Arizona State beats Duke 36-31 in Sun Bowl

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Duke was so close — again.

Close to putting an end to a bowl winless streak that dates to 1961. Close to consecutive 10-win seasons. Close to eliminating the bad memories from close bowl losses the previous two years.

The Blue Devils (9-4) even had battled back from a 17-point deficit to take a 31-30 lead over No. 15 Arizona State (10-3) late in the fourth quarter Saturday in the Sun Bowl.

"I thought we played well enough to win," Duke coach David Cutcliffe said.

However, once again the Blue Devils weren't able to finish it off and suffered a 36-31 loss to the Sun Devils before a crowd of 47,809 that included a horde of Duke supporters.

The critical blow came when Arizona State freshman Kalen Ballage returned a kickoff 96 yards to set up the winning score a play later.

"It felt great," Ballage said. "I told the seniors, 'I got to do something.' They helped me grow. That was going through my head. I really wanted to do that for them."

Ballage's big return came after Duke (9-4) took the 31-30 lead — its first advantage of the game — on receiver Jamison Crowder's 12-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Blakeney with 5:03 left.

On the drive, punter Will Monday threw to a wide-open Johnell Barnes on fourth-and-11 from the 50. Four players later, Duke took the lead on the trick play on fourth-and-2. Crowder took a handoff from quarterback Anthony Boone on a sweep left and pulled up to throw to a wide-open Blakeney.

"That was one of the new plays we put in this week," Crowder said.

The right-handed Crowder made the pass with his left hand.

After Ballage's return, Demario Richard took a shovel pass from Taylor Kelly and bulled his way over the left side and into the end zone. Kelly was stopped on the 2-point conversion try.

The Blue Devils drove to the Arizona State 14 on nine plays, but Boone's third-and-10 pass intended for Crowder in the right corner of the end zone was intercepted by Kweishi Brown with 45 seconds left.

"He's one of the best receivers in the country," Boone said. "You've got to give him a shot."

Crowder, who will enter the NFL draft, finished with seven catches for 102 yards in addition to his punt return for a score and TD pass.

Of the final Duke play, he said, "Their guy just made a play and came down with it."

It was a heartbreaking end for Duke.

"I felt we were very ready to play today," Cutcliffe said. "We shot ourselves in the foot early. Unfortunately, we got in a position to win the game and didn't win it. If you give up a play in the kicking game, generally it will haunt you. I'm not dejected about the way we played or frustrated. I am sad we lost the ballgame because of our seniors."

In the other locker room, Arizona State coach Todd Graham and his team celebrated what he said was a season-defining victory.

"There was no way we were going to finish any other way than champions," Graham said. "That's the only way those seniors were going to finish was the way Pat Tillman finished — holding up that Sun Bowl trophy."

Richard, a freshman, was selected the game MVP. He scored four touchdowns for the Sun Devils and tied a Sun Bowl record for points with 24. Richard carried seven times for 41 yards and two scores, and caught five passes for 22 yards and two more touchdowns.

Duke cut it to 30-24 with 10:10 left in the fourth on Boone's 14-yard pass to Barnes.

Richard opened the scoring with a 9-yard run in the first quarter and gave the Sun Devils, who scored the first four times they had the ball, a 20-3 lead on a 1-yard run midway through the second.

Duke rallied with two touchdowns in 1:55 span — Boone's 14-yard pass to Shaquille Powell and Crowder's 69-yard punt return — to cut it to 20-17 at the half.

Powell had a big game for Duke, leading it with 29 carries for 118 yards.

"Shaq Powell is a fierce competitor," Cutcliffe said. "It's good to see him play at the level he can play at. He's a guy that can hammer it in there against a front that size."

As for Duke's comeback, Graham said he was surprised at the half, but that he also knew the Blue Devils are very well coached. He particularly praised Duke's defensive scheme.

"I was so frustrated," Graham said. "We were kicking field goals instead of scoring (touchdowns). But that's what great teams do — they kept battling and staying in it. At halftime they had seven first downs. How's it a three-point game?"

Kelly threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Richard in the third and Zane Gonzalez added a 47-yard field with 2:23 left in the quarter to push Arizona State's lead to 30-17.

Kelly was 24 of 34 for 240 yards in his final game for the Sun Devils.

Jaelen Strong, leaving early for the NFL, led Arizona State in receiving with seven catches for 103 yards. It was his 12th 100-yard receiving game, tying him for second in program history. D.J. Foster had 11 carries for 79 yards and caught three passes for 42 yards.