ASU vs. Sacramento State: Sun Devils Score Big FCS Win, 55-0

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Sacramento State Hornets rolled into Tempe on Thursday night riding a two-game winning streak against the Pac-12, but unfortunately for the FCS squad, this year’s Arizona State Sun Devils are far from being last year’s Colorado Buffaloes. ASU scored early and often, putting the Hornets to bed 55-0, in front of a paid attendance of 55,743 at Sun Devil Stadium.

Sacramento State opened the game with a 15-play, 59 yard drive that surprisingly made ASU’s vaunted defense look perplexed. But after a missed field, that would be practically be all she wrote for Sac State, as they totaled just 18 yards on their next 20 plays, while ASU scored touchdowns on their first five drives, and led 42-0 at the half.

Redshirt-junior quarterback Taylor Kelly starred for the Sun Devils, as he was 23-of-31 for 300 yards, while throwing for five touchdowns, all of which came in the first half. ASU had 11 different receivers get in on the action, with six of them racking up more than 30 receiving yards.

As for the running game, senior Marion Grice had a decent season-opening, outing rushing for 59 yards. That said, the Sun Devils collectively averaged a meager 3.6 yards per carry, while failing to register a run longer than 13 yards. That should give ASU some sort of criticism to take out of an FCS rout.

Defensive lineman Will Sutton recovered a fumble in the first half, one of four Sacramento State turnovers throughout the game.

Up next for ASU is a four-game jaunt that will define their season. The play four ranked teams in a row, getting No. 21 Wisconsin and No. 25 USC at home, No. 5 Stanford in Palo Alto, and No. 14 Notre Dame in Arlington, Tex.