(Photo: Haley Spracale/WCSN)
Nine.
That’s the number of football games that remain in Arizona State’s regular season, which took a hard 180 last week when the Sun Devils were flagged for 16 penalties and coughed up four turnovers at then-No. 23 ranked BYU. With three games already under its belt, ASU now faces Colorado in its first Pac-12 Conference opponent back home in Tempe on Saturday night.
“When we get into conference play, anything can happen,” head coach Herm Edwards said.
Arizona State lost more than the game last Saturday after graduate student defensive lineman Travez Moore, a transfer from LSU, suffered a season-ending leg injury in the fourth quarter. Although Moore isn’t a starter for the Sun Devils, he is a key rotation player as a pass rusher, which hurts the weakened depth of ASU’s defensive front – the Sun Devils already lost senior defensive lineman Jermayne Lole to injury before the season even started.
What was supposed to be the strong point of ASU’s defense— the secondary— has yet to prove their cohesiveness so far this season, as BYU’s vertical attack took advantage of the Sun Devils’ man scheme. Nevertheless, senior linebacker Darien Butler has provided some stability for the Sun Devils’ defense with 10 tackles and three interceptions through three weeks.
ASU is looking to clean up its game against the Buffaloes this weekend, according to Edwards.
“It’s just flat focus,” Edwards said. “When you commit penalties, you’re either a step behind or your emotions get to you.”
Along with the Sun Devils, Colorado also had a rough game last week with a 30-0 loss to Minnesota. The Buffaloes only managed four first downs in the first half and Colorado’s starting freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis was sacked four times. Lewis completed just eight of 16 pass attempts for 55 yards.
Colorado finished with just 63 yards total offense on 45 plays — an average of just 1.4 yards per offensive snap. It’s a unit that has been seemingly absent to the task since the first half its game against Texas A&M in Week 2.
Despite the offensive outing, or rather lack of one by Colorado, there were a few defensive highlights for the Buffaloes last weekend. Senior defensive linebacker Nate Landman finished with 13 tackles and a forced fumble along with fellow junior linebackers Quinn Perry and Guy Thomas, who earned 10 tackles each.
“Defensively they’re long,” Edwards said. “They got a really good secondary, got a lot of man to man [and] a lot of press coverage, so that’s going to be a test for us and the passing game.”
The connection between ASU junior quarterback Jayden Daniels and his wide receivers remains a concern heading into Week 3.
“We need some explosive plays in the pass game,” Edwards said.
Despite Daniels being a talented passer, the passing game has been limited. The leading receiver for ASU is senior running back Rachaad White, who has 15 receptions for 117 yards.
“Everybody needs to be on the same page,” Edwards said.
With both programs are coming off tough defeats, it is seemingly imperative that the Sun Devils’ offense is able to regroup better than Colorado’s offense in order to be successful Saturday night. If ASU can manage to play a clean game with limited penalties and utilize all their offensive weapons, a win that gets the Sun Devils back on track could certainly be in the cards.
