ASU Football: Washington State preview

(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)

Let the quest for bowl eligibility begin.

Arizona State hits the road to Pullman to take on an improved Washington State program that is coming off an impressive 30-28 loss to Stanford.

For various reasons, the Cougars present a unique challenge to the Sun Devils, particularly to ASU’s defense. WSU head coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense is hitting all cylinders this season under the direction of redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Falk.

Last season, in ASU’s 52-31 win over the Cougars in Tempe, Falk racked up 601 yards through the air in one of his first starts in place of an injured Connor Halliday. While Falk threw four interceptions that day, he has improved immensely this season and has only thrown six picks on 448 attempts.

With that in mind, ASU’s defensive backs have been adamant that they are excited to see a high frequency of balls in their direction because it presents more opportunities for interceptions.

With ASU struggling to find a way to force turnovers, one could expect the Sun Devils to jump on opportunities to snag a Luke Falk throw and take it the other way for six.

Also of note, for as infrequently as the Cougars run the ball, redshirt freshman running back Keith Harrington has allowed the Cougars to have something close to balance in Leach’s eyes. The running game has found success on the outside of the hash marks as Harrington is averaging 7.6 yards per carry this season.

Although ASU’s rushing defense has slowed down nearly every tailback they’ve faced off with this season, WSU isn’t exactly the traditional offense. Additionally, the Sun Devils haven’t been nearly as strong defending the pass as they have the run, and that was seen in plain sight against Oregon.

The Ducks had all but two touchdowns come on plays of 20 yards or more, and the big-play vulnerability is something that ASU head coach Todd Graham is concerned about.

Coincidentally, less of that concern surrounds the play of the offense–a unit which has struggled for the bulk of the season. Although the loss to Oregon stings, the Sun Devils did put up 55 points, highlighted by the sophomore running back duo of Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard. Against the Ducks, they averaged over 8 yards per carry, and that allowed the passing game to find a much better tempo early in the game.

Leach has WSU playing its best football since he arrived in Pullman, and ASU is having its worst season since Graham took over four seasons ago. Nevertheless, the game has every bit of potential to be a shootout dominated by two high-tempo offensive attacks.

Matchups to watch

WSU’s receivers v. ASU secondary

The Sun Devil secondary isn’t exactly the “bird gang” that their confidence would suggest. True freshman safety Kareem Orr leads the team with three interceptions, but he also blew a couple of assignments that led directly to Oregon touchdowns moments later.

WSU redshirt senior Gabe Marks and redshirt junior Dom Williams are in the top-40 in the country in receiving yards per game, and junior receiver River Cracraft provides a third quality option for  Falk to toss to during the course of a game.

That kind of balance on offense coupled with the sheer volume of throws that are bound to occur, ASU will likely rely on its secondary to lock down or at least slow down Falk and his receivers from shaking loose. Whether the Sun Devils utilize their nickel package at a higher frequency is something to watch for, especially if Harrington is able to shake his way to a decent day of running, considering the circumstances.

Falk has amassed the fourth-most passing yards in the country, and while plenty of that is due to Leach’s offensive philosophies, Falk still must do the lifting by hitting his guys, and his efficiency and improvements have been clear.

Prediction

The Sun Devils are reeling while Washington State is playing relatively well. However, ASU showed the ability to hang in a shootout against Oregon, so if the defense can generate pressure on Falk early and rattle the young quarterback, ASU’s chances naturally skyrocket. ASU has more talent that WSU does, but even considering that measurement, the Sun Devils have severely underachieved for the season.

All things considered, ASU is the better team that should win. Even if the Sun Devils have proven that they don’t perform up to their capabilities, the talent should keep the Sun Devils from getting completely off track and suffering their third consecutive loss.

You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com

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