ASU Football: Grading Bercovici
By Mike Slifer
After 48 hours of digesting the loss to UCLA, it’s time to take an objective look at the performance of ASU quarterback Mike Bercovici. Bercovici started his first game ever as a Sun Devil on Thursday night, filling in for the injured Taylor Kelly.
His line: 42 completions in 68 passing attempts for 488 yards, 6 rushes for 17 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT, (one fumble)
By the numbers, Bercovici actually had a decent game. Sixty eight attempts? Statistically speaking, two interceptions in 68 tries is not terrible. UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley had no interceptions, but also only threw the ball 23 times. That’s one third of the attempts that Bercovici had. Add to that, ASU actually out-gained UCLA in total yards, 626-580. ASU had 38 first downs to UCLA’s 19.
However, UCLA only ran 58 plays to ASU’s 105. The difference: efficiency. UCLA scored big play touchdowns, while ASU had to chip away on long drives to score. Also, four ASU turnovers to zero for the Bruins.
Back to Bercovici. For a typical letter grade, Devils in Detail would give Berco a “B”. That’s not a bad grade for a first start against an undefeated #11 team on a national stage. ASU fans will no doubt remember and point to Bercovici’s “pick six” interception to UCLA’s Ishmael Adams in the closing seconds of the first half. And that was a killer. It was, at a minimum, a 10 point swing.
With ASU behind 20-17 on the UCLA 20 yard line, one would figure that ASU kicker Zane Gonzalez probably would have nailed that field goal to tie the game going into the half. In reality, Bercovici’s third down pass should have been a touchdown to ASU receiver Cameron Smith. Smith had beat Adams and was wide open in the end zone. Had Bercovici put a little more air on that throw, it would have been a touchdown and ASU would have gone into the locker room with a 24-17 lead.
Instead, Berco threw a “rope” and the rest is history. Adams snagged it and ran it back for a touchdown, extending UCLA’s lead to 27-17 with 2 seconds remaining in the half. Mike Bercovici has already owned up to this mistake. He learned a lesson the hard way–that in certain situations, you don’t get greedy and make a risky throw. Time and score situations are monumental in games like this. There was no need to force that throw.
But, Devils in Detail is not going to condemn a kid for trying to make a play. Not yet. The truth is that several of Bercovici’s brilliant completions, including a couple of touchdown passes were close calls–passes that were thrown into a tight window and were nearly picked off or knocked down. But that is Berco’s game. Hes’ a gun-slinger. You take the good with the bad. To his credit, Bercovici didn’t hang his head or change his style approach. After that play, he got back to work and racked up a lot more yards and engineered two more scoring drives.
Yes, he was responsible for 3 turnovers. Yes, he missed badly on several crossing routes. Yes, the offensive tempo was a little slower than when Taylor Kelly is at the helm. And no, he is not the running threat that Kelly is. But he played well enough for ASU to win. In his first game, that’s going to have to be good enough. The coaches and the team still have confidence in him. If he can make a few adjustments, he could be a real problem for some PAC-12 defenses.