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TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Taylor Kelly marched Arizona State quickly down the field for a touchdown on its first drive. Next drive, same thing. Then again.
If there was any question how the Sun Devils would respond to their first bit of adversity under new coach Todd Graham, they answered it quickly behind their playmaking quarterback.
Play of the GameThe Utes, down 14-0 in the first, were looking to get a drive going and went to their offensive star John White IV. White, uncharacteristically, fumbled the ball and the Sun Devils took advantage with a 10-yard touchdown and crush the Utes spirit early on.Quotables
"We got whipped tonight, soundly. They are a better football team than we are. We got outcoached, out-played, they had control of the game from start to finish. We really didn't do much in the way of positives." -Kyle WhittinghamGame Day Coverage
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Kelly threw for a career-high 326 yards and three touchdowns, helping Arizona State bounce back from its first loss with a 37-7 rout over Utah Saturday night in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.
"Our guys did this," Graham said. "They (Utah) have a really good football team, but we really dominated them. They came after it all the way around."
Coming off a mistake-filled road loss to Missouri, the Sun Devils (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) needed to regroup quickly and did, using their don't-let-em-rest offense and a smothering defense to run past Utah (2-2, 0-1) on a hot night in the desert.
Getting better seemingly by the week, Kelly eclipsed his season high by halftime with 259 yards and had three touchdown passes as Arizona State built a 31-7 lead.
Cameron Marshall scored two touchdowns after a having limited role against Missouri and Arizona State rolled up 512 total yards against one of the nation's best defenses to win its ninth straight over the Utes.
Statement made.
"We got in a good rhythm," Kelly said. "We were up really quick, so we just came after them."
Utah followed an impressive win over rival Brigham Young with a dud, falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter and managing 209 total yards - 55 in the second half.
John White lost two fumbles after missing the BYU game last week with an ankle injury and Jon Hays was mostly ineffective in his second game in place of Jordan Wynn, setting up a lopsided loss that may be more disheartening for Utah than its slipup against Utah State in Week 2.
"We got whipped tonight, soundly," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "They are a better football team than we are. We got outcoached, out-played, they had control of the game from start to finish. We really didn't do much in the way of positives."
Safety Brian Blechen
RB John White IV
QB Jon Hays
DE Dave Kruger
FB Karl Williams
After two easy wins to open the season, the Sun Devils had four turnovers, seven penalties - two more than the first two games combined - and a disastrous day on special teams to lose 24-20 to the Tigers.
Coming off a game like that, Graham was concerned about facing Utah's defense, which was ranked 15th nationally through the first three games.
He shouldn't have been. Not the way Arizona State's offense was clicking.
The Sun Devils had no trouble against the Utes from the get-go, racing 64 yards in four plays for a touchdown on their opening drive. Kelly capped it with well-executed play, faking a handoff, rolling right to draw the cornerback up and hitting Rashad Ross, who broke a tackle around the 5 for a 38-yard touchdown.
Next drive, Ross hauled in juggling 25-yard catch along the sideline - after a video review reversed the original call - to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Marshall.
The Sun Devils needed just four plays to score on their next possession, thanks to a fumble by White at Utah's 34-yard line. Kelly capped that with his second TD pass, a 10-yarder to Marion Grice that made it 21-0 with less than four minutes left in the first quarter.
Alex Garoutte added a 22-yard field goal in the second quarter and Kelly found Marshall on a 13-yard swing pass for a touchdown to give Arizona State a 24-point halftime lead.
The Sun Devils had 347 yards by halftime against a Utah defense that allowed an average of 268 yards its first three games.
"They were a good defense and they would take away some things, so we would go to other people," Graham said. "We have a lot of really quality players."
And not just on offense.
Clogging the running lanes and giving Hays nothing to look at downfield, Arizona State's defense held Utah to 152 yards in the first half, with 91 of those coming on the Utes' lone scoring drive. Hays capped that drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Karl Williams, but that was about it for him and the Utes.
Hays threw for 117 yards on 10 of 15 passing with an interception. Utah had 92 yards rushing on 38 carries and had nine total yards in the fourth quarter.
"I am kind of dumbfounded right now," Hays said.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
