(Photo: Brendan O’Keeffe/WCSN)
TEMPE – The preseason goal for Arizona State Football was simple – to make a bowl game. Even with all the noise surrounding the program, the goal is still in sight for the Sun Devils, who need three wins to be considered for a bowl game.
With four games remaining, the objective was still in sight, but the path would be an uphill climb.
That trail became increasingly more difficult.
On Saturday, the Sun Devils (2-6, 4-1 Pac-12) stumbled down the mountain, falling to the No. 12 ranked UCLA Bruins (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) 50-36. To become bowl-eligible, ASU will have to win its remaining three games, two of which will come on the road.
“I take all the blame for not preparing us defensively and offensively for this game,” interim head coach Shaun Aguano said. “And it’s not on them, it’s on me. And so, I want to make sure that everybody understands that. And we’ll get it fixed. But our kids played to the last whistle, and the fans showed up tonight. We didn’t take care of it in the first half. We did get back in the game in the end, but I wanted to thank them too.”
Out of the gates, the Sun Devils caught a break courtesy of redshirt senior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who threw an interception on the first play to junior defensive back Chris Edmonds, giving redshirt junior quarterback Trenton Bourguet and the offense possession on UCLA’s 40-yard line. The drive wasn’t as productive as ASU hoped, settling for a 25-yard field goal.
After taking a 10-7 lead, the offense began to stall. They would fail to make plays on five possessions, going three-and-out on two of the series. During those drives, ASU held the ball for 8 minutes and 17 seconds, including a 32-second possession before halftime.
Bourguet was pressured all night, which hindered his ability in the pocket. The offense has been without senior offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson, shuffling the lineman across the front.
“They’re bringing six or seven [defenders], especially when we were in second and long,” Aguano said. “And we kind of knew that when we’re in second and long, and that’s why we didn’t want to be in second and long. That’s when their pressure packages come up. And then they bring their NASCAR. And I thought our o-line did a pretty good job.
“Of course, the thing with Trenton is, that’s the way to stop him. You’re gonna have to bring that pressure. And he does a good job of hitting the hot routes, but I put him in the situation to get hit because I didn’t take care of the efficiency on first down. And so, I made that mistake as a play caller.”
In total, Bourguet was sacked three times but took a lot of hits as he threw. Despite the pressure, Bourguet completed 78 percent of his passes, throwing for 349 yards and two touchdowns. His only interception came on the final drive when the Sun Devils were down by two scores.
“I thought they did a great job of bringing some pressure and trying to get me out of my game,” Bourguet said. “A couple of times, they got some good looks on me, but I just got to stay in the pocket and trust my reads, but they’re a really good defense. And I thought, the second half, we came out with some adjustments and were able to drive down the field.”
While the offense failed to score points, the defense struggled to hold UCLA’s offense, scoring four unanswered touchdowns. ASU allowed 402 rushing yards without senior running back Zach Charbonnet, who was unavailable, according to Ben Bolch of the LA Times.
Even without Charbonnet, the Sun Devils’ run defense was sliced open by a combination of Thompson-Robinson and the redshirt junior running back duo of Kazmeir Allen and Keegan Jones. The trio each scored rushing touchdowns and led the Bruins to an average gain of 9.6 yards on the ground.
“As a defense as a whole, we just got to be better,” Edmonds said. “… We pride ourselves as a defense as being built fast and physical. So, we just can’t let that happen. Obviously, just got to go back and watch the tape and see how we can correct things.”
The Sun Devils will need to win their remaining three games to become bowl eligible. Next week, Aguano and company will head to Pullman, Washington for a bout against Washington State, which has a forecast of below-freezing temperatures. They’ll return to Tempe to play Oregon State before heading to Tucson to play Arizona.
“Very confident that we can win out,” Edmonds said. “We trust each other in the locker room. We going get back tomorrow, lock in and watch tape – see what we can fix.”
The sentiment was reciprocated by Aguano, who had the uttermost belief in his team.
“And so, these next three games, we will play hard,” Aguano said. “We understand we have to win out to get to a bowl game. And these teams that we’re going to face, you know, Washington State had had a good game against Stanford, and then we got to face Oregon State, and then (Arizona) at their place. And so, we’re gonna be ready. We will be ready. When I say ready, I’m going to make sure that the coaches are preparing and preparing the kids to be successful. And I didn’t think we did a good job of that tonight.”
Aguano has preached an “ohana” mentality since he was named interim head coach. Through these tough times, having that mentality can be hard, but Aguano will continue to stress it.
“That is the most important part. When we met, right after (the game), I got them all together and made sure that we put a hand around each other. That’s the part about families. And when it’s hard times, how can we back each other up and not point fingers at each other. And then, I told him that I love them, and we’re going to take care of it.”
