Fri Dec 28 00:44:39 2007

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Longhorns top ASU in wild Holiday Bowl

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San Diego, CA (Sports Network) - Jamaal Charles ran for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns, as 17th-ranked Texas topped No. 12 Arizona State, 52-34, in a Holiday Bowl that saw its share of odd moments, with even the stepson of Longhorns head coach Mack Brown getting his share of camera time.

Colt McCoy completed 21-of-31 passes for 174 yards with a TD, and also rushed for 84 yards and a score for Texas (10-3), which has won six of its last seven bowl games.

Rudy Carpenter connected on 18-of-36 passes for 187 yards with two scores and a pair of interceptions for Arizona State (10-3), which was limited to 22 yards rushing. Michael Jones had eight receptions for 107 yards and two TDs for the Pac-10 co-champions, who also turned the ball over five times under first-year head coach Dennis Erickson. Chris McGaha had nine catches for 79 yards and a TD for ASU.

Although it was a resounding victory for the Longhorns, there was a crazy moment in the second quarter involving Brown's stepson, Chris Jessie.

The Sun Devils scored on a seven-yard pass from Carpenter to McGaha 2:24 into the second quarter, but only after a wild sequence. ASU had the ball 3rd- and-11 at the Texas 15, when Carpenter was hit from behind. The ball bounced toward the sideline, but a few members of Texas' staff were on the field. The ball appeared to graze the thumb of Jessie before defensive tackle Roy Miller kept the ball from going out of bounds and Aaron Lewis recovered for the Longhorns, running the ball to the ASU 44.

The play was initially ruled a fumble and Texas' ball, but after a replay, officials determined the ball hit Jessie, meaning a dead ball and possession back to the Sun Devils. The Longhorns were assessed an automatic 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty and that moved the ball to the seven. The next play, 4th-and-3, McGaha caught the ball one-handed before going in the end zone.

Carpenter failed on a fourth down pass in Texas territory later in the quarter, and the Longhorns used a fake punt during the ensuing drive to get a first down. The march ended when McCoy ran nine yards to the left side for a score with 4:43 to go.

McCoy fumbled after being sacked inside of a minute left, and Thomas Weber's 32-yard field goal had ASU within 28-10 at the half.

Weber nailed a 46-yard field goal with 11:49 left in the third quarter, with the ball squeaking in after hitting off the right upright.

However, the Longhorns received a few fortunate bounces later in the third. First, Marcus Griffin picked off Carpenter after the ball was deflected by cornerback Brandon Foster. Then, Kyle Williams muffed a punt for ASU and Texas recovered. McCoy rumbled from the Arizona State 33 to inside the five-yard line before fumbling. Tight end Jermichael Finley recovered in the end zone, boosting Texas' lead to 35-13 with 3:33 left in the quarter.

Carpenter hit Michael Jones with a 22-yard scoring strike less than a minute later, but Ryan Bailey kicked a 21-yard field goal 2:05 into the fourth quarter for the Longhorns.

It became 45-20 on Vondrell McGee's 28-yard TD run less than two minutes later.

Sullivan replaced Carpenter and threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jones with 8:55 remaining. Jarrell Woods ran into the end zone from three yards out with 3:42 to go for the Sun Devils, but they failed to recover the ensuing onsides kick.

Charles put the exclamation mark on Texas' win with a 32-yard TD run with 2:24 left.

The Longhorns struck just 1:21 into the game on a two-yard pass from McCoy to defensive tackle Derek Lokey on the right side. Texas started the drive near midfield after a short kickoff and a good return, and Charles ran 16 yards to the ASU 26. It was on 3rd-and-1 from the two when McCoy threw to Lokey.

Texas bolstered its lead to 14-0 with 7:08 left in the same quarter, just two plays after forcing a turnover. Foster ripped the ball away from Dimitri Nance during a run. Charles then rumbled 48 yards down the left sideline and John Chiles scored on the following play, a four-yard rush to the left side.

The problems mounted for the Sun Devils as Carpenter was picked off by Griffin at the Texas 11 after a long pass.

Texas couldn't score off that turnover, but with 1:30 left in the first quarter Charles broke a tackle up the middle on a 15-yard scoring run. The play before that, McCoy hit Quan Cosby with a 55-yard pass.

Game Notes

This was the first football meeting between the two schools...Before this game, the ASU defense had allowed an average of 1.8 points in the fourth quarter this season...This marked the seventh straight year Texas has won at least 10 games. It was also the 10th straight year Texas has appeared in a bowl game, a school record...This marked the third football game in the last eight days at Qualcomm Stadium. Utah beat Navy in the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 20 and the Chargers topped the Broncos on Christmas Eve.