play. After amassing over 1,700 yards from scrimmage last year, Foster is on pace for less than 1,000 total yards in his senior season.</p>
<p>After catching six passes in three of the first four games of the season, Foster has six catches for 32 yards combined in ASU's last two.</p>
<p><b>3. Tim White is ASU's Best Offensive Player: </b>Right now ASU's offensive gameplan should just be to get the ball in Tim White's hands and see what happens. If only football was that simple, right?</p>
<p>The redshirt junior returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and caught two passes for 25 yards in ASU's defeat. While Bercovici struggled and <span>Kalen Ballage</span> averaged just 2.7 yards per carry, it seems like every time White gets the ball something good happens.</p>
<p>Following Saturday night's game, White leads ASU in receiving yards (278) and receiving touchdowns (5) - keep in mind he missed ASU's game against Texas A&M and was hindered a good amount of preseason camp with a wrist injury. Personally (and I know this is not as easy as it sounds), I would like to see White more involved in the offense.</p>
<p><b>4. ASU's Offensive Line was Dominated: </b>A lot of people point directly to Bercovici or offensive coordinator Mike Norvell when they discuss ASU's offensive woes. Saturday night, the ASU offensive line was equally responsible for the loss. The Utah defense had a field day in the ASU backfield, racking up 11 tackles for loss and five sacks. The offensive line was allowing less than two sacks a game since the season opening loss to Texas A&M.</p>
<p>ASU has two new tackles, however it was the three seniors along the interior of the offensive line that were dominated against Utah. The Sun Devils averaged just 0.5 yards per carry as a team Saturday night and the bulk of that responsibility falls on the offensive line.</p>
<p><b>5. ASU is Not Winning the Pac-12 South: </b>Utah is in the driver's seat in the division and the bad news for ASU is they are now the long shot, Every team in the division has two conference losses except for Utah, who are 3-0. While it is possible for Utah to lose twice, the Utes own the tie-breaker over the Sun Devils because of their head-to-head win so ASU needs to win their next five games and Utah needs to go 3-3 for ASU to win the South.</p>
<p>What could be potentially more trouble for ASU fans is the fact that this team will likely not go undefeated over their last five games. Yes, ASU does have a bye week but a week off isn't going to fix all of the offensive issues that this team has. The Sun Devils still have Oregon, Washington, Cal, Washington State and Arizona left on the schedule. If they go 3-2 in that stretch they finish the regular season 7-5.</p>
https://www.houseofsparky.com/2015/10/18/9562739/asu-football-five-takeaways-from-the-loss-to-utahRyan Bafaloukos2015-10-18T08:00:02-07:002015-10-18T08:00:02-07:00DDD: Recapping the loss to Utah
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<p>The Sun Devils fell on the road to Utah, 34-18. </p> <p><i>Top Stories </i></p>
<p><a href="http://www.houseofsparky.com/2015/10/18/9562757/asu-arizona-state-sun-devils-utah-utes" target="_blank">Full Recap</a> - The Sun Devil offense struggled all night and as a result, ASU dropped their second conference game of the season to the Utah Utes Saturday night in Salt Lake City. ASU managed just 15 rushing yards and turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.houseofsparky.com/2015/10/18/9562755/sun-devils-offense-utah-utes" target="_blank">Offense Struggles in Defeat to Utah</a> - On a cold, rainy night, the Sun Devil offense struggled to find a rhythm and protect quarterback Mike Bercovici. The Sun Devils are looking forward to their bye week in order to correct some of their mistakes.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sports360az.com/2015/10/utes-stymie-asu-offense-five-things-we-learned/" target="_blank">Five Things We Learned in ASU's Defeat</a> - Sports360AZ.com's Jordan Hamm was in Salt Lake City and gives five things he learned from ASU in their defeat to Utah. Also included, is a video recap of the game.</p>
<p><b>ASU vs. Utah Coverage</b></p>
<p><a href="http://www.thesundevils.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30300&ATCLID=210430866" target="_blank">Post Game Notes</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.thesundevils.com/ViewContent.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30300&CONTENT_ID=1475862" target="_blank">Stats</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.thesundevils.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=4561494&db_oem_id=30300" target="_blank">Todd Graham's Post Game Press Conference</a></p>
