The Snake Still Has His Bite

After three first-half interceptions on national television, Jake “The Mistake” Plummer might have wanted to turn in his Heisman Candidates Only card and go hide in a locker room stall.

“I’ve known tailbacks who fumble two balls and go in the tank,” Arizona State Coach Bruce Snyder said. “You have to drag them off the bench to play.”

But make no mistake about Jake.

The reason Arizona State beat USC on Saturday, 48-35, in overtime, was in spite of, then because of, Jake Plummer.

The reason the Sun Devils are 7-0, ranked No. 4, 4-0 in Pacific 10 Conference and odds-on favorites to go to the Rose Bowl and possibly vie for a national championship, is because their quarterback is magic the way Northwestern was magic.

“He’s sooooo good,” said Snyder, his face flushed with overtime emotion. “You can’t kill him. He’s like a big grizzly bear you have to shoot 10 times in the heart.”

USC, like all the others, came up a round short at Sun Devil Stadium as Arizona State won another game by the seat of its quarterback’s pants.

Just another day at the offense?

After a miserable half, and then his team trailing, 21-14, with 11:48 remaining, Plummer led his Tempe die-hards on a 98-yard drive to tie the score, on a 21-yard pass to Steve Bush. After USC’s stomach-punch response--R. Jay Soward’s 98-yard kickoff return--Plummer regrouped and drove his team on a 78-yard scoring drive to tie the game with 1:30 left.

On third and six from his 36, Plummer made an incredible, intuitive, slithering seven-yard ad-lib to keep the drive going.

“That’s why we call him the Snake,” left tackle Juan Roque said of the play.

In overtime, Plummer led the Sun Devils to touchdowns on both possessions. He finished having completed 26 of 44 passes for 277 yards with two touchdowns and wondering how he might win next week’s game at Stanford.

“It is funny how we somehow find a way to win,” Plummer said. “We keep digging them out, reaching down into our bag.”

How long can this go on? The Sun Devils nearly blew a 21-point lead in their opener before hanging on to beat Washington, 45-42.

Last week, they trailed UCLA, 28-7, before Plummer led a 28-point second-half explosion en route to a 42-34 victory.

In Saturday’s pregame pep talk, Snyder told his players they had pretty much exhausted all the melodramatic angles.

“We’ve been up by 21, down by 21, there’s nothing that’s going to surprise you,”’ Snyder said. “Well, today did.”

Surprise No. 1: Plummer, the crown jewel, was intercepted by linebacker Chris Claiborne on the quarterback’s first pass, setting up an early USC touchdown.

Surprise No. 2: Plummer’s second attempt, a screen pass intended for Terry Battle, was intercepted by defensive end George Perry, who returned it 18 yards to the Arizona State 13. LaVale Woods ran in on first down to make the score 14-0.

Surprise No. 3: Junior tailback Battle, filling in for the injured Michael Martin, scored on second-quarter runs of 32 and 18 yards to tie the score, 14-14. Battle, who had never rushed for 100 yards in a game, had 104 at the half. He finished with 184 yards in 30 carries, and four touchdowns.

Sure, Battle dreamed of getting his chance.

“But I didn’t envision no four touchdowns,” he said.

Surprise No. 4: With 43 seconds left before intermission, Plummer’s end-zone pass was intercepted by cornerback Daylon McCutcheon.

Three first-half picks?

“It [stinks] when you even have one interception,” Plummer said. “Even incompletions are tough to deal with. I was mad at myself.”

But Plummer never wandered near that tank of which Snyder spoke.

“Jake was picking us up,” Battle said. “He didn’t put his head down. He told us, ‘Guys, I’m going to bounce back.’ ”

Plummer rebounded like a guy on a bungee jump.

There is a feeling in the Arizona State locker room that this is the Sun Devils’ season.

“I don’t know how good we are,” Snyder said. “That’s yet to be seen. Regardless, this is really a special football team.”

There is a feeling adrift that Plummer is sort of, kind of, doing a nice college impression of Joe Montana.

“If the Heisman Trophy goes to the best football player in the country, not the guy with the best stats, Jake Plummer is by far the best football player in the country,” Roque said.

Plummer wouldn’t go so far to make Northwestern analogies. The Sun Devils didn’t exactly rise from a black hole.

“Northwestern was last year,” Plummer said. “I wouldn’t compare us with any other team.”

Yet, the season has that crazy-bounce feel. Plummer admits he was thinking about the Rose Bowl during the comeback.

“It’s always in the back of your mind,” he said.

What about beyond?

At one point Saturday, both the relevant states, Ohio State and Arizona State, were trailing 14-0, tempering the Rose Bowl’s dream of possibly playing host to this year’s national championship game.

But with the third-ranked Buckeyes rallying to beat Purdue, and the Sun Devils rallying to beat USC, a Rose Bowl matchup of No. 1 versus No. 2 is still within grasp, provided both teams keep winning and No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Florida State lose a game down the line. The Florida schools play Nov. 30.

Arizona State’s victory all but eliminates USC (4-3, 2-2) from Rose Bowl consideration. The Trojans need the Sun Devils to lose three of their last four games to get a sniff, which isn’t likely.

After Stanford, Arizona State plays at Oregon State, hosts California in a huge Nov. 9 game, then closes Nov. 23 at Arizona, which has beaten the Sun Devils three in a row.

Asked if Arizona State was this year’s team of destiny, free safety Courtney Jackson, who picked up Brad Otton’s “fumble” in the overtime and raced 85 yards for the game-clinching score, wasn’t bashful.

“I think so,” he said. “I don’t want to say we’re the Northwestern of this year, but I think we’re as good a team as any . . . and we have destiny on our side.”

Destiny and Jake Plummer.

Not a bad combo.