Arizona State’s promising season of offensive authority came to a crashing halt on Nov. 26 when the Sun Devils lost to lowly Arizona to cap off what had been a successful Pacific-10 Conference season.
The 34-27 loss gave Arizona State a 5-3 conference record and dropped the Sun Devils into a third-place tie with Oregon State in the Pac-10.
Adding insult to injury, Arizona State lost one of the most highly decorated quarterbacks in conference history to injury during its slip-up against the Wildcats.
Andrew Walter, the Pac-10’s all-time leader in touchdown passes with 85, separated his throwing (right) shoulder midway through the fourth quarter, leaving sophomore Sam Keller in control of the Sun Devil offense.
Keller, who has thrown for 483 yards during his young career, will remain in charge as Arizona State takes on Purdue in the 71st edition of the Sun Bowl Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas.
The Sun Devils (8-3 overall, 5-3 Pac-10) will have their work cut out for them without their offensive leader. They will face a stingy Boilermaker defense that is allowing only 16.3 points per game. But if Keller can limit his mistakes and keep Arizona State in the game, the Sun Devils have the pass-catching playmakers needed to pull out a victory.
All-Pac-10 second team wide receiver Derek Hagan has been a dependable weapon all season. The junior has amassed 1,066 yards and nine touchdowns in 74 receptions and is averaging nearly 100 yards per game.
One of the reasons Hagan has been open outside is the emergence of freshman tight end Zach Miller to take away some of the defensive pressure. The Phoenix native has caught 51 passes this season for 524 yards and six touchdowns en route to being named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year — the first Sun Devil to do so since defensive end Terrell Suggs in 1996.
While the state of the Sun Devil passing game is in question, Purdue’s aerial attack is anything but. Led by senior quarterback Kyle Orton, the Boilermakers (7-4, 4-4 Big 10 Conference) are tops in the Big 10 in passing and scoring offense, averaging 324.8 yards and 32.5 points per game, respectively.
Orton’s top target is Taylor Stubblefield, who has tallied 82 receptions for 1,014 yards and a whopping 15 touchdowns. The senior duo was one of the main reasons Purdue was ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation after starting the season 5-0. However, from that point on, the Boilermakers didn’t seem to catch a break. They lost their next four games by a combined 10 points, ending any hope of obtaining a BCS bowl bid.
Purdue rebounded from its losing streak nicely, though, winning its last two games. The Boilermakers edged Ohio State 24-17 and destroyed Indiana 63-24.
Despite the rough losing streak, Purdue head coach Joe Tiller said he’s just happy to be going to a bowl.
“Its certainly exciting for us to be going to the Sun Bowl and being back around our friends in El Paso,” Tiller said. “It seems like we’ve developed some good relationships and friendships there. It’s something we look forward to.”
While Purdue won’t be facing the likes of Southern California or
Oklahoma, Tiller added that the Boilermakers will still have the chance to show they’re a quality team.
“It’s one of the few bowls that the matchup is one that you’re going to draw an excellent opponent,” Tiller said. “We are going to face the No. 3 Pac-10 team. If you can be successful in the game, the football world recognizes that you’ve accomplished something.”
This will be the third trip to the Sun Bowl in four years for Purdue. The Boilermakers lost to Washington State 33-27 in 2001 and defeated Washington 34-24 a year later.

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