<p><b>ASU Hockey Falls to Sacred Heart</b></p>
<p><a href="http://www.thesundevils.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30300&ATCLID=210430528" target="_blank">Game Recap from ASU Athletics</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.thesundevils.com/ViewContent.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30300&CONTENT_ID=1475263" target="_blank">Stats</a></p>
https://www.houseofsparky.com/2015/10/18/9562987/asu-football-utah-final-score-grahamRyan Bafaloukos2015-10-18T00:44:29-07:002015-10-18T00:44:29-07:00Sun Devils take stalled offense on needed bye week
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<p>ASU had trouble moving the ball in Saturday night's 34-18 loss to Utah and were kept in the game by big plays on special teams and a solid defensive performance. Now, the Devils look toward a bye week to iron out the wrinkles in their offense.</p> <p>SALT LAKE CITY — It was a cold and rainy night in Salt Lake City on Saturday. Maybe not for the locals, but for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.houseofsparky.com/">Arizona State Sun Devils</a> faithful and the Sun Devil offense, it was a frigid atmosphere with little movement to keep themselves warm.</p>
<p>The Sun Devils' special teams performance and the defense's ability to limit Utah running back <span>Devontae Booker</span> for a majority of the game kept ASU in the game against the No. 4 <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.blocku.com/">Utah Utes</a> until the fourth quarter. However, a few bad punts, some breakout plays from Booker, and a costly fumble later, the game slipped away from Arizona State.</p>
<p>The Sun Devils ultimately lost 34-18.</p>
<p>"The difference in the game, I think, was that set of downs where we fielded the ball inside our five and had the short punt out of bounds," Arizona State coach Todd Graham said. "That hurt us and then they scored on the third down play and then the turnover on the read zone, that was the difference in the game. You look at the game, we couldn't run the ball and they couldn't either."</p>
<p>Through the first two quarters, Arizona State's offense netted 91 total yards and were only 3-of-8 on their third down conversions. Even with little firepower from the offense, the score was a manageable 14-10 Utah lead at the half.</p>
<p>"It's frustrating and I think [Mike Norvell] did a good job making halftime adjustments because we came out and were able to move the ball and we did some good things," Graham said. "You're not going to consistently score points if you can't run the football and we had it there, we missed quite a few and had some misreads and some things like that."</p>
<p>Even though Arizona State's passing offense and <span>Mike Bercovici</span> moved the ball better in the second half throwing for 191 yards. The running game, however, faltered with -25 yards and finished the game with just 15 yards. The lack of a rushing attack, costly turnovers, and troubling field position was too much for the Devils to overcome in the fourth quarter.</p>
<p>ASU now gets a much needed bye week before hosting Oregon.</p>
<p>For Norvell and the offense, it's a time to get back to the drawing board and a chance to heal up.</p>
<p>"It's all about fundamentals," Bercovici said. "It's the little things: exchanges, lining up properly, not having penalties. It's little things like that we can focus on and evaluate from the last games that we've been playing. We're trying to get better every single week and obviously, we're going to learn from these things and collectively, as a team, we'll get better."</p>
<p>"It's about going back to work...Obviously, anytime we are midway through the season there's going to be times when we have to make sure we get everybody healthy, get everybody back from the little bumps and bruises that they have," Norvell said. "We just have to go to work and everyday continue to get better.</p>
<p>"We've got to figure out ways to make sure we are owning the football and not turning the ball over," Norvell added. "Then obviously making the most out of our opportunities."</p>
<p>Arizona State will now need to win out and for the Utes to lose for any chance at getting to the Pac 12 Championship Game, as it no longer controls its destiny.</p>
<p>The Devils' next game against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/">Oregon Ducks</a> is on October 29, a Thursday night game slated for a 7:30 kickoff on ESPN.</p>
