Pivotal previous game at Stanford
September 26th, 2007, 3:34 pm · 1 Comment · posted by Dan Zeiger
Stanford’s Mark Bradford jumps for joy after a touchdown against Arizona State in 2005.
This week, Arizona State plays at Stanford, making its first visit to The Farm since an embarrassing loss that produced one of the most misleading final scores — 45-35 — of any football game I have ever seen. The Cardinal led 45-7 before laying off the gas pedal, which helped ASU score four garbage touchdowns.
And that brings us to the true legacy of that Oct. 22, 2005, contest, the quarterback who guided the Sun Devils to those 28 late points. For the first time, Rudy Carpenter gave ASU followers the impression that he can play, setting the wheels in motion for a QB controversy that changed the program.
Carpenter was solid in relief in blowout wins against Temple and Northwestern earlier in the season, but the Stanford game provided him with his most extensive playing time to date. In the third quarter, he relieved Sam Keller, who was ineffective due to a thumb injury suffered a week earlier against Oregon.
I can still vividly remember the sideline scene: As the Sun Devils prepared to receive a kickoff, then-coach Dirk Koetter walked over to Keller and put his arm around him, informing him that Carpenter was entering the game.
Little did anybody know that Keller had played his final down in an ASU uniform.
It did not start off well for Carpenter, whose first pass was intercepted by linebacker Mike Silva and returned for a touchdown. But the then-redshirt freshman settled in, completing 19 of 25 passes for 304 yards and three scores.
“I’ll always remember that game, even though we lost,” Carpenter said this week. “The first pass I ever threw in a game that really mattered was intercepted for a touchdown. I’ll always remember that. … It was fun for me because it was the first time I got the chance to play and do really well.”
Koetter later said that, in hindsight, he should have started Carpenter at Stanford. Carpenter took over the first-string duties for good the next week and kept playing well, guiding ASU to four wins in five starts and leading the nation in passing efficiency.
The next year brought the quarterback camp duel — and, as Paul Harvey would say, you know the rest of the story, for Carpenter, Keller and Koetter. The epilogue that is playing out in Tempe, Lincoln, Neb., and Jacksonville had its genesis on that Saturday at the old Stanford Stadium.
“That’s definitely where it all started for me,” Carpenter said.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Wow, I remember that game, radio only. Rapper was saying that Keller looked so bad you wonder how the coaching staff thought he could even start. I mean how did he look all week? Stanford was really bad.
Carpenter led team would have won. Man Koetter…sometimes he was just a bone-head!
I hope we see a little more of a RB rotation this week. It’s a long season, yees I know Torain is the workhorse, but Keegan is always a nice change of pace guy. Where has D. Nance been?
Cute kid Dan!