ASU Football: Keys to Victory over Duke
By Mike Slifer
In a few hours, the ASU Football team will take on the Duke Blue Devils in the Hyundai Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX. Kickoff is at Noon. The game will be telecast on CBS. (Radio on 98.7 FM)
For their final game of the season, Devils in Detail offers some keys to victory for ASU:
1) Want To Be There
This topic has been a common one since ASU’s loss to Arizona and their accepting the bid to play in this bowl. It’s also probably difficult for many people to understand. But Devils in Detail has maintained for a while now that bowl games can be tricky. They are tricky because they typically involve one team that is happy to be there and one team that is not. That is why there are so many upsets in bowl games. The “favored” team that recently missed out on a bigger bowl gets beat by the upstart “underdogs” that rallied late in the season to secure a bowl bid.
It happened to ASU last year. After the Sun Devils lost the PAC-12 Championship game, (a game that they truly believed they would win and then play in the Rose Bowl), they came out flat and disinterested in the Holiday Bowl and got beat by Texas Tech, a team that was reeling, but was thrilled to still make a bowl game.
So, this game is like all the other bowls in that respect–whoever is truly excited to be a part of the Sun Bowl will probably win. When coming up with keys to victory, you could probably stop right there. For sure, there will be pundits from both sides that will try to predict which team wants it more right now. But nobody truly knows. Only the players. Duke had a similar season to ASU, they lost two games late in the year to derail a magical season. It’s anybody’s guess as to what their state of mind is.
2) Bring Back the Old Taylor Kelly
This Key is probably unfair. Taylor Kelly is trying his best. He has been trying his best since his return against Washington. But trying and performing are two different things. After Kelly’s injury, he has not been the same quarterback. His effectiveness was limited. His ability to both run and throw the ball were diminished. It got to a point where the unthinkable happened. He was benched in the game against U of A.
So, with another month to “heal” and get back to game speed, all ASU fans are curious if they will see the old Taylor Kelly or not. If Kelly is back to form, ASU could score 50 points against Duke. If not, the offense will struggle. If the offense struggles and the game is in jeopardy, you can expect to see Mike Bercovici at quarterback. This development will be the biggest concern for ASU as the game unfolds.
3) Pound the Rock
This is your requisite “no-brainer”. The Duke defense is average. They are especially average trying to stop the run. It is our opinion that ASU has had success running the ball against better defenses than they will see today. That being the case, the ASU offense should give Duke a heavy dose of DJ Foster and DeMario Richard. Even though center Nick Kelly is banged up and probably will not play, the ASU offensive line can and should push around the Duke defensive front and chew up lots of yards running the ball. This will physically wear down Duke, demoralize them and take the pressure off of Taylor Kelly.
4) Force Anthony Boone to be Perfect
Duke Quarterback Anthony Boone has only been sacked 13 times this season. For pass-happy PAC-12 fans, that is borderline ridiculous. Either Duke is extremely good at pass protection or they haven’t been challenged by an attacking defense. Any ASU fan will be able to tell you that Coach Todd Graham is going to find out, one way or another. He’s going to bring some exotic blitzes to the Duke offense. He’s going to force Anthony Boone and his offense to make the right read and the proper reaction under extreme duress. ASU fans should also hope that defensive end Marcus Hardison will be motivated. He was snubbed by the PAC-12 all-conference selection committee. He’ll be looking to show them up and impress Pro Scouts.
(Note: Keep in mind, coach Graham did this last year against Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl. He did not waver from his belief that pressure on Red Raider quarterback Davis Webb would pay off. It never did, as Webb was never hurried and picked apart the ASU secondary playing man to man)
5) Keep Laiu Healthy
This might sound like a head-scratcher. But if you are an ASU fan, you know that when Laiu Moeakiola is healthy, the ASU defense is unbeatable. Laiu, even though only a sophomore, is the captain of the defense. For some reason, he is the most effective defender on the field at calling the correct checks and alignments before the snap. Check the record. Laiu missed the UCLA game with a shoulder injury. Bad loss. He went out early against the Beavers in Corvalis. Bad loss. He went out early again against U of A. Bad loss. In all three of ASU’s losses, Laiu was out of the game and the ASU defense looked rather silly. They gave up big yards and/or touchdowns on routine plays because they were lined up wrong or doing the wrong assignments. Devils in Detail believes if the linebacker is healthy and effective enough to stay in the game, the ASU defense will play soundly enough to win the game.
Admittedly, this is a “mouthy” version of Keys to Victory. But it feels warranted. In our trained eyes, if ASU can accomplish these five tasks, they’ll win big.
Our prediction: ASU gets it right and wins 35-17. Stay tuned for the post-game analysis.