ASU topples Wisconsin on bizarre final play

Scores

Final

Arizona St 32

(2-0, 2-0 home)

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Coverage: ESPN

10:30 PM ET, September 14, 2013

Sun Devil Stadium, TEMPE, AZ

		1	2	3	4	T
#20	WIS	0	14	7	9	30
	ASU	3	10	6	13	32

Top Performers

Passing: T. Kelly (ASU) - 352 YDS, 1 INT

Rushing: M. Gordon (WIS) - 15 CAR, 193 YDS, 2 TD

Receiving: J. Strong (ASU) - 6 REC, 104 YDS

Arizona State holds on to upset Wisconsin on strange final play

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Associated Press

Arizona State Stuns Wisconsin

Marion Grice rushed for 84 yards and four touchdowns and a strange final play led Arizona State to a 32-30 upset of No. 20 Wisconsin.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave ran to the left, started to put his knee down and placed the ball on the ground, thinking he had set up the Badgers for a potential game-winning field goal over Arizona State.

Instead, he set off a whirlwind of confusion.

Marion Grice ran for four touchdowns, but Arizona State's 32-30 victory over No. 20 Wisconsin on Saturday night will be remembered for Stave's play and the chaos it caused.

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"I've never seen anything like that in college football, ever," Arizona State cornerback Osahon Irabor said.

Nobody has.

Here's how it went down:

After struggling with miscues and missed opportunities most of the game, Arizona State (2-0) went ahead 32-24 after Grice scored on a 1-yard touchdown run in the closing seconds of the third quarter and runs of 2 and 12 yards in the fourth.

Wisconsin (2-1) answered with a scoring drive of its own, setting up Melvin Gordon for his second touchdown run, a 1-yarder that pulled the Badgers within 32-30 after their 2-point conversion failed.

After an Arizona State drive stalled, Wisconsin took over at its 17-yard line with 1:36 left. The Badgers moved quickly down the field, thanks to a 51-yard completion to Jeff Duckworth, and had the ball at Arizona State's 13 with 18 seconds left.

With the ball on the right hash mark, Stave took a snap and ran left toward the center of the field to set up the potential game-winning field goal. Stave started to kneel, but ran into one of his offensive linemen and awkwardly placed the ball on the ground before quickly bouncing back up.

Players from both teams stood around for a few seconds in confusion and Arizona State's players tried to dive on the ball, but the officials pointed to the ground, appearing to say it was a dead ball.

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Realizing the clock was still running, Wisconsin's players scrambled back to the line of scrimmage with about 2 seconds left. They weren't able to get a last snap off before the clock went off, sending Arizona State's players streaming off the field in joy.

Stave and the rest of Wisconsin's players and coaches tried to argue the call, but the officials trotted off the field, leaving the Badgers stunned.

Gordon finished with 193 yards on 15 carries.

Taylor Kelly hit 29 of 51 passes -- many of those on back-shoulder throws along the sideline -- for 352 yards and a touchdown for the Sun Devils, who are 9-0 all-time against the Big Ten at Sun Devil Stadium.

Grice finished with 84 yards on 22 carries to help Arizona State kick off a tough stretch in the schedule with a big non-conference win.

That was all secondary to the play that had everyone still scratching their heads long after the final horn.

"We just jumped on it and I guess time ran out, so we won," Arizona State safety Alden Darby said. "I was confused back there."

The bizarre ending capped a strange night of momentum changes, missed chances and some huge performances.

Arizona State had most of the missed opportunities.

The Sun Devils failed on a fourth-and-goal from the 2 on their opening drive and had to settle for a pair of field goals on two other deep drives in the first half.

Arizona State also had numerous dropped passes and miscues, including a big one in the second quarter, when punter Dom Vizzare compounded a bad snap by failing to fall on the football. That gave Wisconsin's Beau Allen a chance to pull it out of a scramble for a touchdown that put the Badgers up 14-3.

Grice had Arizona State's only touchdown of the first half, a 1-yard score that kept the Sun Devils within 14-13.

"We have to play better than that," Arizona State coach Todd Graham said.

