At the end of the regular season, head coach Dennis Erickson was fired. He stayed on to coach in the Sun Devils bowl game and finished with a five-year record of 31–31.
The Sun Devils played the UC Davis Aggies on September 1 and won 48–14. QuarterbackBrock Osweiler threw two touchdown passes – both of them to receiver Aaron Pflugrad – and finished with 19 completions on 26 attempts before leaving with leg cramps in the third quarter. Running back Cameron Marshall added two rushing touchdowns as the Sun Devils amassed 217 yards on the ground. ASU's defense managed to keep the Aggies scoreless until the fourth quarter; the Aggies scored both touchdowns against ASU's reserves.[14]
Cameron Marshall 2-yard touchdown run, Alex Garoutte kick good
0
7
1
3:40
4
15
1:09
Arizona State
Cameron Marshall 2-yard touchdown run, Alex Garoutte kick good
0
14
2
14:53
4
49
1:17
Arizona State
Aaron Pflugrad 31-yard touchdown reception from Brock Osweiler, Alex Garoutte kick good
0
21
2
0:02
6
19
1:33
Arizona State
49-yard field goal by Alex Garoutte
0
24
3
14:46
Arizona State
Kickoff returned 98 yards for touchdown by Jamal Miles, Alex Garoutte kick good
0
31
3
6:03
9
81
4:05
Arizona State
Aaron Pflugrad 13-yard touchdown reception from Brock Osweiler, Alex Garoutte kick good
0
38
3
0:48
8
34
2:50
Arizona State
25-yard field goal by Alex Garoutte
0
41
4
12:21
7
69
3:20
UC Davis
Nick Aprile 48-yard touchdown run, Sean Kelley kick good
7
41
4
9:43
6
31
2:27
Arizona State
Marcus Washington 1-yard touchdown run, Alex Garoutte kick good
7
48
4
6:26
9
71
3:07
UC Davis
Josh Reese 1-yard touchdown run, Sean Kelley kick good
14
48
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.
14
48
Missouri[]
Jamal Miles caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Brock Osweiler in overtime, then the defense held Missouri out of the end zone on their possession to seal Arizona State's wild win over No. 21 Missouri, 37 - 30. The win was Dennis Erickson's 28th career victory over a ranked opponent.
USC had won the last 11 meetings, with Arizona State last defeating USC in 1999. In this game, USC led 22–21 in the third quarter, but Arizona State then scored 22 unanswered points to win 43–22.
First Quarter scoring: UCLA – Johnathan Franklin 11-yard run (Tyler Gonzalez kick failed); ASU – A.J. Pickens 35-yard pass from Brock Osweiler (Alex Garoutte kick)
Second Quarter scoring: ASU – C. Marshall 14-yard run (Garoutte kick); UCLA – Gonzalez 43-yard field goal; UCLA – Derrick Coleman 1-yard run (Gonzalez kick)
Third Quarter scoring: UCLA – Nelson Rosario 76-yard pass from Kevin Prince (Gonzalez kick); ASU – Jamal Miles, 9-yard pass from Brock Osweiler (Garoutte kick)
Fourth Quarter scoring: ASU – Osweiler 1-yard run (Garoutte kick); UCLA – Coleman 1-yard run (Prince pass failed)
Ranking movements Legend:██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.