TEMPE, Ariz. -- Oregon State Mike Riley couldn't hide his
feelings after the Beavers lost -- again -- at Arizona State.
The Beavers squandered a 19-point lead to lose to the Sun Devils
44-32 on Saturday at Sun Devil Stadium, where Oregon State hasn't
won since 1969.
"There are probably a lot of plays that we'll look at tomorrow
and say it could have been different. It didn't have to be like
that. We made way too many errors to beat a good football team,"
Riley said. "We certainly had our opportunity and it was bitterly,
bitterly disappointing."
Oregon State's Sean Canfield completed 28 of 48 passes for 324
yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted five times. The
sophomore also had three interceptions in a 34-3 loss to Cincinnati
Sept. 6.
Yvenson Bernard rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown for the
Beavers (2-2, 0-1 Pac-10).
Rudy Carpenter threw for 361 yards and four touchdowns and the
Sun Devils (4-0, 1-0 Pac-10). With the victory, Arizona State
jumped into the rankings at No. 23 under new coach Dennis Erickson,
former Oregon State coach.
Carpenter hit Michael Jones for touchdowns of 43 and 64 yards
and connected with Ryan Torain for 7- and 48-yard scores.
The Beavers led 19-0 after the first quarter, outgaining the Sun
Devils 153-6.
ASU used two broken plays to get back in the game.
The first was a 64-yard touchdown pass from Carpenter to Jones
early in the second quarter. Carpenter was flushed from the pocket,
scrambled and found Jones behind safety Al Afalava.
The next big play came late in the first half, when Carpenter
was hit on a blitz and fumbled at his own 23. He picked up the ball
and found Tyrice Thompson for a 33-yard gain. That set up a 30-yard
field goal by Thomas Weber to cut ASU's deficit to 19-13 at
halftime.
The Sun Devils took a 27-26 lead on a 48-yard pass from
Carpenter to Torain near the end of the third quarter. The score
came one play after Nolan intercepted a pass and returned it 25
yards.
Arizona State put the game away with 17 points in the fourth
quarter.
"There were a bunch of little things that turned the game and
too many turnovers," Canfield said.
Sammie Stroughter caught six passes for 102 yards in his
continued comeback.
The last time Oregon State beat ASU at Sun Devil Stadium,
Arizona State wasn't yet part of the Pac-10. The Beavers, under
coach Dee Andros, beat 18th-ranked Arizona State and coach Frank
Kush 30-7 on Sept. 27, 1969.
The Sun Devils have beaten the Beavers 16 straight times in
Tempe and lead the overall series 24-9-1.
"We had a chance to do something we hadn't done in quite awhile
and we let it slip away," Riley said. "It would have been great
for our football team but we didn't earn it, they did."