(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)
College Football Playoff? Pac-12 Championship? Try bowl eligibility.
There is not a whole lot at stake in ASU’s matchup with Washington, except both teams are fighting for a postseason berth to keep their letdown seasons alive. Each sitting at 4-5 on the season, they find their performance trends moving in very different directions.
ASU has lost three games in a row, and it is now nearly impossible to consider any game remaining on their schedule a walkover contrary to popular belief in the beginning of this season. Washington, on the other hand, has shown signs of improvement despite only winning only one of their last four games.
Their last three losses came against No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Utah, and Oregon with a healthy Vernon Adams at quarterback. Each of those three games the Huskies found themselves hanging around in the third quarter.
The one win came against a struggling Arizona team in blowout fashion, 49-3 to be exact. One reason for their recent success is due to the play of their defense, which was expected to be the weak unit of this team due to all the talent they lost.
Head coach Chris Petersen lost four players to the NFL Draft over the offseason, including three All-Americans. Three of the four were drafted in the first round, and have found themselves in starting roles for each of their respective professional clubs. Despite the losses, the Huskies have the number one scoring defense in the Pac-12, only giving up 18.8 points per contest.
The other surprise has come at the quarterback position with their true freshman quarterback Jake Browning. Browning has eclipsed the 250 yard mark in the last two games, and in those two games he has contributed for six total touchdowns. ASU defensive coordinator Keith Patterson sees a lot of similarities between Browning and UCLA’s freshman quarterback Josh Rosen, whom the Sun Devils held to a 47.3 QBR (his lowest in conference play).
Washington is debatebly playing its best football of the season right now, and ASU could be playing its worst. From a talent standpoint ASU should have the upper-hand, but what it’s going to be about is bouncing back from three losses in a row. If they’re going to do this, there are some crucial aspects of Washington’s game that need to be slowed down.
Matchups to Watch
Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage vs UW Run Defense
Where ASU has made its money on offense in recent weeks is on the ground. Sophomore running backs Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard have both been healthy over the last couple weeks and it has shown that these two could be the best backfield duo in the conference. The two have each run for at least 80 yards in the last two games, but now face maybe their biggest challenge of the season.
The Huskies are fifth in the conference in terms of rushing yards allowed per game, but they have been run on the third most in the conference. Up to this point in the season, UW allows 3.3 yards per carry, leading the Pac-12.
Strapping up for the UW defense is one of the most impressive defensive players in the conference this season in senior linebacker Travis Feeney. He is second in the conference in tackles for loss with 13.
With all of this in mind, Richard averages 5.6 yards per carry, and Ballage is right behind him with a 5.0 per carry.
Despite the struggles ASU has seen all-around this season, the coaching staff has felt that they have more often than not won the battle at the line of scrimmage in most games. This game will have to be no different if they want to get their most consistent offensive element rolling against this impressive defensive unit.
Myles Gaskin vs Salamo Fiso
One of the biggest surprises of this Washington team to go along with their true freshman quarterback is the play of their true freshman running back, Myles Gaskin. Gaskin has burst onto the scene after having to earn the role of featured back in the beginning of the season.
His 738 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground lead all freshmen in the conference. He recently went on a three-game stretch of 100+ yard games.
The other side of this matchup is redshirt junior linebacker Salamo Fiso, who has stepped in in a major way for the Sun Devil defense this season. He leads the conference in tackles for loss and is sixth in total tackles.
Fiso has made a living in the backfield this year and was a major part in ASU holding three straight opponents under 100 rushing yards earlier this season.
How Gaskin has made his money is with his patient running. His most impressive runs against USC and Stanford came when he was waiting on his blockers and exploding through gaps at the right times.
Throwing Gaskin off will have to start with Fiso, and with the rate that he has found himself in the backfield this season it should be a very interesting matchup depending on how fast Fiso can get his hands on Gaskin.
Prediction
Teams have gotten the best of Browning this season when they can collapse the pocket and create a chaotic situation by applying pressure. Making Browning create plays under duress is the approach ASU took against UCLA and Josh Rosen, and Rosen’s stats are enough to show the effectiveness.
ASU’s defensive coaches have been pushing to force more turnovers, and facing a true freshman quarterback and running back is a great opportunity to get the ball out and create more opportunities for the offense against a sound defensive unit.
This game will come down to the turnover margin, whoever has even the slightest advantage in this category will likely have a significant upper-hand on the scoreboard.
That being said, ASU is more likely to cause a ruckus for the UW offense solely based on personnel. ASU wins 27-17.
