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Tuesday, December 26, 2000
Boston College The Aloha Bowl was lovely the second time around for Boston College, not so for Arizona State.
busts ASU
Hasselbeck guides the Eagles
to their second Aloha Bowl victory
as the Sun Devils falter again
Hasselbeck bros. 2-0 at Aloha
By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin
Trailing early, the Eagles rallied behind ailing quarterback Tim Hasselbeck to secure a 31-17 victory yesterday over the fading Sun Devils before an Aloha Stadium crowd of about 9,500.
A national television audience was treated to an uneven game that picked up in the second half behind a pair of touchdown passes by Hasselbeck over the top of an Arizona State defense, drawn in tight to defend the run.
It was Boston College's second Aloha Bowl victory. The Eagles were a big hit in their 1994 appearance as well, beating No. 8 Kansas State, 12-7.
They used a similar defensive effort to knock quarterback Jeff Krohn out of the game with a broken shoulder. He wasn't sure on what play he injured it, but the redshirt freshman left in the second quarter and ASU's chances of winning went with him.
It was the second consecutive Aloha Bowl defeat for the Sun Devils, who were knocked out of last year's game, 23-3, by Wake Forest.Departing ASU head coach Bruce Snyder blamed a variety of circumstances for last year's poor showing, ranging from food poisoning to a small crowd.
This time around, he credited the Eagles of the Big East, who finished the season with a 7-5 mark. The Sun Devils went out a level 6-6.
"It's not the way I had hoped we would play, but give Boston College credit, they were physical on both sides of the football," Snyder said. "I thought at times we played well on both sides of the ball, but we had too many turnovers and gave up too many sacks."
The number five came alive in both categories, not a good combination for a team looking to give its coach a win in his final game.
The two most costly mistakes for the Sun Devils were an interception by Eagles cornerback Willie Poole in the end zone and a fumble on the 1, recovered by Boston College's Joel Hazard inside the 5.
It resulted in a 10-10 halftime score that didn't bode well for the Sun Devils. Hasselbeck shook off the effects of a flu virus to complete back-to-back touchdown passes of 58 and 40 yards to Dedrick DeWalt and Ryan Reed, respectively, to give Boston College a 24-10 third quarter lead it wouldn't relinquish.The first four drives of the second half for the Sun Devils began on their own 20. Even after recovering a fumble, the fifth drive for ASU started on its 19.
"I thought we wore them down in the second half with our size and strength," Boston College head coach Tom O'Brien said. "We hoped our physical condition would offset their speed. We saw the effects a little earlier than we expected, but when we did, we took full advantage of it on those two touchdown passes."
Those scores were set up by the inside running of senior Cedric Washington, whose first collegiate game was against the University of Hawaii in 1996. That day, he was primarily a spectator.
But yesterday, he more than made up for it by rushing for 109 yards and two touchdowns. The last one of 10 yards in the fourth quarter sealed the deal for the Eagles.
Overshadowed somewhat this season by sophomore sensation Willie Green, who was suspended for this game for breaking team rules, Washington reminded Eagle fans why he was named first team All-Big East last year.
ASU put eight men in the box to counter Washington, which allowed the Eagle receivers a chance to beat ASU in straight man coverage on the 58-yard scoring play to DeWalt and to split the coverage on the 40-yard catch by Reed."Give the guys credit up front for making our running game go," Hasselbeck said. "That made our play-action game that much more effective and we were able to beat them over the top."
The ASU defense also lost two of its better players to injury. Junior lineman Kurt Wallin suffered a sprained knee just before the half and Quincy Yancy followed him to the sidelines with a leg injury in the third quarter.
"We wanted to give Coach Snyder a Christmas Day present, but things just didn't work out for us," said sophomore safety Alfred Williams, who was ASU's MVP.
He not only led the Sun Devils in tackles with 10, but also forced a fumble and managed the first interception of his collegiate career.
"The guys were kidding me about that," Williams said. "It's a great individual honor, but I would give back this trophy if it meant Coach Snyder going out with a win."
Boston College 31, Arizona St. 17
Boston College 10 0 14 7--31 Arizona St. 7 3 0 7--17 ASU--Pace 14 run (Barth kick), 11:50.
BC--Washington 10 run (Sutphin kick), 10:43.
BC--FG Sutphin 50, 8:20.
ASU--FG Barth 28, 11:17.
BC--Dewalt 58 pass from Hasselbeck (Sutphin kick), 8:48.
BC--Read 40 pass from Hasselbeck (Sutphin kick), 5:32.
BC--Washington 11 run (Sutphin kick), 11:30.
ASU--Dennard 31 pass from Cooper (Barth kick), :51.
A--24,397.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Boston College, Washington 22-109, Hasselbeck 2-68, Dewalt 1-15, Knight 6-2, team 2-(minus 3), St. Pierre 1-(minus 11). Arizona St.--Pace 25-139, Hightower 7-34, M.Williams 4-9, McDonald 1-9, Krohn 3-(minus 10), Taplin 1-(minus 10), Goodman 6-(minus 31).
PASSING--Boston College, Hasselbeck 9-21-1-209, St. Pierre 0-1-0-0. Arizona St., Goodman 9-19-1-73, Krohn 6-10-1-74, Cooper 2-5-0-73.
RECEIVING--Boston College, Dewalt 2-88, Read 2-42, Ellis 2-24, Utzler 1-34, Washington 1-15, Burke 1-6. Arizona St., R.Williams 6-78, McDonald 4-61, Head 3-27, Dennard 1-31, Pace 1-9, Pinkaard 1-9, Hightower 1-5.