Washington Beats Arizona St.

Rich Alexis broke through for a fourth-quarter, 86-yard touchdown run, his second touchdown run of the game, and Washington got past Arizona State, 21-15, in an error-filled game Saturday night at Tempe, Ariz.

With the victory, No. 11-ranked Washington (5-1 overall and 3-1 in the Pacific 10) moved back into the thick of the conference race. Arizona State dropped to 4-2, 1-2.

There were 12 turnovers in the game, including interceptions on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter.

Washington’s first two scoring drives were five and 14 yards, and both followed turnovers.

Neither quarterback, Arizona State’s Griffin Goodman or Washington’s Marques Tuiasosopo, had very good games passing the ball.

A blocked punt set up a Washington first touchdown 5:45 before halftime. Nick Murphy’s punt was blocked by freshman Marquis Cooper, who recovered at the five. Two plays later, Tuiasosopo passed five yards to Wondame Davis for the score and the Huskies led, 7-6.

Mistakes dominated the third quarter. A fumble by Goodman gave the Huskies a chance to score, but a blocked field-goal attempt gave the ball back to Arizona State.

A great defensive play by Washington’s Derrick Johnson, who knocked a long pass away from Shaun McDonald, prevented Arizona State from scoring on the ensuing drive. Johnson left the game with a sprained ankle in the fourth quarter.

A fumbled punt by Arizona State’s Justin Taplin was recovered by Roc Alexander and put the Huskies back in business at the 14 just before the end of the third quarter.

Four plays later freshman Alexis scored from the one after it appeared Tuiasosopo had scored on the play before when, flying through the air, he reached out with the ball as he went out of bounds. Alexis’ touchdown gave Washington a 14-6 lead.

On Washington’s next possession Alexis went for 86 yards with 12:29 left to play.

A holding penalty inside the end zone on a punt by Washington gave the Sun Devils a safety with 5:08 left, and a touchdown pass from reserve quarterback Jeff Krohn to Todd Heath accounted for the final score.

Arizona 53, Washington State 47--Leo Mills’ two-yard touchdown run in the third overtime gave the Wildcats the win. The Cougars had taken the lead in the second overtime on a 19-yard pass from Jason Gesser to Nakao McElrath.

Arizona’s Ortege Jenkins started off the overtime periods with a 25-yard touchdown on a razzle-dazzle pass, pass and run.

Washington State scored first on a 14-yard pass from sophomore Jason Gessre to Milton Wynn, a junior from Antelope Valley High in Lancaster and L.A. Vally College.

Arizona (5-1, 3-0) came back to tie the game as Jenkins hooked up with Brandon Marshall on a 56-yard pass play with 5:39 left in the first quarter.

The Cougars (3-3, 1-2) quickly regained the lead, scoring a little over a minute later on a 68-yard pass play, Gesser to former Claremont High star Deon Burnett. The PAT kick missed and it was 13-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Washington State went up 19-7 after Gesser passed to Nakoa McElrath for a 54-yard touchdown.