TEMPE, Ariz. -- Andrew Walter threw for 428 yards and five touchdowns to lead Arizona State to a surprisingly easy 44-7 victory over No. 16 Iowa on
Saturday night.
He went 31-for-43 and broke Jake Plummer's record for career TD passes with 66, one more than the Denver Broncos quarterback. The fifth-year senior
has 11 TD passes this year.
Walter threw a pair of 7-yard TD passes to Derek Hagan, found Zach Miller for scores of 6 and 5 yards, and had a 14-yard throw to Moey Mutz.
Miller had 10 receptions for 85 yards, and Hagan had his sixth consecutive 100-yard game with 112 on eight catches.
The kickoff was delayed 45 minutes by lightning.
Once play began, it was clear the Sun Devils (3-0) were still smarting from last year's 21-2 embarrassment at Iowa, where they were held to 12 first
downs and 184 yards of total offense.
The Hawkeyes (2-1), who scored on their opening possession each of the two previous games, were held to 100 yards and six first downs - none
consecutive until late in the game - and were in danger of being shut out for the first time since 2000 until Walner Belleus returned a punt 83 yards
to score with 18 seconds left.
Walter had three TD passes at halftime, and the Sun Devils led 27-0 after scoring with five seconds left on Jesse Ainsworth's 48-yard field goal
following Iowa's ill-fated attempt to get something going.
Arizona State, out of timeouts, would have run out the clock when it got the ball with 1:11 left, but Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz called timeout with
the Sun Devils facing third-and-11 at their 35.
Coach Dirk Koetter used the opportunity to call a play, and Walter made good with a 34-yard pass to Terry Richardson. After a spike stopped the clock
with 10 seconds remaining, Ainsworth made his second field goal.
Ainsworth added a third 5:20 into the third quarter, and Arizona State took a 37-0 lead with 3:04 left in the third on a short drive keyed by Rudy
Burgess' 25-yard punt return and capped by Hagan's second catch in the end zone.
Walter completed a 41-yard pass to Matt Miller to set up Mutz's 14-yard TD grab with 9:49 left in the first quarter.
Ainsworth added a field goal, and the Sun Devils built a 17-0 lead on their next possession, when they overcame a first-and-25 situation on Walter's
18-yard check off to Loren Wade and a 10-yard pass to Zach Miller.
Two plays later, Walter found Hagan for 45 yards to the Iowa 4, and Hagan completed the drive with a 7-yard scoring catch with 12:08 left.
Iowa's first-half highlight was Antwan Allen's interception - the first thrown by Walter this year - with 6:21 to go, but Sun Devils linebacker Jamar
Williams trumped that with a pickoff of Iowa's Drew Tate and a 31-yard return to the Hawkeyes 13.
After two runs by Wade, Walter passed to Zach Miller for the score that made it 24-0 with 2:35 to go in the half.