(Photo: Joey Plishka/WCSN)
The story of Arizona State Football’s 2021 campaign so far has been one of drastic extremes.
The Sun Devils have won five games in a very convincing fashion, and against tough Pac-12 Conference opponents like UCLA and Stanford.
The other side of the coin shows three cataclysmic losses against equally formidable teams like Utah and BYU.
Following a scarring 34-21 loss to Washington State last Saturday, ASU is at its lowest point yet. In a matter of three weeks, the Sun Devils have gone from controlling their own destiny in the Pac-12 South to being on the precipice of mediocrity for a second straight season.
“There’s nothing comfortable about losing,” head coach Herm Edwards said on Monday. “You got to have a pit in your stomach and you have to walk around with it everyday knowing, ‘I want the joy of winning, I want to walk around and watch these guys celebrate.’ We need to find a way to win a game.”
Despite being outscored 62-21 over their last game and a half – dating back to the start of the second half against Utah – the Sun Devils have an opportunity to get back on their feet against USC this Saturday at home. The Trojans have had a comparable season to that of the Sun Devils in the sense that their wins have been just as convincing as their losses have been demoralizing.
It’s also been a tale of two quarterbacks for the Trojans this season, with junior Kedon Slovis coming in as a third-year starter and freshman gunslinger Jaxson Dart filling in on occasion. The pair have given interim head coach Donte Williams confidence in whoever goes under center.
“The USC game is important for us,” Edwards said. “We got a lot of players from California and this is always one of those games where there’s some chippiness, it seems, when these two teams get together. They’re playing two quarterbacks right now and kind of rotating them. When you watch them play, they are very talented.”
Last time out against the winless Arizona Wildcats was the first time the Trojans truly “rotated” between Slovis and Dart in a 41-34 win at home. The two combined for 313 yards passing and four touchdowns.
The duo has also managed to absorb the third-fewest sacks of any team in the Pac-12, something that doesn’t play into the favor of the Sun Devils defense, which hasn’t recorded a sack over the last two weeks. The Robert Rodriguez coached defensive line – to go along with the rest of the ASU defense – still stands second in the conference in that category with 21, but it hasn’t forced the same pressure recently that it did early in the year.
“The last two opponents have had a plan for us as a defensive line,” Rodriguez said. “I have been a little disappointed in our level of play in terms of the one-on-ones, you gotta win those at a high percentage and we haven’t done that as well as we did the first couple weeks.”
The Sun Devil defense notoriously suffocated offenses at the line of scrimmage and in the backfield early in the season, particularly in the second half where they shutout UCLA and UNLV. The difference has been the adjustments made at half – or the lack thereof – that has bitten ASU mightily all year, something Edwards emphasized on Monday.
“We got to start playing well,” Edwards said. “I think we got to get it going early offensively and defensively and just play a full game. We haven’t played a full game, we’ve played ‘half’ football games and you obviously aren’t going to win like that.”
The Trojans are without a top target in junior wide receiver Drake London, who suffered a right ankle injury against Arizona that will sideline him for the rest of the season. London was in the midst of a historic season and was the focal point of USC’s vaunted passing attack.
His absence hurts USC badly on that front, as the air-raid scheme has led it to wins over its previous two meetings with the Sun Devils. In those matchups, the Trojans have thrown for 858 yards and six touchdowns.
London accounted for 155 receiving yards and two touchdowns in those games.
In sum, that sustained pressure will be a factor against the Trojains not just to suppress their passing game, but to get back on track from a defensive standpoint. Rodriguez feels that even though USC hasn’t been as prone to that kind of issue this season, they still have their weaknesses.
“They’re wearing USC uniforms and they’re great players but they all have weaknesses,” Rodriguez said. “Don’t look at them as Superman, look at them as Clark Kent. Understand they’re wearing Superman’s uniform but they’re people.
“Every player has their kryptonite.”
For as many steps backwards the Sun Devils have taken over the past two weeks, arguably no unit has taken more of a hit than the offense. The Washington State contest seemed to feature the ASU offense at its worst.
Six turnovers – five of which occurred in the first half – led to an overall collapse from offensive coordinator Zak Hill’s unit, and one that the Cougars took full advantage of. The Sun Devils did manage to put two scoring drives together in the final frame but it didn’t matter.
“We didn’t react in a way to give ourselves a chance,” Edwards said. “We kind of responded in the fourth quarter but at that point we were in catch-up mode.”
Junior quarterback Jayden Daniels dealt with pressure all game which inevitably led to a pair of interceptions. Sophomore running back DeaMonte Trayanum, graduate wide receiver Bryan Thompson and redshirt freshman running back Daniyel Ngata all coughed up fumbles in the effort as well.
With the return of redshirt senior running Rachaad White likely against the Trojans, the Sun Devils still have to get their rhythm back offensively if they want any chance of finishing atop the South. With good defenses like Washington and Oregon State still in front of them, it won’t be easy.
The Trojans could be the opponent ASU needs to find that groove again though. At 28.6 points allowed per game, the USC defense is second to last in the Pac-12 in that area while giving up nearly 400 total yards per game.
In front of a sellout crowd at Sun Devil Stadium, ASU will continue through the most crucial stretch of its regular season schedule. With the margin for error being so slim, all the Sun Devils can do in hopes of a potential run at the Pac-12 Championship is win, but the fate they once controlled is a distant memory.
“I think every week the thing to realize is that there is so much put into this,” Edwards said. “What you get out of it is the joy of winning a game. We haven’t felt that in two weeks.”
