TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -Rudy Carpenter threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns as Arizona State defeated Washington State 31-0 on Saturday.
Carpenter, a senior, has 80 career touchdown passes, third in Pac-10 history.
The Sun Devils (4-6, 3-4 Pac-10) have won back-to-back games and kept their slim bowl hopes alive. Arizona State posted its first shutout since a 19-0 victory over top-ranked Nebraska on Sept. 21, 1996, a span of 152 games.
Ranked 15th in the preseason, Arizona State matched a school-record six-game losing streak before the Pac-10's Washington schools came to the rescue.
The Sun Devils snapped the skid with a 39-19 victory over Washington last weekend. Then came the Cougars (1-10, 0-8), whose lone victory came against Portland State.
Washington State is wrapping up one of the worst seasons in Pac-10 history. But the Cougars put up a fight on a sunny, 81-degree afternoon.
The Cougars had conceded a conference-record 502 points in their first 10 games. They rank last in the nation in scoring defense (50.2 points per game) and next-to-last in scoring offense (13.9 points per game).
But Washington State actually had a chance to take the lead against Arizona State, driving from its own 20 to ASU's 24 midway through the first quarter. Patrick Rooney missed a 41-yard field goal attempt, and Arizona State never trailed after Thomas Weber kicked a 21-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
The Sun Devils made it 10-0 on a 14-yard pass from Carpenter to Kerry Taylor late in the first half.
Early in the third quarter, Carpenter hit Kyle Williams for a 21-yard score to put the Sun Devils up 17-0.
Carpenter and Williams connected for a 51-yard score to make it 24-0 late in the third quarter.
