ASU Football: Sun Devils Fail to Overcome Second-half Woes

(Photo via Bec Striffler/WCSN)

TEMPE — With Arizona State Football’s week one weather catastrophe win against Southern Utah in the rearview mirror, the Sun Devils turned their attention to Power Five opponent and future conference foe Oklahoma State on Saturday night.

Despite a more traditional game timeline in week two, it was still a tale of two halves, as the Sun Devils (1-1) failed to score in the final 30 minutes of the game. Three of ASU’s six second-half drives were terminated by a turnover on downs. The Cowboys (2-0) took advantage of ASU’s stalling offense and worn out defense en route to a 27-15 win in Tempe.

“At the end of the day we’ve got to be more consistent in the second half,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “We didn’t put together a drive, and you’re not going to win many football games when you’re not converting third-and-1s and fourth-and-1s, and I think that’s the simplest way to look at this second half.”

After sticking to simplicity in the first game of the season, Dillingham and the Sun Devils showed off some extra tricks in their bag early on. Once again, junior running back Cam Skattebo cracked open the scoring, this time using a 13-yard rush on a direct snap to score six.

The defense also showed what trick it had up its sleeve in junior defensive end B.J. Green. Green recorded the Sun Devils’ first sack of the season with his explosive jump off the line. He found his way into the Cowboys’ backfield once again within the final two minutes of the second quarter to cut Oklahoma State’s final first-half drive short.

“He’s been a phenomenal player for us all fall camp, all spring,” Dillingham said. “He’s a great worker. He’s got great energy. I’m glad I have him on our team and I’m glad I get to coach him.”

Overall, the Sun Devils recorded three sacks and six tackles for losses, with the defensive line providing heavy pressure early in the game. ASU was also extremely successful at stopping the run in the first half, holding Oklahoma State to a net gain of zero yards. This was a stark difference from the 113 yards the Sun Devils allowed on the ground in the back half of the game.

“Our defensive line did a really nice job getting into the backfield,” Dillingham said. “In the first half, we did a phenomenal job stopping the run. In the second half, they leaned on us a little bit, which is unfortunate, and part of that is we couldn’t keep our defense off the field.”

Offensively, it was a similar story for the Sun Devils. After first-half scores via Skattebo and a thrilling 65-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Jaden Rashada to redshirt junior Elijhah Badger – who was left wide open due to busted coverage – ASU’s offense didn’t do the defense any favors, failing to maintain possession of the ball for longer than three minutes on all but one second half drive.

In addition to the turnovers on downs, ASU was forced to punt twice. One drive was even cut short by OSU redshirt sophomore safety Lyrik Rawls, who picked off Rashada for the first time this season.

Twice, the Sun Devils faced fourth-and-short situations and failed to convert. Both times, the ensuing Oklahoma State drives resulted in touchdowns for the Cowboys, first to give OSU the lead partway through the third quarter, and then to extend it late in the fourth.

“The issue is we didn’t convert (4th-and-shorts), and when you don’t convert those, it is a turnover,” Dillingham said. “That’s the story of the game. If you convert fourth-and-1s, I think the game is different. We don’t convert fourth-and-1s and the game is how it is.”

Although the Sun Devils surprised Oklahoma State with the wildcat package early in the game, the Cowboys caught on coming out of the halftime break. Suddenly, ASU lost the ability to run the ball forward regardless of the formation it used.

Ultimately, the Sun Devils finished with 110 yards on the ground, but 66 of those came in the first half, and ASU could only scrounge up 2.9 yards per attempt in the final two frames.

“It’s our job to adjust if things aren’t working even if we think it’s the best thing,” Dillingham said. “We have to be more creative to find a way to be successful throughout the entire football game…I think in the second half, they took away the deep ball. They backed everybody up and they challenged us to run the ball, and we still couldn’t get into a rhythm running the ball. And when you can’t run the ball versus that defense, it’s a challenge because they play with an extra safety.”

The Sun Devils have totaled just three second-half points through the first two weeks of the season. This time, however, the offense simply didn’t do enough in the first half to bolster the team’s significant drop off in the second. Even though there was no hourslong weather delay like in week one, the Sun Devils still seemed to lack energy from the start of the second half.

ASU will need to figure out to maintain its spark throughout the game’s entirety if it hopes to carry a winning record into Pac-12 Conference play.

“That locker room is upset, but like I told the locker room, everybody is rejoicing in the failure. I said, ‘The rest of the world is fired up.’ I said, ‘We need to respond, we need to come back tomorrow, come back Monday and get better, learn from your mistakes and grow.’ And that’s all you can do.”