Fright Night Black Lights: Arizona State upsets Missouri in Overtime

'Twas the night before Saturday,
And all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even a mouse....
Except at Sun Devil Stadium where a capacity crowd,
Was deafeningly loud.

Arizona State- who seem to always be the fall guy when big-time competition rolls into Tempe, finally pulled off an upset of their own when they beat No.21 Missouri 37-30 in overtime in front of a stadium-wide 'black out' (note to Arizona State Cheerleaders: The VFA supports your efforts!!).

If we're honest, it wasn't pretty.

• Both teams gave up a combined 214 yards in penalties. 
• Arizona State fumbled the ball in the fourth quarter on a bunt return and it came back to bite them as they lost a 14 point lead late into the game. 
• Missouri—with a chance to win—failed to win on a 48-yard field goal in the dying seconds.

The heroes of the game:

• ASU QB Brock Osweiler, who threw 353 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for 34 more important ones, as well as a TD. 
• Missouri QB James Franklin, who had 319 yards of his own (and 2 TDs).
• The Arizona State crowd, which was noisy all night long. The VFA has had too many experiences of Sun Devil Stadium where the atmosphere—if we're honest—has been somewhat of a joke. Nice to see it back to its raucous best.
• Long may it continue. When on form, the stadium has the potential to knock opposing offenses off their stride, and tonight, that was the case.

The villains

• Both sides managed to give away far, far too many penalties (as discussed earlier).
• The defenses weren't exactly up to much, and perhaps the reason why bigger, better teams in the Big XII and Pac-10 will pick them apart. Arizona State will also be a little worried about hard-hitting linebacker Vontaze Burflict's injury deep into the game, which will definitely worry the Sun Devils in the future—the pass rush didn't look exceptional after he left the building.
• Missouri kicker Grant Ressel, who missed a potential game-winning kick from 48 yards. True, 48 yard kicks aren't the easiest, but when the pressure comes......you've got to deliver.