Rachaad White and DeaMonte Trayanum rushed for two touchdowns apiece to help No. 25 Arizona State roll to a 41-14 victory over Southern Utah on Thursday night at Tempe, Ariz.
Ricky Pearsall and Daniyel Ngata added TD runs while Darien Butler intercepted two passes for the Sun Devils (1-0). DeAndre Pierce also had an interception for Arizona State, which forced four turnovers.
Sun Devils quarterback Jayden Daniels completed 10 of 12 passes for 132 yards and rushed for 40 yards on six carries before leaving with 7:25 remaining in the third quarter due to leg cramps.
Judd Cockett scored on a reverse and David Moore III rushed for a score for Southern Utah (0-2). Justin Miller completed 19 of 30 passes for 146 yards but was intercepted three times for the Thunderbirds.
The setback was Southern Utah’s 12th straight loss against FBS programs since beating South Alabama in 2013. Six of those losses have come against Pac-12 programs by an average of 33.2 points.
Arizona State outgained the Thunderbirds 421-224 and overcame 13 penalties for 135 yards. Southern Utah drew eight flags for 64 yards.
Pierce intercepted Miller on the third play from scrimmage and returned the ball 34 yards to the Southern Utah 3-yard line. Trayanum rushed for the score on the next play, but Logan Tyler’s extra-point attempt was blocked as the Sun Devils led just 24 seconds into the game.
White scored on a 26-yard run with 8:42 left in the opening quarter to make it 13-0 before Southern Utah got on the board on Cockett’s 7-yard scamper with 4:26 remaining.
White scored from the 1 with 11:09 left in the second quarter, and Daniels tossed a two-point conversion pass to Curtis Hodges to give Arizona State a 21-7 advantage.
Trayanum scored on a 20-yard run to boost the lead to 28-7 with 5:15 remaining in the half.
Pearsall dashed 26 yards on a reverse to increase the margin to 27 with 11:03 left in the third quarter as Tyler missed another point-after attempt. Moore ran 21 yards for a score to cut Arizona State’s lead to 34-14 with 1:22 left in the stanza.
Ngata tacked on a 9-yard TD run with 8:11 left in the game for the Sun Devils.
–Field Level Media