Sun Devils Hang On

Andrew Walter threw for 277 yards and Riccardo Stewart returned an interception 18 yards for a crucial touchdown to help 16th-ranked Arizona State survive another close game by defeating Utah State, 26-16, Saturday night at Tempe.

Utah State (0-3) made it interesting in the fourth quarter when Travis Cox passed for 153 of his 308 yards and threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to David Fiefia with 9 minutes 51 seconds remaining to close to within 10 points.

For the second straight weekend, Arizona State needed a big defensive effort to offset a sputtering offense. Stewart also had a sack and made a touchdown-saving tackle on Fiefia that slowed, but did not stop, Utah State’s last scoring drive. Defensive end Jimmy Verdon had three of the Sun Devils’ seven sacks and the Sun Devils intercepted three passes.

Walter had scoring passes of 44 and 15 yards to Skyler Fulton, and Randy Hill scored on a one-yard run for Arizona State.