Stoops' Wildcats shock Sun Devils

Comatose Arizona offense erupts in 34-27 win over its ranked in-state rival.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Redshirt freshman Richard Kovalcheck threw three touchdown passes -- two to Mike Jefferson -- and Arizona turned five takeaways into 24 points to stun 18th-ranked Arizona State 34-27 on Friday.
Andrew Walter, the Sun Devils' record-breaking senior quarterback, left the game with an injury to his right shoulder with 7:30 remaining and his team trailing 34-20.
Mike Bell rushed for 139 yards in 21 carries for the Wildcats (3-8 overall, 2-6 Pac-10), who averaged 13 points per game going into the contest, last among 117 Division I-A teams.
Arizona State (8-3, 5-3) lost four fumbles to help Arizona reach a season-high point total.
Arizona fans stormed the field after the first big victory for Wildcats first-year coach Mike Stoops.
Holiday Bowl-bound
The loss probably won't affect Arizona State's chances for the Holiday Bowl, bowl representative Larry Baber said. The Sun Devils are expected to receive the Holiday invitation if No. 1 Southern California plays in the Orange Bowl and No. 4 California in the Rose Bowl.
Kovalcheck -- 17-of-31 for 239 yards with one interception -- had touchdown passes of 54, 2 and 47 yards. The 47-yarder to Jefferson down the right sidelines put the Wildcats up 34-20 with 9:32 to play.
Walter, the Pac-10 record holder with 85 career touchdown passes, was 23-for-38 for 320 yards but no scores in his final regular-season game. He was injured when he scrambled, went into a slide and his shoulder slammed into the ground at the Arizona 40.
Backup Sam Keller came on and completed five straight passes, the last one 3 yards to Jamaal Lewis for a touchdown to make it 34-27 with 5:05 to go. Arizona State got the ball back with 2 1/2 minutes to play, and Keller threw 42 yards to Moey Mutz as the Wildcats drove to the Arizona 23.
But ASU lost a down on an intentional grounding penalty, and on fourth-and-10 from the 23 Matt Miller dropped Keller's pass to clinch the victory for Arizona.
Halftime lead
The Wildcats, two-touchdown underdogs, led 20-17 at the half on Kovalcheck's 2-yard touchdown pass to Jefferson with seven seconds remaining.
On its first possession of the third quarter, Arizona State drove to the Arizona 9, but Hakim Hill fumbled into the end zone and Kirk Johnson recovered for a touchback. Johnson had two fumble recoveries in the game.
Arizona took over, and Bell ran 57 yards to the Arizona State 21. Three plays later, Gilbert Harris ran 6 yards for the score and Arizona led 27-17 with 9:53 left in the third.
Jesse Ainsworth's 36-yard field goal cut the lead to 27-20 with 14:11 to play.
Nick Folk kicked field goals of 23 and 53 yards -- the longest by an Arizona kicker in nine years.
Arizona State drove inside the Wildcats 5 on its first two possessions but led only 3-0 on Ainsworth's 21-yard field goal.