Jake Browning is going to remember the Sun Devil defense that he saw last Saturday. The fans that eventually stormed the field are going to remember Arizona State’s defensive performance in its 13-7 victory over then No. 5 Washington. And most importantly, the defensive players on ASU are going to remember their performance.
They’re going to remember watching a Heisman candidate in Browning circling away from defenders as he ran in serpentine patterns in the wrong direction trying to make something happen.
But often in his attempt for positive yardage, members of ASU’s front-seven including: JoJo Wicker, Tashon Smallwood, D.J. Calhoun, Renell Wren, intervened.
The Sun Devil defense combined for nine tackles for loss and five sacks, throwing off the balance of the Washington offense in the process.
But, although those five sacks were spread out and awarded to seven different members of the ASU front, the Sun Devil secondary sees them as a product of their terrific long-held coverage downfield.
“Oh yeah. We call them C.S., coverage sacks,” Cornerback Chase Lucas said.
Browning’s extension of plays usually came with no avail. Because while he was circling backwards, dodging ASU defensive lineman charging at him, he kept looking for his receivers to get just enough space downfield – the only problem was, they couldn’t elude their defender.
More from Devils in Detail
- Sun Devils Primer: Game 2 vs Oklahoma State
- Sun Devil Insight: Quarterback Room
- Arizona State Spotlight: Kenny Dillingham
- Arizona State 2023 Season Opener: Off To A Good Start
- Arizona State vs USC Prediction and Promo (Expect Offensive Fireworks)
“I watched film and I looked like, “Damn, Jake Browning was really running around,” Cornerback Kobe Williams said. “But our D-line was on him every step though and it really help us.”
The ASU secondary, staffed at corner by Williams and Lucas, stuck to their receivers, mimicking their every move through long, extended plays – keeping Browning’s eyes searching for an open receiver that he rarely saw.
The Devils’ defensive unit manning the back-end didn’t come into the Washington with a glowing resume. The unit was ranked 121th in passing defense and after an injury to corner Joey Bryant, their depth was lacking as well.
Their previous hardships make last Saturday’s performance that much more impressive. Not only did they hold Browning to just 139 yards through the air, they were often handed a difficult task: Staying with a scrambling receiver.
“The first thing when the wide receiver runs up to me is, ‘alright, what leverage am I taking.’ After that when I end the route and he starts moving around, ‘Ok, now I just have to follow this guy,’” Lucas said. “You don’t know if he’s going to go vertical, do a comeback, do an out , do an in , so you just have to stay with the man.”
When that route breaks, it’s a free-for-all downfield — something defensive backs coach T.J. Rushing compares to backyard football. When the quarterback gets “10 Mississippi” to just sit back in the pocket, the pressure gets vaulted on the defensive backs to stay with their receiver, as he cuts in seemingly every way possible.
And during that time of chaos, Lucas mentioned how the coverage can get much different and often much more physical.
“The rules are out,” He said. “After that three seconds when he starts scrambling around, you can grab, claw, anything you have to do to make sure he does not catch that rock.”
The ASU defense that has been flooded with skepticism throughout the season now moves forward into the second half of the season riding confidence on an all-time performance
“We had great preparation coming in the whole week,” Williams said. “Some of the stuff that we had built in that we didn’t even do in the game because we knew our game plan was going in man coverage.
Next: ASU Football: 2017 Pac-12 Week Eight Power Rankings
“That was a breakthrough game and a big confidence booster for us moving on to Utah.”