<p>That gives Norvell, Bercovici and the Arizona State offense 11 days to solve their offensive woes.</p>
https://www.houseofsparky.com/2015/10/18/9562755/sun-devils-offense-utah-utesBlaneMarshall2015-10-18T00:42:45-07:002015-10-18T00:42:45-07:00Offense stalls as ASU falls to Utah 34-18
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<p>A surge in special teams wasn't enough toward a Sun Devil upset in Salt Lake City.</p> <p>SALT LAKE CITY — Many times, we all forget the most important strategy to winning in football is scoring more points than the other team.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.houseofsparky.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Arizona State Sun Devils</a>' special teams had their best performance in four years under coach Todd Graham. ASU's defense piled on five sacks 13 tackles for loss and contained Utah's prolific running game for three quarters.</p>
<p>But the points weren't there.</p>
<p>After holding a one-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter, the Sun Devils (4-3, 2-2 Pac-12) gave it away and fell 34-18 at the No. 4 <a href="https://www.blocku.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Utah Utes</a> Saturday night.</p>
<p>The Sun Devils finished with just 257 total yards — only 15 rushing — as the offense remained stagnant all night.</p>
<p>ASU quarterback <span>Mike Bercovici</span>, who finished 20-for-41 with 242 yards and an interception, took the blame for the much of the offensive ineffectiveness.</p>
<p>"Credit to [Utah], they did a great job," Bercovici said. "They outplayed us. While we were offense, really, it's on me for taking too many sacks and we had many opportunities but just couldn't take advantage of them.</p>
<p>Amid the rainy and wet conditions Saturday night, the Sun Devils were short on tailbacks. Running back <span>Demario Richard</span> (knee) did not play a down despite participating in pregame warmups. <span>Kalen Ballage</span> assumed most of the tailback duties until leaving the game with apparent cramps at the beginning of the fourth quarter, leaving <span>De'Chavon Hayes</span> at the position for the remainder of the game.</p>
<p><span>D.J. Foster</span> had just four touches for six toal yards and seemed limited after taking a big hit from Utah's defense late in the game.</p>
<p>"Obviously, it hurts [not having Richard] but I thought Kalen did a great job [with] protection and in the run game," Bercovici said. "Even 'Gump' did a great job when he needed to come in, but at the end of the day, we can't turn the ball over."</p>
<p>While ASU's offense stalled from the beginning, the Sun Devils got a huge boost from their special teams. After Utah (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12) drew first blood with Harrison Handley's two-yard touchdown reception, ASU wide receiver Tim White immediately answered on the ensuing kickoff with a 100-yard return for a score, ASU's first kickoff touchdown return since <span>Rashad Ross</span> took one to the house at the <a href="https://www.ralphiereport.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Colorado Buffaloes</a> in 2012.</p>
<p>After Utah stalled in the following possession, Hayes had a 48-yard punt return that could have went all the way for a touchdown had Utes punter <span>Tom Hackett</span> not made the saving tackle.</p>
<p>As Arizona State reached Utah's red zone three times, <span>Zane Gonzalez</span> was still able to contribute points by making all three of his field-goal attempts.</p>
<p>ASU scored on a bizarre safety when a Utah kick returner tried to fake the Sun Devils' coverage team by throwing the ball to the other Utes' returner, but a botched pass in the end zone ruled as a forward pass resulted in two points for the Sun Devils. Gonzalez capped off the Sun Devils' scoring for the night by converting a 44-yard field goal to put ASU up 18-14 heading into the fourth.</p>
<p>With ASU's offense continuing to fail to find an offensive rhythm, the Utes capitalized. <span>Devontae Booker</span> responded to Gonzalez's final field goal with a 25-yard go-ahead touchdown run. After another empty ASU drive, Utah kicker <span>Andy Phillips</span> extended the Utes' lead with a 43-yard field goal.</p>
<p>Even despite those two scoring plays, the Sun Devils were still looking at a one-possession deficit. But one play can doom a team for good.</p>
<p>On a read option, Bercovici botched the hand-off to Hayes, leading to the Sun Devils losing the ball and the game. It was a symbolic play to lose the game on as ASU was discombobulated on offense all night.</p>
