ASU Football: Sun Devils talk defensive improvement after off week

(Photo: Brendan O’Keeffe)

Arizona State Football has struggled in its first half of the season, but the Week 7 bye week has allowed for them to self-scout and reevaluate which areas need improvement.

Although ASU allowed Washington to score 38 points, the defense had portions of the game that appeared to be better than previous outings. The defense kept junior quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who is one of the most powerful arms in college football, in check, limiting him to his second-lowest yardage and no touchdowns for the first time this season.

Now, after the bye week and an altered mindset, the defense hopes to continue its improvement ways after the time off.

“I think more so than it was (interim head) coach (Shaun) Aguano harping on it, I think it was just a look in the mirror type thing,” said redshirt junior defensive back Jordan Clark. “We just were playing awful. We were a bad football team, and you can’t do the same things over and over and expect something to change, so we just decided to take a different approach, decided to start playing more aggressive and harder, and I think it’s paying dividends.”

One of the key changes leading to the defense’s growth has been the change in pass-rushing philosophy by Aguano and defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson.

Dating back to the beginning of the season, the coaching staff routinely stuck with the four-man rush, even when it didn’t produce the anticipated results. However, starting with the game against USC, the Sun Devils began to utilize more blitzes. On Monday, Henderson was explicit about incorporating more blitzes and pressures into the defensive playbook moving forward.

Pressuring the quarterback could help the members of the defensive line, which has had trouble bringing down the quarterback. The change could benefit the defensive line and is being welcomed by them.

“Pressures definitely help a guy like me or guys like (redshirt sophomore defensive lineman) Omar (Norman-Lott), (sophomore defensive lineman) BJ Green, just being able to switch it up on them a little bit, get out the way,” Silvera said. “Don’t got to take those double teams all day. Don’t got to sit in there and just get beat up on all day. We can just get out there and try and make some plays, so I’m definitely all for it, and I really look forward to seeing that happen.”

A change in the pressures up front will also require the secondary players to play more man-to-man coverage, which earned another player’s stamp of approval.

“That’s my ball game,” redshirt sophomore defensive back Ro Torrence said. “Make it easy for me. Let me go down here and use my long arms. Let me use my gift, but honestly, though, I feel like that’s our identity as a team. I feel like that’s what we do well. We play man coverage, make the quarterback get the ball out of his hands fast, make him uncomfortable. I feel like that’s what we do well, play man coverage, so going forward with that, I feel like that’s the right call.”

Another boost to the defense’s performance as of late has been the players’ improved communication.

Although rough at first due to a plethora of transfers coming to the desert, the communication on the defensive side of the ball has progressed as the players have gotten more comfortable with each other.

“I think that’s just reps,” Clark said. “As time goes on, you just learn your teammates. I think that those game reps, especially just in our room, we’ve rotated so many people, started so many different people, so just guys having that experience I think has paid dividends for sure.”

“I feel like that was a big key for us in the Washington game,” added junior defensive back Chris Edmonds. “We finally started trusting each other as a defense. Like we were trusting each other out there, just playing fast and having fun, and communication was a big part of that.”

With the entire defense making strides forward and the bye week, players have been able to dive deeper into their individual development.

Clark, a staple at the nickel back position last season, has found renewed success as a starting safety. Through just five games, he’s surpassed his tackle total from last season while contributing two tackles for losses, two pass breakups, a pick six and several key defensive plays.

“I think it was just time,” Clark said. “I think I’ve kind of just been playing like a robot. Honestly, when I watch myself, I’m just trying to play to the integrity of the defense all the time and trying to do those things, and that’s not what [my coaches] are telling me to do. They’re telling me to go make plays. I think just with their confidence in me, their encouragement for me to do that, I kind of naturally just moved towards it.”

With the additional defensive pressure, Silvera is hoping to be able to get back on track for some of his goals for the season. As part of the Sun Devils’ highly touted defensive front, he’s hoping to be able to make a few more waves as the season progresses.

“I definitely wanted to get after the quarterback, which is something that I’ve been lacking, personally,” Silvera said. “I have zero sacks. I’ve got a bunch of tackles and no [tackles for a loss]. I’ve got to definitely get that up. That’s something I definitely was looking forward to doing, and I’ve been put in the position to make those plays, and I haven’t, so that’s on me to make those plays…”

With newfound techniques and newfound confidence in themselves, the defensive unit looks to keep improving and doing its part to propel the Sun Devils to wins.

“I think everybody is really pressed to keep winning,” Clark said. “Winning feels a lot better than losing. It’s a lot more pleasant to be in here when we’re winning games, so we’re just trying to stack success, avoid complacency and just win each and every day, and I think that we did that today, so I’m excited.”