ASU Football: Who has the advantage in the Sun Bowl?
By Sam Ficarro
Offensive Line
Both offensive lines will have their hands full against both pass rushes.
Beginning with Arizona State, the Sun Devils will have their hands full with arguably the best defensive end in the nation (and future top-10 NFL pick) Bradley Chubb.
Arizona State allowed 38 sacks this season, the 10th-most allowed nationally and the third-most in the Pac-12.
On the other offensive line, NC State allowed just 12 sacks all season good for the sixth-fewest allowed nationally and the fewest in the ACC.
While recognizing the stark contrast, the Sun Devils have a deep pool of players in the front seven, led by Christian Sam, D.J. Calhoun, Tashon Smallwood and JoJo Wicker, that should put pressure on the Wolfpack offensive linemen.
Another stat to watch is tackles for loss allowed with Arizona State ranked 94th nationally allowing 6.50 tackles for loss per game with NC State ranked 80th nationally allowing 6.17 TFLs per game.
With the Wolfpack’s strong offensive line numbers, it will be interesting to see if Arizona State will blitz more often than usual Friday to try to put pressure on Finley.