Wisconsin rushed for three yards in six carries in the first quarter before finding a rhythm offensively on a scoring drive that resulted in a 2-yard touchdown pass from Stave to Jacob Pedersen early in the second.

That was about it for the Badgers' offense in the first half, though; They had 101 total yards, but still led 14-13.

Wisconsin extended the lead on the first play of the third quarter, when Gordon took an end-around handoff and raced 80 yards for a touchdown. The Badgers' sixth play of 50 or more yards this season put them up 21-13.

The Sun Devils finally got their offense going consistently late in the third quarter into the fourth, putting together three scoring drives -- all capped by Grice -- to go up 32-24.

But the Badgers kept fighting back.

Wisconsin followed Grice's fourth touchdown by pulling off a fake punt on a 75-yard scoring drive capped by Gordon, but trailed by 2 after Stave was hit from behind by Carl Bradford and threw an incomplete pass on the 2-point conversion.

The Badgers forced Arizona State to punt on its next drive and seemed to be in position to pull out a tough road victory with a quick-hitting drive, but instead left with a tough-to-take loss punctuated by the strange ending.

Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Well, that will be debated for a long time. After Wisconsin QB Joel Stave set the ball down with seconds left, time ticked off as the Badgers waited for officials to set the ball.

Gameball goes to... Arizona State running back Marion Grice scored four rushing touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter, and caught five passes for 50 yards.

Stat of the game... 12.9 Wisconsin sophomore RB Melvin Gordon ran 15 times for 193 yards, an average of 12.9 yards per carry, including an 80-yard TD.

Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison

	WIS	ASU
1st Downs	15	32
Total Yards	441	468
Passing	210	352
Rushing	231	116
Penalties	6-76	3-15
3rd Down Conversions	8-17	8-18
4th Down Conversions	1-1	0-2
Turnovers	1	2
Possession	28:02	31:58

Passing Leaders


Wisconsin	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Stave	15/30	187	6.2	1	0

Arizona State	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Kelly	29/51	352	6.9	0	1

Rushing Leaders


Wisconsin	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LG
Gordon	15	193	12.9	2	80
White	12	45	3.8	0	19

Arizona State	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LG
Grice	22	84	3.8	4	18
Foster	5	27	5.4	0	15

Receiving Leaders


Wisconsin	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LG
Abbrederis	6	87	14.5	0	31
Duckworth	1	51	51.0	0	51

Arizona State	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LG
Strong	6	104	17.3	0	24
Foster	7	69	9.9	0	21

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER				WIS	ASU
	FG	04:08	Zane Gonzalez 34 Yd Watch Highlight	0	3
SECOND QUARTER				WIS	ASU
	TD	13:47	Jacob Pedersen 2 Yd Pass From Joel Stave (Kyle French Kick) Watch Highlight	7	3
	TD	12:53	Beau Allen 0 Yd Fumble Return (Kyle French Kick) Watch Highlight	14	3
	TD	09:21	Marion Grice 1 Yd Run (Zane Gonzalez Kick) Watch Highlight	14	10
	FG	00:29	Zane Gonzalez 19 Yd Watch Highlight	14	13
THIRD QUARTER				WIS	ASU
	TD	14:42	Melvin Gordon 80 Yd Run (Kyle French Kick) Watch Highlight	21	13
	TD	00:47	Marion Grice 1 Yd Run (Two-Point Run Conversion Failed) Watch Highlight	21	19
FOURTH QUARTER				WIS	ASU
	FG	13:30	Kyle French 34 Yd Watch Highlight	24	19
	TD	11:40	Marion Grice 2 Yd Run (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed) Watch Highlight	24	25
	TD	08:50	Marion Grice 12 Yd Run (Zane Gonzalez Kick)	24	32
	TD	03:53	Melvin Gordon 1 Yd Run (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed) Watch Highlight	30	32

ESPN College Football

(20) Wisconsin 30

Arizona St 32

Arizona State holds on to upset Wisconsin on strange final play

Arizona State Stuns Wisconsin

VIDEO PLAYLIST

Arizona State Stuns Wisconsin

Andersen Addresses Controversial Play

End-Of-Game Epic Fail By Officials

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Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison

Passing Leaders

Rushing Leaders

Receiving Leaders

Scoring Summary