(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
No. 18 Arizona State Sun Devils (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) picked up from where they left off as they found their footing on the Tempe grass following the bye week, sneaking past the Washington State Cougars (3-3, 0-3 Pac-12) offensive attack, 38-34.
The win is due in large part to multiple aspects of this ASU team; however, it was not smooth-sailing throughout the early portions of the contest.
The Sun Devils could not put a number on the scoreboard in the first quarter and instead allowed freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels to hit the turf three times. Daniels was not sacked for the remainder of the game, however.
Though the pressure wore off of Daniels as the game progressed, the quarterback never seems to be fazed by the pressure around him. The freshman is playing like anyone but a freshman.
“I just need him to be Jayden,” Edwards said. “Don’t let anyone back you into the corner and say you’re like this guy because you’re not — you’re Jayden Daniels. If you just be Jayden Daniels every Saturday, you’ll be fine.”
Daniels was hitting on all cylinders in the first half, finding redshirt senior Brandon Aiyuk for 140 of his 236 first-half passing yards and both of his scores.
The freshman quarterback totaled 363 yards through the air with three touchdowns. He also contributed a rushing touchdown to ultimately give the Sun Devils the victory.
“I can’t really explain [the game-winning touchdown],” Daniels said. “It was a great feeling because we won the game off of it…it was really just having the big game that we had as an offense today…it was just a good team win.”
A focus for the ASU offense coming into this weekend was the effect of the running game with a steadily improving ground game from junior Eno Benjamin and company. Benjamin tallied three touchdowns two weeks ago against Cal and continued from where he left off.
The running back had 19 carries for 137 yards and a touchdown, giving the Sun Devils a balanced attack during the game. Benjamin also hauled in six catches for 34 yards — four of those grabs coming in consecutive plays on the final drive.
“We were able to go out and get this win,” Benjamin said. “Things happen, we play the whole game, we knew it was going to be a dogfight.”
Aiyuk had a career day, finishing the game with seven receptions for 196 yards and a hat trick. This is the first time in his career that he has scored on multiple occasions. He set another milestone in the contest by going over 1,000 career receiving yards in his one-plus years of football for the Sun Devils.
“He is unique with the ball in his hands — he’s a skillful weapon,” Edwards said. “He’s a big-time player…that’s what we saw when we recruited him. He’s a guy that we try to get the ball to.”
Though ASU contained the Cougars on the ground, the defense could not stop the arm of the nation’s leading passer, redshirt senior Anthony Gordon. The quarterback already has over 2,000 yards through the air and over 20 passing touchdowns.
Gordon finished the game 44-for-64 for 466 passing yards and three touchdowns. The ASU defensive front did not put a hand on Gordon’s jersey, mostly due to his quick release and the lack of a pass rush throughout the game.
“We couldn’t quite get to the quarterback…we decided to bring more pressure and see if he could get out of it,” head coach Herm Edwards said. “He had pressure at times but did a pretty good job. With [pressure] happening, they’re going to score some points, but I felt our offense started rolling.”
The ASU defense has been stout for a majority of the season but faced the daunting task of trying to contain the No. 1 offense in the Pac-12 and No. 8 in college football.
The Sun Devils came into the matchup ranked No. 1 in the conference for red-zone defense but allowed scores on every trip the Cougars had. After a shanked punt by ASU’s Michael Turk, Washington State had an opportunity to take a seven-point lead.
The Sun Devil defense held the Cougars to just a field goal and allowed its offense to have the final drive.
“You don’t fix nothing that’s not broke,” redshirt junior cornerback Jack Jones said. “We just went in with the same mindset…we went in with the same game plan. We trust the coaches and what they’re doing in the film room…we just played harder.”
The Sun Devils now have a 10-game winning streak at home with games kicking off before 4 p.m. Arizona time, averaging over 40 points per game in those.
Arizona State heads to No. 15 Utah this upcoming weekend for what should be another thriller. While the Washington State win feels like ASU has finally found its rhythm, Edwards will never be fulfilled.
“I know what we gotta do now, we gotta go play Utah,” Edwards said. “That’s all I care about. This one’s done, I can’t do anything about this one. I can enjoy it for about an hour…and then I’ll be the first one in tomorrow [to] watch the tape by myself…and then from there I’m on to Utah.”
