Oct. 10, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – In Saturday’s game the Irish could appear to do no wrong as they manhandled the Sun Devils, 48-17.
Jarious Jackson passed for 223 yards and four touchdowns. At one point in the game, the quarterback completed three straight passes for three straight touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Bobby Brown posted some his best numbers of the season. He caught three passes for 84 yards and a single touchdown.
Despite the offense’s strong performance, the best effort came from the defensive secondary who gets the nod as this week’s Unsung Heroes. Seniors Deke Cooper and A’Jani Sanders managed to keep Arizona State’s Ryan Kealy on his toes for yet another year. Deveron Harper and Clifford Jefferson contributed to the defensive effort as well at the corner positions.
“We just wanted to try to hit them and make them think about it the next time they catch the ball,” Sanders said about the team’s plan. “When you make turnovers and get big plays, that’s the mark you want for your defense. We’ve got to make big plays. Sometimes the offense carries us. Today we carried the offense.”
The Arizona State quarterback definitely felt the pressure heading into Notre Dame Stadium, after last year’s dismal performance against the Irish. Kealy threw three costly interceptions in last year’s meeting which led the Irish to a 28-9 win. To his dismay, he posted almost the same numbers after having only thrown one interception all year.
“I was joking with A’Jani [Sanders] and Deke [Cooper] before the game and they said ‘Are you going to put up 40 today?’ And I said, ‘You turn it over five times and I’ll put up 40,'” offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers said. “And that is what happened.”
Cooper set the tone in the first quarter when he scooped up J.R. Redmond’s fumble and returned it 7 yards to the Arizona State 35 yard line. One fumble recovery was not enough for the safety. In the next quarter, Cooper pounced on a Todd Heap fumble for a touchback. The fumble recovery set up another scoring drive for the Irish giving them a three-touchdown lead.
Cooper finished off the second quarter by intercepting Kealy and returning it 33 yards to the Arizona State 25 yard line. The safety did the same thing last year. He picked off Kealy in the ’98 contest and returned it 34 yards. Cooper also was in on seven tackles, three of which went unassisted.
Cooper’s counterpart, Sanders picked off a telegraphed Kealy pass and rumbles 28 yards to the end zone for the touchdown.
“Its amazing, A’Jani Sanders for the second time in two years, intercepting a ball and running it back for a touchdown against the same quarterback and the same team,” Davie said about the safety’s performance.
Sanders finished the day with five unassisted tackles and assisted on two more.
On the Sun Devil’s second series in the first quarter, corner Deveron Harper intercepted a Kealy pass at Notre Dame’s 19 yard-line. Currently, Harper is the only Notre Dame player with more than one interception this season. His first came in the Eddie Robinson Classic against Kansas.
Jefferson registered five unassisted tackles on the day and almost intercepted a pass as well.
“Anytime you cause that many turnovers you are going to win the game,” head coach Bob Davie said.
Arizona State turned the ball over six times while Notre Dame never turned it over.