ASU Football: Sun Devils Steal One in LA

Last night’s victory over USC featured an end for the ages for the Sun Devils.  Jaelon Strong‘s last second touchdown grab on a Hail Mary caused an uproar of delight for ASU fans everywhere.

ASU will take the win.  But there are still some issues that need to be addressed.

The Sun Devils are struggling with the run game.  Last night, ASU rushed for 31 yards.  Thirty one.  That’s two games in a row that ASU has not been able to effectively run the ball.  This year’s offensive line was supposed to be tougher than last season’s.  They looked the part in the first three games of the season.  But in the last two games, the O line has struggled in their combo blocks climbing to get a hat on linebackers.  This makes it difficult for running backs to find a crease.

Defensively, ASU is having a hard time stopping the run.  The scheme up front on defense is sound, but there are too many defenders getting pushed around.  There were still some bad tackling and poor pursuit angles by the secondary.

Then, there’s the pass rush.  Even though the Sun Devil defense did register a couple of sacks and hurried USC quarterback Cody Kessler on a few plays, Kessler had a lot of time to sit in that pocket and find his receivers.  In football, in fact in any sport, you “are what you are.”  But this defense needs to find a way to pressure the quarterback if they want to be successful.  USC helped the Sun Devils with a few early dropped passes and some misfires by Kessler late in the game.

Any analysis of this game would be remiss without mentioning the special teams.  The coverage units for ASU are hurting this team.  The punt team allowed a 53 yard TD return by USC’s Nelson Aghalor.  On the return, ASU had no cap on the play and Aghalor easily ran to the end zone.  Sounding like a broken record, ASU has to get a grip on these coverage units.

Finally, there is the issue of timeouts.  In both halves, ASU burned their timeouts early.  It almost cost them.  They had no way to stop the clock late in the game.  The coaching staff has got to iron out personnel groupings in order to not keep burning timeouts on routine third downs.

But credit the coaches and players for not quitting.  It looked bleak late in the game.  Led by Mike Berocivi, this Sun Devil team kept chopping wood and refused to admit defeat.  Games like this can galvanize a team and save a season.

Moving on, ASU has a bye week coming up to prepare for Stanford.  Stand by for a possible quarterback controversy in Tempe.