<p>"The turning point in the game was that set of downs where we fielded the ball inside our five and had the short punt out of bounds that hurt us," Graham said. "Then they score on the third-down play [from Booker], then the turnover on the red zone. That was the difference in the game."</p>
<p>Utah piled on to its lead with one more field goal from Phillips from 35 yards, and then a meaningless 62-yard run from Booker with 1:11 left as the Utes were running out the clock.</p>
<p>Utah quarterback <span>Travis Wilson</span> barely seemed fazed from ASU's aggressive pass rush and finished the game throwing 26-for-36 with 297 passing yards and two touchdowns. Booker had 14 yards at the start of the fourth quarter, but Booker, with the help of Wilson's hot performance, closed the game with 118 total rushing yards and two touchdowns.</p>
<p>"Our game plan was to stop the run," Graham said. "We get tackles for loss on some base downs, and then we force third-and-longs and we get after the quarterback. Pretty much all went as planned. I thought we got after [Wilson] pretty hard."</p>
<p>In several ways, Saturday resembled the Sun Devils' opening-week 28-17 loss to Texas A&M back in September as the offense stalled while the defense kept Arizona State competitive. Graham insisted the loss to Utah was nothing like the Texas A&M game.</p>
<p>Graham was pleased with the offensive line's improvement and called special teams play "phenomenal" as the Sun Devils head into a bye week with the <a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Oregon Ducks</a> up next on Oct. 29.</p>
<p>"I'm really proud of our guys and couldn't be more proud of how they played," Graham said. "You look at some of the individual efforts, they were phenomenal. I really felt like we were going to win the game the whole time."</p>
https://www.houseofsparky.com/2015/10/18/9562757/asu-arizona-state-sun-devils-utah-utesJosh Nacion2015-10-17T22:44:21-07:002015-10-17T22:44:21-07:00Instant Recap: Sun Devils fall to Utah 34-18
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<p>The Sun Devils battled, but in the end their was just not enough offense as ASU dropped its second conference game of the year. </p> <p>SALT LAKE CITY - The <a href="https://www.houseofsparky.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Arizona State Sun Devils</a> fell to the <a href="https://www.blocku.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Utah Utes</a> 34-18 Saturday night amid windy, rainy conditions in Salt Lake City. While the ASU special teams was dynamic and the defense stood out, the ASU offense could not move the football against a stout Utah defense.</p>
<p>The Sun Devils started slow on offense, amassing just 91 yards of offense in the first half. Both of their scores in the first half were set up by special teams.</p>
<p>Following a two-yard touchdown pass from <span>Travis Wilson</span> to Harris Handley that put Utah up 7-0, Time White returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. It was White's first career kickoff return touchdown and ASU's first touchdown off a kickoff return since 2012.</p>
<p>Following the ASU score, the Sun Devil defense forced a three-and-out and <span>De'Chavon Hayes</span> returned the <span>Tom Hackett</span> punt 48 yards to the Utah eight-yard line. The Sun Devils were stuffed on three plays and <span>Zane Gonzalez</span> booted in a 34-yard field goal to give ASU a 10-7 lead late in the first quarter.</p>
<p>Utah retook the lead early in the second quarter when Wilson found <span>Kenneth Scott</span> for his second passing touchdown of the half, this one from 11 yards to give Utah a 14-10 lead with 13:49 left to play in the half. The two teams traded punts the rest of the quarter and the Utes took a 14-10 lead into the half.</p>
<p>The Sun Devil's offensive struggles continued to start the second half as ASU punted on its first two drives of the third quarter. Despite the offense's struggles, the ASU defense continued to keep them in the game by containing <span>Devontae Booker</span> and getting consistent pressure on Wilson.</p>
<p>Midway through the third quarter the ASU offense found some life. On their third drive of the quarter, Bercovici found <span>Devin Lucien</span> for gains of 28 and 42 yards on back-to-back plays to give ASU a first and goal at the Utah 10-yard line. However, the ASU drive stalled once again and Gonzalez knocked through a 27-yard field goal to bring ASU within one, 14-13, with 5:04 left in the third quarter.</p>
