ASU Football Week 3 Highlights: No Time to Panic

In many ways, the Sun Devils’ 24-20 defeat on Saturday posed more questions than it answered.

The Arizona State offense struggled during the early part of the contest, but came on strong in the end to almost steal the victory. The defensive unit kept hopes alive in the first half, holding Missouri to just 150 yards of offense. In addition, they shut down the Tigers in the third and fourth quarters, nearly resulting in a big comeback win. 

A few observations from the ASU-Missouri match-up:

The Sun Devils’ first loss does not spell doom: Granted, winning on the road against a credible opponent would have likely propelled ASU into the national rankings. However, this game did provide a valuable tune-up for the pending Pac-12 schedule. Arizona State is now 2-1 — just where most pundits thought they’d be at this point. There’s no reason to believe the team cannot meet its goals for the season.

Taylor Kelly should be the undisputed starter at QB: The idea of a two-quarterback system probably made sense to offensive coordinator Mike Norvell during fall practice. After all, freshman Michael Eubank and sophomore Taylor Kelly both demonstrated skills at running ASU’s “high octane” attack (Eubank the better runner, Kelly the more proficient passer). But after three games, it’s time to put the quarterback issue to rest. Kelly has been productive in almost all aspects of the offense, and his performance (despite several turnovers) was a bright spot against Missouri. Eubank has shown some promise, but he’s simply too inexperienced to merit a role as “co-starter.” Kelly should take every snap against Utah this week.

Just give Marion Grice the dang ball: A native of Houston, Texas, Grice was unanimously regarded as the top junior college running back in the nation before joining the Sun Devils for 2012. He added two touchdowns to his season total against Mizzou, making him the unlikely leading team scorer to date with five. Grice offers a nice combination of size, speed and determination, and thus far, has been a better overall runner than starting tailback Cameron Marshall. This warrants increased time in the ASU background in the weeks ahead.

In summary, it’s way too early for Arizona State fans to start bringing up painful recollections of the past. ASU coach Todd Graham did a good job of summarizing the situation in his post-game comments: “I loved how our guys responded in the second half. We faced a lot of adversity and those kids never broke. Obviously we are not here just to compete, we’re here to win.”