PULLMAN -- Dennis Erickson took a hit for his team Saturday.

The Arizona State University head coach was standing on the sideline during the third quarter of the Sun Devils' 27-14 victory over Washington State when one of his receivers, Gerell Robinson, ran into him on his pass route and knocked the 62-year-old coach down.

He blacked out.

"They knocked me colder than a cucumber," Erickson told the Associated Press. "I was down and out."

Erickson stayed down for a few minutes before a couple of his assistants got him on his feet.

But he was woozy, and had to sit down on the bench. From the vantage of the press box, Erickson sat there for 5 minutes, hanging his head before eventually regaining enough strength to walk the sidelines.

For the next 10 minutes, he had two assistant trainers shadowing his every move, like bodyguards.

Erickson was still a little shaky after the game, but the victory made the former WSU coach feel better.

-- WSU's defense played a good game, getting six turnovers.

But the ASU defense was just too dominant against the Cougs, getting 12 quarterback sacks. WSU punter Reid Forrest was the team's top rusher with 15 yards.

"They put a lot of pressure on our quarterbacks," said WSU coach Paul Wulff. "Our defense did some great things. We just couldn't do anything on offense. ASU is very good defensively. One of the best in the country. Their defense against our offense was a mismatch for us."

Johnny Forzani, who caught a school-record 99-yard pass for a touchdown from quarterback Jeff Tuel, didn't play any organized football until he was 20 years old.

The Calgary native saw his high school football program fold when he was a sophomore, and he attended Douglas College in British Columbia to play basketball, helping the team to a Canadian national championship.

The Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders saw Forzani's speed, though, gave him a tryout, and signed him to their practice squad for 2007-08 and he played for the Junior Stampeders before transferring to Wazzu.

"In fact the first-ever play I had in football was an 80-yard touchdown," Forzani said.

That was his best until Saturday's play, in which he beat his man and outran him to the end zone.

"We all know he can run," said Tuel. "He said in the huddle 'I don't care what route it is, I can run by these guys.'"

NOTES: Drew Bledsoe, the Walla Walla High School standout who went on to stardom at WSU and in the NFL and has been retired for a few years, brought out the game ball before kickoff. ... Wulff, when asked if the bye week next week was coming at a good time, laughed and said "Yeah. We need to get healthy. Our offensive line and defensive line need to get a couple of guys back." ... Attendance at Martin Stadium for Homecoming was 26,010. The Cougars are averaging 23,571 fans for three home games -- easily putting them last in the Pac-10. Stanford is the next worst with an average of 37,338. USC is tops at 79,771.