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ASU Football: Sun Devils squander early lead, fall to UCLA

By Alec Henden

PASADENA, CA - NOVEMBER 11: Manny Wilkins #5 of the Arizona State Sun Devils leaps past Adarius Pickett #6, Jamel Cook #21 and Kenny Young #42 of the UCLA Bruins for a touchdown during the first half of a game at the Rose Bowl on November 11, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - NOVEMBER 11: Manny Wilkins #5 of the Arizona State Sun Devils leaps past Adarius Pickett #6, Jamel Cook #21 and Kenny Young #42 of the UCLA Bruins for a touchdown during the first half of a game at the Rose Bowl on November 11, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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After running the ball for over 200 yards in the first half and leading 21-20 at halftime, ASU football faltered in the second half losing to UCLA 44-37.

After a quarter and a half of football, Arizona State was rolling. A 14-0 lead stemming from a dominating rushing attack had them in control in Pasadena. The script quickly flipped, like any good Hollywood drama. UCLA defeated ASU Saturday night 44-37 on a chilly night in front 53,847 at the Rose Bowl.

The game flipped in UCLA’s favor after a costly interception that was returned for a touchdown at the end of the first quarter. Manny Wilkins’s pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and was easily returned by UCLA’s defensive back Nate Meadors.

UCLA was soon able to find their rhythm offensively using a combination of the strong passing game and a surprisingly successful rushing attack.

“It completely changed the game, that can’t happen,” said head coach Todd Graham about the interception. “UCLA did a good job tonight, they made the plays when they needed to tonight, and we didn’t. It’s disappointing we had every opportunity to.”

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UCLA’s quarterback Josh Rosen got off to a slow start in the game, Rosen missed some chances for completions and UCLA had five dropped passes on the night.

The second half was a complete 180, as he finished the game completing 25-45 passes for 381 yards and one touchdown.

Wide receiver Jordan Lasley was on the receiving end of seven of those passes for a total of 162 yards and a touchdown.

The early story of the game for Arizona State was how successful they were running the football. ASU rushed the ball 39 times in the first half for a total of 203 yards against the worst rushing defense in the Pac-12.

In the second half, the success of UCLA’s offense and time constraints the Sun Devils were forced to try and make plays through the air.

This is when the Bruins were able to limit the success of Arizona State’s offense only allowing one second-half touchdown. Running back Demario Richard finished the night with 21 carries for 125 yards, and running back Kalen Ballage ran for 97 yards on the same amount of carries.

ASU’s defensive front had an unusual off night as well, as they allowed 192 rushing yards and three touchdowns as well as failing to record a sack. Senior defensive linemen Tashon Smallwood, was very candid after the loss on the struggles of the defense in trying to contain UCLA.

“I take full responsibility for that. I didn’t do my job of controlling my gap,” Smallwood said. “I didn’t do a good job of creating a new line of scrimmage, you can put that all on me.”

Next: ASU Football: Devils fall late to UCLA after getting away from the run

The Sun Devils will now travel to Corvallis to take on the Oregon State Beavers next Saturday. This will be ASU’s final road game of the season before the Territorial Cup in Tempe. Arizona State will have another opportunity to try and reach bowl eligibility against a team with a paltry 1-9 record. Kickoff for next week’s game will be noon MT, and the game will be televised on Pac-12 Network.

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