Sacramento State Hornets vs Arizona State Sun Devils Match Player Stats On Sep 05, 2013

Arizona State 55, Sacramento State 0: Taylor Kelly passed for 299 yards and tied a career high with five touchdown tosses as the host Sun Devils opened the season with a resounding win against the Hornets.

Arizona State (1-0) looked every bit like a team ready to make a big leap in its second season under head coach Todd Graham. Kelly, who passed for 3,039 yards and 29 touchdowns as a sophomore last season, showed no signs of slowing down as he threw scoring passes to five different receivers with only five incompletions in the first half.

The defense, meanwhile, forced four turnovers while holding Sacramento State (0-2) to 167 total yards. The Hornets, who were shut out in a season-opening loss to San Jose State, haven't scored since Nov. 17 at UC Davis.

Kelly, who also threw for five TDs in a 51-17 win at Colorado last season, led two second-half scoring drives before departing midway through the third quarter. He also was the third-leading rusher (22 yards) for the Sun Devils, who had nine different ball-carriers combine for 158 yards.

Sacramento State put together a 16-play opening drive, but Arizona State blocked the Hornets' 33-yard field-goal attempt and then went down the field and scored on Kelly's 16-yard pass to tight end De'Marieya Nelson. That was the first of six touchdowns by the Sun Devils in the final 18:51 of the first half.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Sun Devils won their 11th consecutive season opener and have averaged 47.1 points in those games. … Arizona State DT Will Sutton, the reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, walked off the field gingerly in the first quarter but later returned and recovered a fumble. … Sacramento State DB Nick Crouch was ejected for targeting.