Sept. 23, 2000

Box Score

By MEL REISNER
AP Sports Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. - Jeff Krohn threw four touchdown passes as Arizona State beat Utah State 44-20 on Saturday night.

The victory was Arizona State's third in three games, its best start since since the 1996 Sun Devils won the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl berth with an undefeated regular season.

Krohn, a former walk-on starting because of three-year starter Ryan Kealy's off-field problems, hit Richard Williams for scores of 72 and 70 yards in the first quarter and threw strikes of 61 and 35 yards to Donnie O'Neal in the third.

Krohn was 6-of-10 for 248 yards and no interceptions.

Kealy, playing for first time since returning from a suspension for an arrest for driving under the influence of drugs, threw a 43-yard TD pass to Todd Heap and directed a drive that resulted in a 27-yard field goal by Mike Barth.

Arizona State sacked Jose Fuentes four times and intercepted three passes, scoring on one - a 48-yard return by Terrell Suggs.

Emmett White turned a screen pass from Fuentes into a 74-yard TD and scored on a 5-yard run. Brad Bohn also kicked 38- and 36-yard field goals for the Aggies (1-2).

White, who had 113 yards on 22 carries, got the first rushing TD against the Sun Devils this year 3:50 into the fourth quarter after setting it up with a 43-yard run. But that only cut the Aggies' deficit to 24 points.

His TD reception had more impact, pulling Utah State to 23-13 at halftime.

But Arizona State shut out the Aggies in the third quarter and scored three times to put the game out of reach.

The Sun Devils came in planning to pressure Fuentes, and a blitz led to their third TD.

Linebacker Adam Archuleta slid into Fuentes' feet as he got rid of the ball. It hit Suggs in the chest, and the defensive end made a beeline for the end zone for the score that made it 20-3 just 3:59 into the second quarter.

Krohn's first two completions went for the Sun Devils' two longest scoring plays this season. Both were similar, with Williams catching the ball near the left sideline and beating his defender to the end zone.

Williams also returned a kickoff 47 yards with 6:26 left in the second quarter, setting the stage for Kealy to take over near midfield. That drive went for the field goal. Kealy came in again with 2:51 left in the third quarter, and capped a four-play drive with his pass to Heap with 1:20 remaining.