ASU Football: Lack of composure troubles No. 24 Sun Devils in consecutive weeks

(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)

The Herm Edwards era at Arizona State reached arguably its lowest point Saturday night at the Rose Bowl. The Sun Devils were sloppy and uncomposed, oftentimes showcasing the look of a team relying upon a plethora of freshmen.

Inexperience and youthfulness were expected this year. But for the second straight week, Arizona State looked unprepared for the test ahead. After an 18-point loss at Utah last week – in which ASU was called for 12 penalties totaling 122 yards – the Sun Devils responded with another performance marred by poor execution and self-inflicted mistakes.

“It was more than just the score,” head coach Herm Edwards said following the Sun Devils 42-32 loss. “Our emotions, we didn’t handle them very good and at times I felt like we had low energy early in the football game.

“I don’t know what that is. I can’t explain it. I can’t tell you what it is. I don’t know. It looked like a different football team.”

Most of the Sun Devils penalties can be attributed to one of two things: inexperience or lack of composure. On the Sun Devils opening drive, freshman tight end Nolan Matthews committed two false starts on consecutive plays, setting the Sun Devils up with a second-and-19. Junior running back Eno Benjamin lost his second fumble of the year on the next play.

“In the first half we weren’t ourselves,” freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels said. “That’s the main thing, we just didn’t play our game.”

The Sun Devils’ lack of composure wasn’t just limited to the freshmen. It spread across the roster. With time winding down in the first half, sophomore safety Aashari Crosswell kicked an incomplete pass from Dorian Thompson-Robinson, giving the Bruins 15 yards and another first down. Two plays later, Thompson-Robinson connected with Kyle Philips for a 20-yard score, and No. 24 Arizona State went into the half trailing 28-7.

“We’ve gotta stop the penalties,” sophomore linebacker Darien Butler said. “That’s really what’s hurting us. Especially on defense. You get a 15-yard penalty, those always lead to a touchdown. Every time. It never fails.”

On ASU’s opening drive of the second half, Daniels connected with Kyle Williams for a gain of 41, and Frank Darby for a gain of 36. With the Sun Devils situated at the UCLA 2-yard line, Benjamin was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, the Sun Devils second of the game.

“I got flagged for throwing the ball at the referee,” Benjamin said. “Am I not supposed to give the ball to the referee? I don’t know.”

While Benjamin failed to understand his unsportsmanlike conduct, the Sun Devils failure to enter Pasadena with focus and energy against a 2-5 UCLA team allowed Chip Kelly and the Bruins to take control early.

“They did everything we saw [on film],” said Butler, who had 10 tackles in the loss. “We didn’t come ready. We didn’t give ourselves a chance.”

For the most part, Arizona State and UCLA are in similar situations. Both the Sun Devils and Bruins employ second-year coaches who lead young teams with young quarterbacks. Yet prior to Arizona State’s trip to Salt Lake City, ASU had, for the most part, avoided looking youthful. Through the first seven weeks, the Sun Devils had been the least penalized team in the Pac-12.

In subsequent weeks, the Devils were penalized 18 times for 189 yards, allowed the most points in a game (42) and saw the largest deficit (32) of the Herm Edwards era. Aside from the penalties, the defensive struggles could be attributed to an inability to get off the field on third down. UCLA converted on half of its third down attempts, going 7-for-14 against defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales’ defense.

With the Sun Devils reeling – two of the three losses of greater than 10 points in the Edwards era have come in the last two weeks – the second bye week of the season allows them an opportunity to regroup.

“Going through this, we’re going to find out a lot about the young guys in the locker room and about the seniors, too,” Edwards said. “Who wants to lead and who wants to step up?”

“It’s just how we overcome it,” Daniels said. “It’s just really how we bounce back from this. Are we going to accept the challenge or are we going to fold?”

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