Arizona State Is Still Running in High Gear, 56-7

Jake Plummer threw for 203 yards and two touchdowns and Terry Battle had two of Arizona State’s four rushing scores in a lopsided first half as the fifth-ranked Sun Devils defeated Boise State, 56-7, on Saturday night.

Arizona State (5-0) led, 42-7, at halftime and coasted from there to its most points in a game since defeating Stanford, 62-36, in 1981.

The Sun Devils, who haven’t been to a bowl game since 1987, are off to their best start since winning their first nine games in 1982.

Boise State (1-5) entered the game as a 38-point underdog and wound up losing its fourth in a row.

The Broncos’ lone score came on Tony Hilde’s 42-yard touchdown pass to Andre Horac 3:38 into the game. It was Hilde’s 59th career touchdown pass, breaking the Boise State record set by Jim McMillan from 1971-74.

Hilde, harrassed most of the night by the Sun Devils, completed just nine of 29 passes for 116 yards before being relieved by freshman Erik Davis midway through the third quarter.

Plummer, who grew up in Boise, completed 10 of 15 passes before sitting out the second half as Arizona State rolled up 502 yards.

He put the Sun Devils ahead to stay at 14-7 with 8:38 left in the second quarter, turning a play-action pass in a second-and-one situation into a 34-yard touchdown by Keith Poole.

Battle, who scored on a 12-yard run 4:51 into the game, capped an 80-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown run 11 minutes before halftime.

Plummer made it 28-7 by faking a double reverse and lofting a 52-yard pass to Lenzie Jackson two minutes later.

Marlon Farlow, who had 125 yards in 26 carries, culminated an 87-yard drive with a two-yard plunge with 2:41 left in the half, and Plummer’s one-yard scoring run 15 seconds before halftime pushed the lead to 42-7.

Linebacker Pat Tillman returned an interception 16 yards for another Sun Devils touchdown 48 seconds into the third quarter and Derrick Ford returned a fumble 55 yards for another score with 4:15 remaining in the game.

The big lead allowed Arizona State Coach Bruce Snyder to rest Plummer in favor of 6-foot-8 sophomore Steve Campbell and redshirt freshman Gus Farwell.