ASU Football: Keys to Victory over UCLA
By Mike Slifer
Tonight, the ASU football team hosts UCLA for a PAC-12 South showdown in Tempe. Here are some Keys to Victory for Arizona State:
1) Keep Bercovici Clean
For his first start as a Sun Devil, Mike Bercovici will be nervous. Despite his maturity and his ability to say all the right things in the last ten days, he’ll still be a little tight. The best thing this ASU offensive line can do to help calm him down and give him confidence is execute perfect pass protection.
So far this season, the O line has been pretty solid. To this point, neither Bercovici (in mop up duty) nor starter Taylor Kelly have been pressured that much. For this new look offense to be successful with Bercovici at the helm, this veteran offensive line needs to step up and deliver their best performance of the year.
This shouldn’t be an extremely tall order, since UCLA’s pass rush hasn’t been anything special so far this season.
2) Bottle up Ishmael Adams
As a return specialist, Adams is trouble. Last season at the Rose Bowl against ASU, he was a one man nightmare, returning a punt 50 yards and a kickoff 70 yards. This season, he has picked up where he left off. Last week, he had a 40 yard punt return against Texas to kick-start the UCLA dramatic comeback.
Ideally, the ASU special teams units will keep the ball out of his hands. Touchbacks by Garoutte on kickoff would be huge. Directional punting, or even sky kicks by Matt Haack would be equally helpful. But the coverage teams have absolutely got to be sound tonight. If Adams gets loose, it could be trouble.
3) Move Foster Around
Offensive coordinator Mike Norvelle has to be careful here. He has to make sure he doesn’t get too cute tinkering with formations and personnel packages. But one would assume that UCLA is worried about Sun Devil running back, DJ Foster. They will be identifying where he is lined up at all times. While the Bruins linebackers are solid, their defensive backs are average, at best. ASU should line up Foster in the slot and see how UCLA adjusts, there’s a chance that the Bruins might line up incorrectly or have the wrong matchup on him.
Again, Norvelle doesn’t need to have 17 different elaborate formations to possibly take advantage of Foster. But keeping him strictly in the backfield to carry the ball will make UCLA’s defensive assignments a lot easier.
4) Handle the Hype
Easier said than done. But this ASU team, especially on defense, is young. The hype surrounding this game can cause serious anxiety in young or new players. It could be argued that UCLA is “used to it” because of their location. And they’ve already played for two national audiences.
When players start telling themselves “we’re the only college game on tv….everybody in the country is watching…this is for the PAC-12 south title…” and so on, it can cause players to be nervous and tight. The Hype can actually take on a life of its own and become a game within a game.
Coach Graham, along with his veterans, needs to stick to the routine and address this mental approach. Don’t be fooled, UCLA will have some of the same symptoms, so whoever can calm down and execute has an advantage.
On paper, this one is tough to call. In an odd twist, the strengths and weaknesses of these two teams collide with one another. For example, UCLA’s offensive line has not played well. But ASU’s defensive line hasn’t been stellar, therefore that entire matchup might be a wash. Similarly, the defensive secondary for UCLA has struggled, but ASU is starting a new quarterback tonight. Again, that dynamic might be a wash.
Devils in Detail predicts that both offenses will move the ball pretty well. What nobody can predict is which team punches the ball in for touchdowns and which team has to settle for field goals. And then of course, there’s always the looming presence of unplanned turnovers.
Third downs will be as critical as ever for this game. Expect a close, hardly fought game tonight.