SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 19, 2011

Bryson Beirne replaced an injured Nick Foles and threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Juron Criner with 5:18 left as visiting Arizona stunned Arizona State 31-27 on Saturday.

The Wildcats (3-8, 2-7 Pac-12 South) rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to hand the disappointing Sun Devils (6-5, 4-4) their third straight loss.

Amazingly, though, Arizona State can still win the Pac-12 South if it beats California next week, while UCLA loses to USC and Utah beats Colorado.

Arizona State reached the Arizona 15-yard line with nine seconds to play, but Brock Osweiler’s final two passes were incomplete.

Foles left the contest with an apparent back injury on Arizona’s go-ahead drive. Beirne entered and tossed a middle screen to Criner, who broke a tackle and meandered his way to a 23-yard scoring play.

The touchdown was the 30th of Criner’s career, matching the school record held by Theopolis Bell. Criner caught nine passes for 134 yards.

Arizona State led 27-17 after Alex Garoutte kicked a 27-yard field goal with 12:33 to play. Foles tossed a 33-yard scoring pass to Gino Crump with 10:25 remaining to cut the Sun Devils’ lead to three.

Cameron Marshall scored two touchdowns for Arizona State, which overcame an early 14-point deficit by scoring 21 consecutive points. Marshall’s second touchdown run – a 22-yarder – gave the Sun Devils a seven-point lead with 4:29 left in the first half.

Osweiler was 36-of-65 for 487 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to Gerrell Robinson, who caught 11 passes for 199 yards.

Foles passed for 370 yards to set Arizona’s single-season mark with 3,982 passing yards.