(Photo: Jack Simon/WCSN)
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – As the deafening sound of over 107,000 fans decked out in red, white and blue washed over Kyle Field, the Arizona State offense set up shop at the opposing 34-yard line.
Down 31-20 and with less than nine minutes left to play, the Sun Devils caught a break with a botched punt attempt capping off a defensive stop. ASU proved it could stay in the ring for over 45 minutes, but, especially with a golden opportunity in hand, a score of any kind was needed to keep the fight going for another round.
Instead, all it took was one play for the Aggies to deliver the knockout on a pressure of third-year quarterback Cutter Boley that turned into a 45-yard pick-six.
Despite the defensive house call in front of a roaring crowd effectively putting the game out of reach, it was also just one moment in a series of errors that ultimately led to Arizona State (1-1) dropping its first game of the season 48-20 at No. 10 Texas A&M (2-0) on Saturday.
“If there’s one takeaway from this game, the takeaway is that we’re a good football team,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “I don’t leave this game not thinking that we can beat anybody. But I also leave saying ‘Man, if we have four turnovers, we can lose to anybody too’.”
The first of four turnovers came just three minutes into the game when a three-and-out from the Aggies’ offense was undone by a muffed punt return from second-year wide receiver Cory Butler Jr. Three plays later, Texas A&M took a 7-0 lead on a goal line rushing touchdown.
However, Boley found fourth-year wide receiver Reed Harris four times for 51 yards on the ensuing drive and capped it off with a highlight-reel 21-yard grab in the bottom left corner of the end zone.
“Reed’s a guy who’s really reliable and a guy that we trust the ball in his hands and a guy that’s able to get open in a lot of different ways,” Boley said. “I really trust having him out there and throwing the ball to him.”
The Aggies responded by marching 71 yards down the field and making it to the Sun Devils’ 4-yard line at the start of the second quarter. Despite forcing two straight incompletions, a miscommunication led to three defenders hovering around the left side of the end zone and fourth-year wide receiver Isaiah Horton catching an uncontested touchdown.
After kicking a 30-yard field goal and shutting down the following Texas A&M possession, ASU faced a fourth-and-one at its own 42-yard line. Dillingham gambled on a fake punt play, but the bold move backfired as third-year tight end James Giggey fumbled the ball and failed to reach the first-down marker.
As a result, the Aggies drained over two minutes off the clock and put three more points on the board before the end of the first half.
“If we get a certain look, it’s there,” Dillingham said. “If we get a certain look, it’s not there. It’s a check play, we get the look, we’re gonna run it. Miscommunication, there’s something. Thought we had it, but we didn’t, so we didn’t check out of it. Once again, I don’t mind those types of things. We’re going to go out swinging, so I feel good about that. But we just can’t self-destruct.”
The Sun Devils staved off the collapse for one more quarter and grabbed the momentum right away in the form of an interception by sixth-year defensive back Lyrik Rawls on the first play of the Aggies’ opening drive.
Despite only being able to come away with a 35-yard field goal, ASU was on the brink of forcing another game-changing defensive stop as a pass from fourth-year quarterback Marcel Reed fell incomplete on a fourth-and-two inside the 50-yard line. However, a defensive holding penalty on third-year defensive back Rodney Bimage Jr. opened the door for another Horton touchdown grab.
In comparison to the Aggies’ only committing one penalty towards the end of the fourth quarter, the Sun Devils were charged with nine penalties for 62 yards.
“There (were) a lot of little plays out there that stacked,” Dillingham said. “I need to go and watch the tape because it wasn’t discipline penalties just off the start.”
When ASU needed it most, Boley located Harris moving towards the right sideline and set up the wideout for a 51-yard tightroping touchdown to cut the deficit back down to four. The Boston College transfer finished with nine receptions for 189 yards and two scores on the day.
“I’m real proud of Cutter,” Harris said. “I feel like for the way (he) stepped up, coming into this atmosphere, it’s daunting from hindsight. But we played a real good game.”
A chance to take the game outright even appeared immediately afterward as the defense forced a three-and-out, but a moment of hesitation from Boley led to a sack, putting the ball right back in the Aggies’ hands to start the fourth quarter.
Although the Sun Devils still only trailed by four with 15 minutes left, a blown coverage allowing third-year wide receiver Mario Craver to stroll into the end zone from 33 yards out started a domino effect that the maroon and gold couldn’t recover from.
The pick six off a ball thrown up in the air as Boley hit the ground was the first of three consecutive turnovers by ASU in the fourth quarter. By the time 10 more points wound up in the possession of the Aggies due to a Kyson Brown fumble and another pick six, what was once a tight-knit battle transformed into a crushing defeat.
“That fourth quarter, it all started on that one play, and then it was three straight turnovers,” Dillingham said. “I think everybody started pressing. We just can’t press in that situation, including myself.”
The Sun Devils have no time to mourn the disappointing defeat as they prepare to arrive in London on Sunday for their next contest against Kansas in the Union Jack Classic. While the final stat sheet may reflect silver linings like outgaining the No. 10 team in the country by over 100 yards, ASU’s trip to Kyle Field is a testament to how a race is finished is all that ultimately matters.
“I think stats are for losers, and our stats showed that we played well tonight and that’s for losers,” Dillingham said. “It’s a great example of it, but it does show that we can be competitive. It does show that we can hang. It does show (that) we have a good football team. We’ve got to clean up the important things, flush it and go play a good Week 3.”
