Arizona State shakes off travel delays to down UCF

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Cardae Mack had 111 yards rushing and a touchdown on 25 carries, and Arizona State overcame travel delays to beat UCF 26-13 on Saturday.

Arizona State looked no worse for wear after arriving in Orlando past noon Eastern Time on Saturday, controlling the game with their running attack and defense.

The Sun Devils (6-4, 4-3 Big 12) cemented their lead with a strip-sack of UCF quarterback Alonza Barnett III to set up a field goal just before halftime. They had four drives of five minutes or more and won time of possession by more than 15 minutes.

“You are either going to get it done, or you are not” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said. “Nobody is going to care what the circumstance was because nobody cares about circumstances. They care about results. Our guys got that done tonight. That was probably one of my favorite games being the Sun Devils’ coach.”

Arizona State scored its first touchdown on a one-yard run by Marquis Gillis to open the second quarter. Carson Smith made four field goals of 51, 41, 28 and 37 yards.

The Sun Devils added a touchdown on an 8-yard run by Mack early in the fourth quarter, capping a 14-play, 81-yard drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock.

Freshman quarterback Jake Fette threw for 196 yards.

“I think we were ready for what they were going to do, but they outexecuted us and outplayed us today,” UCF linebacker Tackett Curtis said.

The Knights struggled to get their offense going all game.

Barnett III threw for 257 yards on 21-for-30 passing. He found Tyren Hornes for a 40-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

But Arizona State’s pressure plagued him all game. The Sun Devils sacked Barnett three times.

UCF’s other touchdown came on a 2-yard run by Landen Chambers. The score was set up by a 47-yard reception by Josh Derry, where he ripped the ball away from Ashton Stamps to get to the 21-yard line. Derry made seven catches for 137 yards for the Knights.

Late arrival

Arizona State’s travel to Orlando was disrupted Friday by the FAA’s grounding of all flights. Sun Devils coaches and officials opted to send their team home Friday night at about 6 p.m. Arizona Time to attempt to travel Saturday morning.

They returned to the airport 12 hours later and left Phoenix at about 7 a.m. Arizona Time. Dillingham reported nobody was late for the buses from the team’s facility at 5 a.m. to head to the airport.

They landed in Orlando at about 12:45 p.m. Eastern Time, allowing the team to go to the hotel and have meetings before the game.

The Sun Devils arrived at the stadium at the usual time before the adjusted 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time kickoff.

“I think the only word for it is crazy,” Fette said. “Collectively, as a team, we chose as a mindset that we thought we were going to come here and win regardless of the situation we were in or what happened with the flight.”

The team left Orlando to return to Arizona after the game. Dillingham said he planned to be back at the team’s facility at 7 a.m. local time to prepare for next week.