<p>The Sun Devils finally received some good luck on the ensuing kickoff. The Utes attempted a trick play in the end zone where one of the return men threw a pass across the end zone to the other in an attempt to fool the Sun Devils. However, Utah threw the ball forward and received a penalty for an illegal forward pass. The foul occurred in the end zone, resulting in a safety to put ASU up 15-14.</p>
<p>Following the free kick, Sun Devils drove 38 yards in nine plays and Gonzalez nailed his third field goal of the game. This one from 44 yards to give ASU a 18-14 lead with 90 seconds left in the third quarter.</p>
<p>The fourth quarter started with Utah pinning ASU back inside its five-yard line when Hayes fair caught a pass at the four. The Sun Devils went three-and-out and <span>Matt Haack</span> (uncharacteristically) shanked a punt giving Utah the ball at the ASU 32-yard line.</p>
<p>Three plays later, the Utes punched the ball into the end zone for the first time on the ground as Devontae Booker took an option pitch 25 yards for a touchdown. Prior to that carry, Booker had only tallied 24 rushing yards in the game total.</p>
<p>After the Sun Devils went three-and-out, Utah tacked on a 43-yard field goal from <span>Andy Phillips</span> to extend their advantage to 24-18 with 6:35 left in the game.</p>
<p>On the first play of the ensuing ASU drive, Bercovici fumbled in the backfield and is not able to jump on the football. Utah recovered and tacked on another field goal to take a 27-18 lead with 4:20 left.</p>
<p>The Sun Devils picked up a few first downs and drove inside Utah territory with less than two minutes, but after Bercovici was sacked on third down, ASU was not able to convert a fourth and long and Utah sealed the victory.</p>
<p>Booker - who was held in check all night by ASU - exploded for a 62-yard rushing touchdown on third down with just over a minute left to put an exclamation point on the Utah victory.</p>
<p><i>Check back later for a full game recap with player and coaches quotes as well as more content surrounding this ASU defeat. </i></p>
https://www.houseofsparky.com/2015/10/17/9562529/asu-vs-utah-final-score-recap-grahamRyan Bafaloukos2015-10-17T20:44:28-07:002015-10-17T20:44:28-07:00Halftime: ASU 14, Utah 10
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<figcaption>Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>We have a battle here in Salt Lake City.</p> <p>SALT LAKE CITY — Both teams started the game slowly as each squad's first two possessions of the game ended in three-and-outs.</p>
<p>The No. 4 Utah Utes got things going when quarterback Travis Wilson led a 7-play, 69-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Handley Harris.</p>
<p>But Utah only held the lead for maybe one real-time minute.</p>
<p>On the ensuing kickoff, Arizona State Sun Devils wide receiver Tim White went 100 yards for a touchdown, giving the Sun Devils their first touchdown return since 2012.</p>
<p>After Utah went three-and-out again, De'Chavon Hayes returned the punt for 48 yards and nearly gave ASU its second-consecutive touchdown return before getting stopped by Utah punter Tom Hackett. ASU couldn't capitalize despite cracking Utah's redzone and settled for Zane Gonzalez's 34-yard field goal to put ASU up 10-7.</p>
<p>At the top of the second quarter, Utah drove the ball with help from 21-yard plays from wide receiver Kenneth Scott and running back Devontae Booker. The Utes ended the drive with an 11-yard reception from Wilson to Scott.</p>
<p>As that drive ended, heavy rain started pouring at Rice-Eccles Stadium. ASU at first continued to pass and got a first down off a completion from Devin Lucien, but the drive stalled at six plays when the Sun Devils tried to run the ball</p>
<p>Both teams stall in their final possessions before halftime. Arizona State will receive the ball at the beginning of the second half.</p>
https://www.houseofsparky.com/2015/10/17/9562479/halftime-recap-no-4-utah-14-arizona-state-10Josh Nacion2015-10-17T19:11:13-07:002015-10-17T19:11:13-07:00ASU vs. Utah: Gamethread
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<figcaption>Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Welcome, ASU [and Utah] fans to our gamethread. Here will be your place to react and discuss ASU-Utah with fans online.</p>
<p>We'll be moderating this thread as well as providing updates we're covering this game from the Rice-Eccles Stadium press box. Feel free to disagree, but please keep it clean, classy and civil. Thanks!</p>
https://www.houseofsparky.com/2015/10/17/9562285/asu-vs-utah-gamethreadJosh Nacion