The third quarter saw the Sun Devils increase their lead to 41-0 over the visiting UC Davis Aggies, but the main concern of this stanza is the continued cramping of quarterback Brock Osweiler.
Osweiler threw an interception early in the quarter, and in the process fell to the ground nursing his right leg. Both Taylor Kelly and Mike Bercovici stood up and began to warm their arms, and many of those watching the game (media and fans alike) thought that Osweiler's night was done.
Instead, Osweiler seemingly convinced coach Dennis Erickson to allow him to continue playing. While it's easy to applaud his competitiveness and desire, Erickson should have taken his star player out of the game before risking further injury.
Later in the quarter, Osweiler hit Aaron Plfugrad on the right end of the endzone, bringing the score to 38-0. During the throw, Osweiler's right leg seized up and appeared to swing around to the front of his body, and Osweiler collapsed.
Teammates grabbed his leg and attempted to stabilize it, which gives us the opinion that Osweiler experienced a rather severe charley horse on the play.
That was Osweiler's last action of the game, as true freshman Mike Bercovici was inserted at quarterback. #2 brought the Devils to the 3-yard line, where they kicked a field goal to take a 41-0 lead going into the fourth quarter.
But the question has to remain: why was Brock Osweiler out there, with so much to lose and so little to gain?