Walter’s Choice Has Them in a Prime Spot

Andrew Walter was criticized at times for questionable decision-making during his first three seasons as Arizona State’s quarterback.

But there is no question that Walter made the right call when he decided to bypass a chance to turn pro and returned for his final season of eligibility.

Walter, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound fifth-year senior from Grand Junction, Colo., has led No. 15 Arizona State to a 5-0 start and has forged a place in Heisman Trophy discussions with his mature play and efficiency.

Arizona State is off to its best start since 1996, when quarterback Jake Plummer led the Sun Devils to the Rose Bowl and the brink of an unbeaten season and national title. Walter and the Sun Devils face their biggest test of the season today when they play top-ranked USC in a Pacific 10 Conference game at the Coliseum.

“I’ve never been 5-0 in my life,” Walter said in a telephone interview this week. “We’re sitting in a good position. This weekend is obviously huge for us.”

Today’s game, which is expected to draw a sellout crowd of about 90,000, also represents another challenge for unbeaten USC.

Last week, the Trojans survived a scare from California and Golden Bear quarterback Aaron Rodgers to improve to 5-0, 2-0 in conference play.

USC staged a dramatic defensive stand with less than two minutes left and pulled out a 23-17 victory that extended the Trojans’ winning streak to 14 games and their home winning streak to 17. USC also remained on track for a possible berth in the Orange Bowl, this season’s bowl championship series title game.

For the second week in a row, however, USC must try to stop a red-hot quarterback who could be chosen in the first round of the NFL draft. Walter has passed for 15 touchdowns with only one interception this season.

“Not only does he have strength, but he is also accurate,” USC Coach Pete Carroll said of Walter. “He can throw the ball down the field as well as anyone in the country.”

Walter’s 70 touchdown passes rank fourth on the Pac-10’s all-time list. He is two behind former USC Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer and seven behind leader John Elway of Stanford -- both top picks in the NFL draft.

Walter, who is on pace to break almost every school passing record, said he followed Palmer’s college career model when he decided to return for a fifth season.

“In terms of seeing how a senior season can help a quarterback, I always throw Carson’s name in there -- Kyle Boller too,” Walter said. “Not only in terms of the draft but in terms of how that worked for him and his team.”

Walter, the son of former Arizona State baseball player Randy Walter, always wanted to play for the Sun Devils and was recruited to Tempe by former coach Bruce Snyder, who had nurtured Plummer.

Snyder, however, was fired after the 2000 season and was replaced by Dirk Koetter. Walter butted heads at times with the new coach over mechanics, but he started two games as a redshirt freshman in 2001 and decided to remain in Tempe rather than transfer.

In 2002, Walter came off the bench in the fourth game against San Diego State with the Sun Devils trailing, 22-0, in the second quarter. His first two passes resulted in touchdowns to wide receiver Shaun McDonald and he finished with four touchdown passes in the Sun Devils’ 39-28 victory.

A month later, Walter threw for a Pac-10-record 536 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-42 upset of sixth-ranked Oregon. He went on to break nearly every Arizona State season passing record, amassing 3,877 yards and 28 touchdowns with 15 interceptions.

Amid high expectations last season, however, Walter and the Sun Devils struggled. Walter finished with more than 3,000 yards passing, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for a team that finished 5-7, 2-6 in the Pac-10.

Walter’s family queried NFL scouts and player personnel executives after the season to gauge his draft status. Walter was projected as a second-round pick, so he stayed in school, graduated with a communications degree and set about preparing for this season.

The Sun Devils started with victories over Texas El Paso, Northwestern, Iowa and Oregon State. Two weeks ago against Oregon, Walter was 14 for 23 for 164 yards with three touchdowns.

“I still don’t think we’ve played that well on offense,” he said. “The quarterback looks really great when everyone else around him is playing well.”

Said Koetter: “In the past couple of seasons with Andrew as the starter, if Andrew wasn’t lights out we might not have a chance to win. This year we’re so much better as an overall team. Andrew doesn’t have to be the whole show and he knows that and he’s managing the game accordingly.”

Walter is hoping to play a complete game against USC, which defeated the Sun Devils, 37-17, last season at Tempe.

Arizona State knocked Trojan quarterback Matt Leinart out of the game in the first half and led, 17-10, early in the third quarter. But Leinart returned, the USC defense clamped down and the Trojans scored 27 unanswered points for a victory that started their winning streak.

“We were with them for two-and-a-half quarters,” said Walter, who was 19 for 38 for 305 yards with a touchdown and an interception against the Trojans last year. “When they wanted to put the hammer down, when they had toyed around enough, they shut it down.”

USC defensive players said this week that they must control a running game led by junior tailback Hakim Hill and prevent Walter from connecting for big plays with receivers Derek Hagan (35 receptions, five touchdowns) and Terry Richardson (22 receptions, three touchdowns).

Last week against Cal, USC gave up short routes and kept Rodgers from completing passes longer than 20 yards.

“With that arm strength, you know Walter’s itching for a chance to go downfield, like I’m sure Rodgers was,” USC middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. “We’re not going to let them have those deep balls.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Front to Back in the Pac

Pacific 10 Conference passing leaders (through Friday):

*--* PLAYER, TEAM COM ATT YDS/GM COM% TD INT Derek Anderson, Oregon State 115 226 287.4 50.9 10 9 Kellen Clemens, Oregon 112 184 253.4 60.9 11 3 Andrew Walter, Arizona State 98 179 249.8 54.7 15 1 Trent Edwards, Stanford 97 169 237.6 57.4 7 4 Matt Leinart, USC 99 148 237.4 66.9 10 3 Aaron Rodgers, California 72 92 220.2 78.3 7 2 Josh Swogger, Washington State 73 157 205.2 46.5 12 4 Drew Olson, UCLA 73 128 194.8 57.0 8 5 Kris Heavner, Arizona 74 118 149.6 62.7 4 2 Casey Paus, Washington 54 116 132.2 46.6 3 3

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Air Dynamics

Pacific 10 career touchdown pass leaders (* active):

*--* John Elway, Stanford 77 *Andrew Walter, Arizona State 70 Steve Stenstrom, Stanford 75 Jason Gesser, Washington State 70 Carson Palmer, USC 72 Cade McNown, UCLA 68

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