ASU Football: Sun Devils defense struggles once again vs USC

(Photo via Rebecca Striffler/WCSN)

Despite a 25-42 loss, the Sun Devils still managed to exceed expectations in their game against the No. 6 ranked USC Trojans. However, this was in no part due to the defense that allowed 485 yards of offense from sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams and company.

Defensive struggles were to be expected with the Sun Devils coming into the LA Coliseum to take on the Trojans’ high-powered offense, but a game full of broken tackles and missed opportunities were far below the standard ASU has set for itself.

“Yeah, we had a lot of chances today at the quarterback. We just didn’t capitalize,” said graduate defensive safety Khoury Bethley. “I mean, he’s a great athlete, but when you get those opportunities to get off the field and put them behind the chains, you’ve got to capitalize on them, and we didn’t do that today.”

This was evident almost immediately from the get-go when a bad snap in their own territory on 3rd-and-6 for the Trojans on their first drive of the game turned into a Williams first down. The eventual result of the drive was a touchdown.

This was one of several moments in Saturday’s game in which the Sun Devils’ pass rush overtook the Trojans’ offensive line, but just when it seemed ASU’s front was moments away from getting Williams on the ground, he broke out of the pocket extending the play.

These plays hurt the Sun Devils the most when they came in third-down situations, as they were almost incapable of getting off the field, with the Trojans converting 8 of their 9 third-down situations.

“Our guys got to make sure that they keep their eyes on their guys,” said interim head coach Shaun Aguano. “We talk about dirty eyes. I think a lot of times when the quarterback breaks the pocket and extends plays, they get dirty eyes. They start looking at the quarterback and peeking, and those guys get separation. I thought it happened on two of the touchdown passes. I thought it happened on a couple of the third downs.”

Early in the second quarter, ASU was seconds away from burying Williams for a safety, but his awareness to extend the play and find an open receiver prevailed in the form of a first-down catch by junior wide receiver Jordan Addison right over the head of redshirt sophomore cornerback Ro Torrence.

Despite a pass rush that succeeded in pressuring Williams, the Sun Devils only completed one sack on the evening. Bethley, who recorded the lone sack, did so on a blitz. The success of ASU defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson’s newfound willingness to rush more than four players is one of the few bright spots on the evening.

“We put in a couple of new blitzes and pressures for this week,” said Bethley. “… I felt like it worked good sometimes, but we didn’t finish still a lot of times, you know, we had a lot of pressure and couldn’t finish on the quarterback. So I mean, Coach Donnie can only do so much. he put us in the right call. At the end of the day, it falls with us.”

“The quarterback Williams has a lot of Moxie, you know, he’s strong,” Aguano added. “We didn’t finish a lot of those plays wrapping up. And so [Bethley] is exactly right. We need to make sure that we finish those plays.”

Poor tackling wasn’t just a characteristic of the front seven in Saturday’s game. USC’s receiving core and redshirt senior running back Travis Dye put pressure on the secondary all night to make tackles in open space. Oftentimes, the Sun Devils were not up to the challenge.

Another positive for ASU’s defense was a third-quarter interception in the endzone by redshirt fifth-year cornerback Timarcus Davis, marking the first pick Williams has thrown all season.

Yet, even Davis isn’t immune to the poor tackling bug. His interception came just one play after he failed to cover and subsequently make tackles on back-to-back plays to end 24-yard and 11-yard receptions by Addison that put the Trojans in the red zone.

The Sun Devils will need to be diligent about making adjustments to issues plaguing the defensive side of the ball, especially with plenty of games left to play against offenses that know how to get the ball in the end zone.

“I mean, for us, defensively, I think we got to be better,” said Bethley. “The offensive side, they did their job. They kept us in the game today. Defense, we didn’t step up to the plate, though…That’s not good enough for no defense. That’s not our standard. So we’ve got to get back to the drawing board to figure this out because I mean, [if the] offense plays like that, you know, you think you should you should win the game. So, defense, we take full responsibility for this one. I feel like we got to be better, and we got to get in the film room and fix this for sure.”