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New ASU defensive coordinator Phil Bennett goes with first-teamers almost exclusively in season opener

Related Topics: Defensive coordinator

It seemed for the longest time Thursday night that Arizona State football would never sub on defense.

That was by design, new defensive coordinator Phil Bennett said after 37-31 win over New Mexico State.

"I wanted to see how they handled it," Bennett said. "When we needed to, when the game was in the balance, I thought we played well. Once we got it in control, we sort of went very vanilla and they made a couple of great catches."

ASU led 14-0 early but only 14-13 at halftime before dominating the third quarter (16-0) and adding an early fourth-quarter touchdown on Kobe Williams' 49-yard interception return for 37-13.