(Photo via Brendan O’Keeffe/WCSN)
It’s well known that football is a game of inches. But Arizona State Football’s Saturday afternoon tilt with the Stanford Cardinal might have been a game of shoe sizes.
Despite a lethargic second half for the Sun Devils’ offense, redshirt junior quarterback Emory Jones had a chance to lead a game-winning comeback drive, trailing by one point with just under 90 seconds to play.
ASU was outside of field goal range on fourth-and-19 with 11 ticks left, and it needed something miraculous. There was hardly a doubt who Jones would target in the must-have situation.
The redshirt junior heaved it high down the left sideline to his go-to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Elijhah Badger, who had already caught six passes on a team-high nine targets for 118 yards and a touchdown.
With the pass targeting Badger’s back shoulder, the Sacramento, Calif. product made a split-second adjustment to reel in the long ball with one hand, seemingly getting one foot down and stumbling out of bounds at the goal line. Momentary silence filled the airwaves on Pac-12 Network, as JB Long and Yogi Roth stood in stunned disbelief.
But the Sun Devils’ moment of deliverance was short-lived, as upon official review, Badger’s right foot was just a few inches into the white-painted grass.
ASU’s last-ditch attempt came up short, and the Cardinal survived on five field goals for the 15-14 victory, snapping its program-record 10-game losing streak in the Pac-12 Conference.
But even with the Sun Devils’ disappointing result, one cannot overlook the strides that Badger has made in his time with ASU.
In his first two years, the redshirt sophomore was barely touched in the Sun Devils’ offense and was used more as a speedy, gadget-player on end arounds. Meanwhile, ASU’s wide receiver core consisted of zero established threats coming into the 2022 season, and first-year offensive coordinator Glenn Thomas was searching for someone to claim the lead role.
Badger has been the clear answer, and it all culminated in his best performance as a Sun Devil on Saturday.
Throughout the first half, the Jones-Badger connection was on full display, with the third-year wideout collecting 98 yards on five catches while no other pass-catcher had a reception over 10 yards.
Jones flashed the cannon on ASU’s third drive, unloading a 39-yard touchdown strike to the blistering Badger – who was untouched on his go-route to the end zone – to give the Sun Devils a 14-6 lead.
It seemed as if the Cardinal could not stop the ASU pass-catcher, and that he was just heating up in cool Palo Alto, Calif.
But the charging Sun Devil attack soon limped in the second half, and Badger’s production dropped off due to several possible factors left out of his hands.
First, it’s quite plausible that Stanford – led by 12th-year head coach David Shaw – simply made more defensive adjustments. Jones was held to a 43 percent completion percentage and was 2-for-6 on third downs of nine or more yards in the last two quarters. The Cardinal defensive front also held up its end of the bargain with two sacks, four hurries and a crucial forced fumble, albeit recovered by ASU, on Jones that pushed the Sun Devils further back in its last drive of the game.
Yet the even simpler reason was that ASU forgot about its own man.
Badger was targeted just twice with no receptions in the third quarter, while the Sun Devils chose a more rushing-centric playstyle. Excluding the five passing attempts on the final possession, ASU had a nine-to-16 pass-run ratio in the second half.
Badger reminded everyone of his talent on the Sun Devils’ opening drive of the fourth, high-pointing a ball and absorbing contact for a 20-yard gain. This would be his first and final catch of the second half.
It’s fair to question why ASU transitioned to the safer approach while Stanford kept chipping away at the lead. The Sun Devils averaged 16.2 yards per completion and just 3.8 yards on the ground.
Still, it has to be encouraging to see Badger’s capabilities. After tallying six catches, 91 yards and a touchdown against Oklahoma State earlier this season, he said his rapport with Jones was just beginning.
While the pair’s growth is clear, ASU’s final play showed improvement can still be made. If Jones led Badger more to his inside shoulder instead of the sideline, the duo’s heroics would have arguably been the brightest light in the Sun Devils’ stormy season.
But they’ll have to settle for baby steps now, and perhaps some toe-tap lessons.
