Arizona State Goes Deep to Beat California

With two quarterbacks already sidelined, Arizona State Coach Bruce Snyder had some questions about No. 3.

Griffin Goodman answered those questions with a flourish, passing for 394 yards and three touchdowns as the Sun Devils beat California 30-10 on Saturday.

Goodman, a senior whose only other start was in a 23-3 loss to Wake Forest in the 1999 Aloha Bowl, regained the starting job by default when Jeff Krohn was sidelined with mononucleosis and Ryan Kealy suffered a knee injury in a 38-31 loss at UCLA last week.

“We’re kind of expecting Jeff back next week, but it’s comforting to know that Griff can play some ball,” Snyder said. “There are some things we want him to stay away from, but he can throw the deep ball.”

Goodman has the strongest arm among the quarterbacks, and the Sun Devils, 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the Pacific 10, went in planning to throw deep.

Goodman’s touchdown pass plays were 50 yards to Todd Heap, 68 to Shaun McDonald and 50 to Donnie O’Neal. He also had a 54-yard pass play to McDonald that set up Todd Pace’s seven-yard touchdown run.

Goodman didn’t get to play quarterback at nearby Mesa (Ariz.) Mountain View High School because he was behind Joe Germaine, who starred at Ohio State. Then Krohn, a redshirt freshman, beat Goodman out in spring practice.

“I’ve always felt I could do this,” Goodman said.

Goodman’s inexperience showed in an 11-for-28 passing performance, including an interception. But he averaged nearly 36 yards per completion--almost as many has his 42-yard total in the Aloha Bowl.

Kyle Boller, who led California (1-4, 0-2) to a 24-23 upset of Arizona State last year in his first collegiate start, was only 12 for 27 for 127 yards in this game.