Arizona State Overcomes Case of Sluggishness, 24-7

Arizona State didn’t get the blowout many expected, but Coach Larry Marmie didn’t mind.

“You can throw out the stats and hand me the win,” Marmie said after his Sun Devils overcame a sluggish offensive performance to beat winless Oregon State, 24-7, Saturday in a Pacific 10 game.

“The defense turned the tide,” Marmie said. “I don’t know what else you can ask of them. They made things happen.”

Kelvin Fisher scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns as the Sun Devils sent the Beavers to their 10th straight loss.

“This was a hard game to get up for,” quarterback Kurt Lasher said. “But the important thing is we won. It was a gutsy job by the defense.”

Arizona State, which improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-10, held the Beavers (0-5, 0-2) to 163 total yards.

“We’re 2-0 in the Pac-10, but we still need to improve,” linebacker Shante Carver said. “But we still need to improve and we would like to have beaten them more convincingly.”

Arizona State was tied 7-7 at halftime, but took the lead for good on Mike Richey’s 34-yard field goal 2 1/2 minutes into the second half.

The field goal and the Sun Devils’ first touchdown were set up by Oregon State fumbles.