1978 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

The 1978 Arizona State Sun Devils football team was an American football team that represented Arizona State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their 21st season under head coach Frank Kush, the Sun Devils compiled a 9–3 record (4–3 against Pac-10 opponents), finished in a tie for fourth place in the Pac-10, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 347 to 236.^[1][2]

1978 Arizona State Sun Devils football
Garden State Bowl champion
Garden State Bowl, W 34–18 vs. Rutgers
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
Record	9–3 (4–3 Pac-10)
Head coach	Frank Kush (21st season)
Defensive coordinator	Larry Kentera (8th season)
Home stadium	Sun Devil Stadium
Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

1978 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 USC $	6	–	1	–	0			12	–	1	–	0
No. 14 UCLA	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
Washington	6	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Arizona State	4	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 17 Stanford	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
California	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Arizona	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Oregon	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	7	–	1
Washington State	1	–	7	–	0			3	–	7	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included Mark Malone with 1,305 passing yards and 705 rushing yards and Chris DeFrance with 617 receiving yards.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	Pacific (CA)*		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	W 42–7	69,527	[4]
September 16	BYU*		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	W 24–17	70,311	[5]
September 23	at Washington State		Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	L 26–51	33,507	[6]
September 30	UTEP*		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	W 27–0	69,497	[7]
October 7	Northwestern*		Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 56–14	17,009	[8]
October 14	No. 2 USC		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	W 20–7	70,138	[9]
October 28	Washington	No. 12	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	L 7–41	54,866	[10]
November 4	California		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	W 35–21	70,876	[11]
November 11	Stanford		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	L 14–21	51,000	[12]
November 18	at Oregon State		Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	W 44–22	23,500	[13]
November 25	Arizona		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ (rivalry)	W 18–17	58,090	[14]
December 16	vs. Rutgers*		Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ (Garden State Bowl)	W 34–18	33,402	[15]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[16]

Game summaries

USC

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
USC	0	0	0	7	7
• Arizona St	0	3	14	3	20

• Date: October 14
• Location: Sun Devil Stadium
• Game attendance: 71,138

Scoring summary

Q2		ASU	Hicks 40 yard field goal	ASU 3–0
Q3		ASU	Malone 1 yard run (Hicks kick)	ASU 10–0
Q3		ASU	Mistler 16 yard pass from Malone (Hicks kick)	ASU 17–0
Q4		ASU	Hicks 28 yard field goal	ASU 20–0
Q4		USC	Garcia 31 yard pass from McDonald (Jordan kick)	ASU 20–7

• Mark Malone 19 Rush, 141 Yds
• Bob Kohrs 3 Fum Rec

^[17]

Arizona

Mark Malone threw a pair of touchdown passes and Bill Zivic's 45-yard field goal attempt missed wide left in the final seconds to secure the Sun Devil victory.^[18]

Garden State Bowl

Garden State Bowl: Arizona State Sun Devils vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Arizona St	0	7	14	13	34
Rutgers	10	0	0	8	18

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ

• Date: December 16
• Game attendance: 33,402
• 2018 Arizona State football media guide

Game information
Arizona St Rutgers

MVP: John Mistler

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP ASU RU 1 Rutgers Dorn 47-yard touchdown run, Startzell kick good 0 7 1 Rutgers 46-yard field goal by Startzell 0 10 2 Arizona St Weathers 14-yard touchdown reception from Malone, Hicks kick good 7 10 3 Arizona St Mistler 26-yard touchdown reception from Malone, Hicks kick good 14 10 3 Arizona St DeFrance 53-yard touchdown reception from Malone, Hicks kick good 21 10 4 Arizona St Malone 1-yard touchdown run, Hicks kick good 28 10 4 Rutgers Blackwell 5-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass good 28 18 4 Arizona St Malone 4-yard touchdown run, kick no good 34 18 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 34 18

Personnel

1978 Arizona State Sun Devils football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class   Chris DeFrance QB Mark Malone	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE Al Harris (C) DE 95 Bob Kohrs Jr LB Jeff McIntyre Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Frank Kush Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt