(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
The common denominator amongst every Arizona State Football coach who spoke this week was that Saturday’s upcoming contest against UCLA was essentially Week 1 again.
Four weekends separate Saturday’s game against the Bruins from the last time the Sun Devils took the field. After a clean eight months, the COVID-19 pandemic hit ASU’s roster and coaching staff hard, forcing the cancellation of three games and players scrambling to stay in shape.
The Sun Devils finally have a chance to redeem themselves after Week 1’s 28-27 loss to USC, in which ASU blew a 14 point lead with four minutes left. UCLA doesn’t offer what most thought it would at this point in the season though, making Saturday no easy task for the Sun Devils.
“This is Chip’s third season,” head coach Herm Edwards said. “He’s starting to collect players and try to fit his system in.
“They play hard. It’s going to be a test for us.”
At 2-2, the Bruins have surprised this year. They stood tall against then-No. 11 ranked Oregon before falling 38-35. They’ve handled Cal and Arizona comfortably, and fell in a 48-42 shootout to Colorado to open the year. Their two contests against the Buffaloes and Wildcats, respectively, have come without junior starting quarterback Dorian Thompson Robinson under center due to COVID-19 protocols. Redshirt freshman Chase Griffin – despite low passing totals – has kept the Bruins afloat in their starter’s absence.
ASU expects Thompson-Robinson to return Saturday.
“He’s very dynamic,” Edwards said of UCLA’s starter. “He can throw from different platforms. He’s fast once he gets outside the pocket. You saw that early in games. He can make a lot of plays and extend plays with his legs. That’s a concern for any defense.”
The heart of the Bruins offense has shifted without Thompson-Robinson in the fold, though. Senior running back Demetric Felton has ran for 537 yards on the season thus far, and is coming 206 and 167 yard performances in back-to-back games.
“That Felton kid has the chance to be the MVP of the conference,” Edwards said. “He is having an outstanding season. [He’s got the] ability to run and catch the football.
Co-defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce added: “He’s made up his mind that he’s going to be an elite running back. He’s good in space and has elite speed. Kelly is moving him all around. We’re going to have our hands full. We’re going to have to rally to him.”
ASU will account for Thompson Robinson’s multi-faceted abilities, but Pierce says his defense needs to key in on what the Bruins have established themselves as.
“You can see after the Colorado game that they made up their mind that they were going to run the ball,” he said.
Despite the rust the Bruins signal-caller may have, Thompson-Robinson displayed the ability to throw the ball against Colorado in Week 1, as he managed 303 yards and four touchdowns. The Sun Devils will be without starting senior cornerback Jack Jones and reserve junior safety Aashari Crosswell for Saturday’s contest due to a violation of team conduct, giving the Bruins a potential area of the field to target.
“They have some explosive players in the passing game as well,” Edwards said. “This is a very balanced offense.”
Pierce singled out multiple members of ASU’s secondary that will have to step up in the light of Jones and Crosswell’s absences, among them being redshirt sophomore Cam Phillips, freshmen T Lee and Ed Woods and sophomore KeJuan Markham.
“There’s going to be a lot of young guys playing the next couple weekends,” he said. “We’re going throw those guys in the mix and give them some playing time.”
Unlike its offense, the UCLA defense hasn’t found much steady ground this season. The Bruins held Arizona and Cal to just 10 points a piece, but were lit up by Oregon and Colorado in shootout losses.
“It’s a fast defense,” offensive coordinator Zak Hill said. “They fly around and do a good job. They’ve played four games in a row. You can see them getting better each week. They’ve played good teams and good offenses. They’re not out of position often and fly to the ball. It’s going to be a good challenge for us.”
Edwards stated that he’d like to see ASU’s passing game improve this weekend. Week 1 – while ASU led most of the game – showed some holes in the chemistry between sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels and the team’s young receiver. The almost-four week gap won’t help improve that, but Edwards pointed toward the Bruins front seven as the offense’s biggest challenge.
“They’re big inside,” he said. “They have some athletic linebackers that can run.”
Hill and Edwards both mentioned UCLA’s pass rush as a threat, which figures to put extra pressure on Daniels and receivers like senior Frank Darby and freshman Johnny Wilson.
“They’re one of the better sack teams in the Pac-12,” Edwards said.
ASU would like to come out of Saturday with a better result than it did in its last game. Simultaneously, the Sun Devils are simply lucky to be on the field and finish out their season. UCLA will serve not only as a chance for ASU to earn its first win of the season, but for it to prove there was never any doubt in coming back.
“We live in a world of adversity everyday,” Pierce said. “This has lasted a little bit longer than we expected, but the good part about is that come Saturday night, we get to play football again.”
