(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
Just four weeks into his freshman campaign, Arizona State (3-1) freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels has taken responsibility for offensive struggles against Sacramento State, poor offensive line play, and now, the Sun Devils’ first loss.
“I put this game on me,” Daniels said after throwing the first interception of his career in the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s loss to Colorado. “That pick changed the game and changed the outcome. We had points on that drive.”
Daniels wants to take the blame. He’ll tell you. But he shouldn’t.
The true freshman from San Bernadino, Calif., was more than good enough for the Sun Devils to win their first Pac-12 game of 2019. Daniels completed 24 of 39 passes for 345 yards, two touchdowns, and the aforementioned interception. The problem for Daniels and the Devils was the early deficit they found themselves in.
“They were up 14 before you even could take your hat off and sit down,” Arizona State head coach Herm Edwards said.
Following a non-conference slate during which the Arizona State defense allowed a total of 21 points in three games, defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales and the defensive unit allowed 24 points in the first half Saturday night.
“We’ve gotta do a better job of when they go tempo of getting there faster, that’s probably the biggest thing,” junior safety Evan Fields, who had seven tackles in the loss, said. “I feel like once they started going fast, we didn’t have enough urgency to get lined up, so they got us out of place and they made plays like that.”
The Colorado offense did its’ damage without the contributions of junior wide receiver Laviska Shenault, who gashed the Sun Devils for four touchdowns last year, as he left the game with a first-half injury. In Shenault’s absence, Tony Brown hauled in nine receptions for 150 yards and three touchdowns for the Buffaloes.
“Defensively, this is a tough one for those guys. They had been pretty good for three weeks and then all of a sudden, they give up 34 points in one game,” Edwards said.
A lack of pressure on the quarterback was the biggest problem for the Arizona State defense according to Edwards, who said the Sun Devils defense was served some “humble pie”.
“Problems we ran into were obvious, we couldn’t put pressure on the quarterback,” Edwards said of Colorado’s senior quarterback Steven Montez, who was not sacked or hurried at all in the Devils’ loss. “He made a bunch of unannounced plays, plays that are not scripted, leaving the pocket some.”
On a third down and short with three minutes to play in the fourth quarter and the ball near midfield, the Sun Devils inability to get pressure on Montez allowed the Colorado quarterback to roll to his right and find K.D. Nixon for a gain of 13 yards. The third-down conversion allowed CU to set themselves up for a 44-yard field goal from James Stefanou. The junior kicker converted from the right hash and gave Colorado a 34-31 lead in a game which the Sun Devils never led.
As the Sun Devils advance deeper into conference play, ASU must create more discomfort for opposing quarterbacks. Otherwise, as Edwards said, the problems will persist throughout Pac-12 play, beginning next week with the undefeated California Golden Bears (4-0).
“We’ve gotta find a way to get to the quarterback,” Edwards said. “If we don’t, it’s going to be a long year. We’re going to have to score a lot of points, a lot of the time.
“But, we have to find a way to make the quarterback uncomfortable. He wasn’t very uncomfortable tonight.”
