Jake Fette spent Saturday doing something no Sun Devil quarterback had done in 30 years, and he did it with Jake Plummer watching from the stands.
In ASU’s 20-10 win over Colorado at Mountain America Stadium, the freshman threw a touchdown pass and caught one in the same game, matching Plummer’s unusual feat from Oct. 12, 1996, when the senior quarterback did it in a victory over UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
The second-quarter score came after ASU had been stuffed three straight times from the 1-yard line. Facing fourth-and-goal, the Sun Devils got creative.
Freshman running back Cardae Mack, who played quarterback in high school, took the snap and looked for an opening. Fette, running left, was expecting the ball to stay on the ground.
“All week (the coaches) told me, ‘Be ready,’” Fette said. “He might throw it late, and I was like, ‘I don’t know, he’s gonna run it for a touchdown.’”
Mack didn’t like what he saw and flipped the ball to a wide-open Fette for ASU’s first touchdown of the day.
“It actually happened,” Fette said. “I didn’t even know what to do. I’m just happy I caught it.”
The Sun Devils tried the same idea again late in the third quarter from the Colorado 4-yard line, but this time the throw was off and Fette ended up breaking up an interception attempt.
Fette’s night was about more than that one wild sequence. In his second career start, he finished 13-for-19 with 222 all-purpose yards, and ASU improved to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the Big 12. Colorado dropped to 3-6 and 1-5.
Even with the win, Fette wasn’t satisfied with how the offense played.
“The first home win is a real special one,” Fette said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t think as an offensive unit we play well enough. But it makes it a little sweeter when you come out with the win.”
ASU came in trying to bounce back from a close loss to No. 9 BYU, and the victory kept alive the Sun Devils’ odd season-long pattern of alternating wins and losses each week.
For Fette, the bigger takeaway has been how quickly he’s had to grow into the job. He said the experience has helped him become more vocal with teammates.
“Turning into a leader myself,” Fette said of his presence as a teammate. “As a starting quarterback, you can’t just stand back there and be all quiet. You have to lead the offensive unit, and I’ve been trying to build on that in the couple games I’ve been playing.”
Coach Kenny Dillingham pointed to the little things that showed Fette’s comfort level, even with the quarterback still early in his college career.
“He did a good job controlling the game once again,” Dillingham said. “Things like no penalties, no procedural issues, no 40-second clock, no misshifts or motioning the wrong guy. All very veteran-like operations for a young buck.”
Owen Long was just as impressed, and he had some fun with the fact that Fette even had to defend a pass on one of the trick plays.
“I think he could get some run,” Long quipped of the QB sitting next to him in the postgame news conference. “This dude’s a baller.
The way he’s handled his business the last few weeks, but not just that. Since he got here in January, it’s been fun to watch.
He’s been preparing for this moment forever. This is not surprising to any of us.”
The win moved ASU one step closer to bowl eligibility, but the finish line won’t come easily. The Sun Devils still have three games left, starting with a trip to Orlando to face Central Florida, which already upset then-No.
2 BYU. After that comes a home date with Oklahoma State, a team that scored 66 at Kansas State and beat Oregon earlier this season.
The regular season ends with a road game against rival No. 22 Arizona.
Dillingham said there’s still room for the offense to open up more.
“We were running the ball and being efficient so early that we got a 17-point lead and my human nature kicks in,” he said. “We have to be a little bit more aggressive on earlier downs and give him the opportunities to throw and catch because when we give him those opportunities, he does a great job.”
ASU won’t reach the Big 12 title game or the College Football Playoff, but the presence of the 1996 team that went 11-0 and nearly beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl gave Saturday a fitting backdrop.
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