ASU Football: New Mexico State Rapid Reaction

ASU football looked a bit like a rollercoaster. Except backwards. Starting off high, dipping down low in the middle, all before finishing the ride off strong.

Opening night for ASU saw some good things and some bad things as the Devils cruised to a 37-31 victory over the New Mexico State Aggies.

While the score shows a dominating victory there were definitely times where this ASU team looked like they were on the ropes. The offense looked sluggish at times and the defense couldn’t seem to keep up with the fast pace of the Aggie offense at times when they pushed the tempo.

Phil Bennett was opposed to substitutions for nearly the entire time except for injuries and players losing helmets and having to come off for a play. The ASU defense used just 11 players for the entire first half and half of the third quarter.

The difficulty came with what looked like a lack of fresh legs as when the Aggies moved quickly they looked very good offensively while the ASU secondary was left out to dry in one-on-one coverage with bigger NMSU receivers.

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When the front four for ASU was tired, they couldn’t get pressure on Rogers who looked comfortable picking apart the Sun Devil secondary play after play.

The ASU defense made plays though as they had six sacks and two interceptions, one of which was a pick-six by Kobe Williams. With a little more of a rotation and a fresher front New Mexico State easily could have been held to under two scores.

Offensively Manny Wilkins came out and looked sharp. Wilkins was 22-27 for 300 yards and a pair of touchdowns before he was pulled from the game midway through the fourth quarter.

Wilkins looked calm even in chaotic situations as he made intelligent decisions with the ball all night and didn’t try to do too much with his legs as he did at times last season. Although he was sacked seven times he showed that he is fully healthy and still elusive.

The offensive line is the biggest concern as the Aggies who had just 11 sacks all last season got seven tonight. They will have work to do going forward as the opponents just get tougher and tougher.

Other Notes:

• Kicker Brandon Ruiz showed off his big leg as he was 1-2 on the night for field goals. He made a 52-yard try and just missed a 56-yard attempt. On the miss, he did have plenty of leg on it.
• Demario Richard was injured early in the first quarter and did not return. He spent a majority of the game on the trainer’s table with ice on his left leg. His injury is being ruled a left leg injury.