ASU Football: A Closer Look at Defense
By Mike Slifer
After two games this season, the ASU defense has given up 35 points. Not bad. Considering the level of competition, some fans or critics would expect more. To that notion, most of the players and coaches within the program will probably just say “whatever” and move on.
No matter what your feelings are on this season’s performance, nobody can deny that the defense was the big question mark coming into the season. Losing Will Sutton, Carl Bradford and seven other starters is a big deal.
Of course, inside the program, confidence is high. The Sun Devils are in fact, 2-0 heading into this road contest with Colorado. They did rest their starters most of the second half against Weber State. Against New Mexico, this young defense faced an unorthodox triple option offense. That offense could make almost any team look silly from time to time.
As an outsider, it appears that this defense still hasn’t quite been tested. They have made some mistakes. They’ve made “critical errors” that coach Graham talks about. But they’ve also played quite well.
This is where things get tricky. The expectations for this team can be confusing. On one hand, the fans expect ASU to be really good and contend for a PAC-12 Championship. On the other hand, those same fans, if they are honest, will admit that they are young and inexperienced on defense.
The truth is that its probably too early to judge this defense by a play or two here and there. Yes, Jaxon Hood and Tashon Smallwood have been caught on film getting worked by the offensive linemen from Weber State and New Mexico. Yes, Salamo Fiso looked lost against the option.
It doesn’t help that the coaches still don’t feel happy about the Devil Backer position. Even this week, newcomer Ismael Murphy-Richardson, a true freshmen who missed almost all of camp due to eligibility issues, is repping and listed with the second team. That just seems to be a reach.
To be fair, the coaching staff is doing everything they can to get more production out of everybody. Position battles are raging all around, especially at corner and safety. Coach Graham has admitted for the last month that they are taking a committee approach to the defensive line/Devil Backer position. They just don’t have “every down” players. DL’s Humphreys and Wren haven’t even played yet.
While that’s not the end of the world, there is still a sense of uneasiness about that defense. They are playing and looking confident, but there is still a feeling as if nobody really knows how tough these defensive players are yet.
Sun Devil nation won’t have to wait long. This weekend’s trip to Colorado is a step up in competition. Even though the Buffs are not playing great football right now, they have PAC-12 talent. Besides, after the trip to Boulder, ASU plays UCLA, USC and Stanford in succession. So, by Oct. 11th, the whole world will know how tough this defense is.