ASU Football: Sun Devil defense responds to biggest test of year

(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)

A four-game winning streak forces those in a program to search for answers. At times, some of those answers might seem desperate. On Wednesday, defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales told members of the media that he suggested an 11-on-11 scrimmage during pregame warmups.          

That idea was quickly dismissed.          

But when the Arizona State (6-5, 3-5 Pac-12) defense took the field against No. 6 Oregon (9-2, 7-1 Pac-12) on Saturday night, Gonzales and his unit unveiled a different strategy – lining up with just 10 players in the formation for the first two plays from scrimmage.        

“We talked about thinking outside the box, huh?” Gonzales joked after the Sun Devils’ 31-28 upset. “Let’s go out there with 10 guys for the first two plays and show them that we’re better than you are with 10.          

“It worked. We got off the field on third down. We’re innovative around here.”           

With their base personnel on the field, the Sun Devils lined up without sophomore safety Aashari Crosswell. On the first play, Oregon senior quarterback Justin Herbert found senior Juwan Johnson for a gain of 25 yards.       

“[Aashari] was standing next to me,” head coach Herm Edwards said to Gonzales after the win. “I told Aashari he could go in anytime.”          

Once Crosswell made his way onto the field, the Arizona State defense – which had struggled to stop opponents in the first quarter during the four-game losing streak – forced a punt. After allowing their previous three opponents to score touchdowns on the opening drive of the game, the Sun Devils created momentum for the ASU offense.          

“It changed the offense, the defense, the confidence factor,” Gonzales said.           

“They messed up our season last year, and we knew we could come in here and do the same,” senior cornerback Kobe Williams said. “When we come in like that, we’re a team that’s hard to beat.        

“We came out today, and it was a different vibe from our team.”          

On Saturday night in Tempe, the Sun Devils played like an inspired bunch. Gonzales said the same mistakes made in previous weeks were masked by better effort in a bigger game. During opening halves of the UCLA, USC and Oregon State games, the Sun Devils allowed an average of 24.5 points per first half.           

For three and a half quarters, the ASU defense, which had so often come up short during the Devils longest long streak under Edwards, held likely future first-round pick Justin Herbert in check. The 6-foot-6 senior struggled for three and a half quarters, as redshirt junior Jack Jones and redshirt senior Khaylan Kearse-Thomas each grabbed interceptions on the Ducks’ first two drives of the fourth quarter.           

With redshirt freshman Cam Phillips back in the lineup after missing time with a concussion, the Sun Devil defense was capable of putting Williams in his natural cornerback spot. That familiarity for the senior from Long Beach, Calif., helped the Sun Devils secondary give Herbert trouble for most of Saturday night.         

“Jack [Jones] and Chase [Lucas] played significantly better tonight,” said Gonzales, whose defense held Herbert to 10-20 passing for 127 yards through the first three quarters. “Kobe was on the outside, and when we can share those reps between those three, we’re pretty good on the outside.”

Herbert’s two interceptions were the most interceptions a defense had forced the Eugene native into since Gonzales’ defense grabbed two during the Devils trip to Autzen Stadium last November.           

Throughout the 2019 season, the Ducks had yet to go more than six drives without a touchdown. Kearse-Thomas’ interception with 11:59 remaining in the fourth quarter capped a streak of seven consecutive drives without a trip to the end zone for Oregon.            

With an improved defensive presence, a flustered opposing quarterback, and a lead for the first time in 42 days, the Sun Devils were able to pull off the biggest win of the Herm Edwards era in Tempe.           

“The defense played their butts off,” said freshman Jayden Daniels, who threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns in the win.           

Given how the Sun Devils had played in the month prior, Arizona State’s performance on Saturday was an unexpected, yet promising sign for the future of the program. On the same night that Edwards and the Sun Devils destroyed one half of the Pac-12’s College Football Playoff hopes, it showed the rest of the country a glimpse of what the future in Tempe could become.           

“Dreams were crushed!” Frank Darby said as he burst into the media room. “Ain’t no playoffs.”

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