(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)
It wasn’t No. 4 Utah’s top-notch special teams at the center of its 34-18 win over Arizona State Saturday night, nor was it a dominating performance from senior running back Devontae Booker.
Instead, ASU’s offensive issues that seemed to be a thing of the past were very much present, and that was what kept the Sun Devils from climbing on top of the Pac-12 South.
For the better part of three quarters, almost none of the game followed to the trends of either team. Booker had just 17 yards on the ground; Utah made a special teams blunder that led to an ASU safety; and Wilson was having a career night through the air.
And yet, that all went up in flames as Booker gained 101 yards with two touchdowns in the final 15 minutes, and what was a dynamic performance from ASU’s special teams went to waste as the offense could not get going all night.
Aside from all the odd occurrences throughout the game, ASU had virtually zero success on the ground as sophomore running back Kalen Ballage sputtered to 49 yards on 18 carries. As an entire unit, ASU totaled 15 yards rushing (redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici accounted for -37 yards due to five Utah sacks). The Sun Devils averaged just 3.7 yards per play.
With ASU well below its average of 179.5 rushing yards, Bercovici was under fire nearly every time he looked to spread the ball. The five sacks by Utah doesn’t correctly represent the lack of rhythm ASU’s passing attack was plagued by throughout the night.
Outside of special teams plays, the Sun Devils failed to reach the end zone once. Opportunities were present, however, as senior D.J. Foster and redshirt junior tight end Kody Kohl both dropped sure-fire touchdowns.
It’s not that the Sun Devils weren’t in position to post more points than they did, and although Utah’s defense played well, the secondary wasn’t as strong as the Utes’ front seven. ASU redshirt senior wide receiver Devin Lucien had one of his better games as a Sun Devil, hauling in six catches for 118 yards, but like his teammates, he wasn’t able to find the end zone.
To make matters worse, Wilson and the passing game of Utah exposed ASU in the first half, as Wilson played what was potentially his best half of football to date.
With Utah’s running game racking up an anemic -2 yards in the first half, the Sun Devils had the Utes right where they wanted them. ASU talked all week about forcing Wilson to beat the defense through the air, and Wilson apparently had no problem with that.
Wilson went a manic 18-for-24 and tossed two touchdowns which allowed Utah to go into the half up 14-10. He also tossed six passes of at least 20 yards for the game. Routinely, it was redshirt senior safety Jordan Simone and freshman safety Kareem Orr who were exposed as Utah was able to stretch the field both inside and outside the hash marks.
Special teams kept the Sun Devils in the game after 45 minutes of play, but the struggle running the ball was the epicenter of ASU’s issues in this game.
The opportunity to take control of the Pac-12 South is gone. Utah has a stranglehold on the division now.
Even more importantly, the demons that haunted ASU on offense seemed to creep back. Granted, it could also be noted that missing Richard, their leader in all-purpose yards, clearly hurt the Sun Devils.
With that in mind, ASU has 12 days before its Thursday-night showdown with Oregon on October 29. Things could shake up while ASU is resting on its bye week, but realistically, the Sun Devils lost their chance to remain in control of their destiny this season.
ASU’s only option is to do its best to put pressure on the teams atop the Pac-12 South, but as a program that admittedly wants to compete for conference titles and championships, failing tonight’s test certainly puts the Sun Devils’ season in a murky cloud once again.
You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com
