ASU Football: Sun Devils need to find offensive identity
After leaning on the pass the last couple of weeks, ASU football opted for a run-first offense. The Sun Devils still need to find the right formula.
Arizona State finds themselves in an awkward sport offensively after a 27-20 loss against No. 10 Washington. Each week the Sun Devils have used a different offensive attack, switching between a heavy rush or heavy pass attack.
Against the Huskies, ASU used a run-heavy attack, rushing the ball a total of six times on the first drive of the game for the Sun Devils in route to a Manny Wilkins one-yard touchdown run.
Arizona State used this rushing attack to keep UW’s offense off of the field for the majority of the night as they ran the ball 40 times as a team gaining 164 total yards on the ground.
The mark was double the previous two games combined for the Sun Devils as they were limited to 44 yards against Michigan State and 36 yards against San Diego State.
While the rushing attack thrived, the passing attack from Wilkins was simply nowhere to be found. The senior quarterback finished the game 17/27 with a mere 104 yards. Wilkins continually chose to hit check downs passes with the majority of his passes being completed for under 10 yards.
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Wilkins also struggled to find N’Keal Harry as the junior wideout finished with five receptions for 20 yards. Harry visually showed frustration throughout the game as the future first-round pick was ultimately underutilized throughout the game.
Head coach Herm Edwards has spoken throughout the season about managing the games similar to NFL games where field position and time of possession are crucial. While this has been effective early in the season against UTSA and an upset of Michigan State, this has not quite worked out for the Sun Devils in the last two losses.
In the last two games, ASU has not had the chance to control the time of possession as San Diego State ran all over the Sun Devils in route to over 300 yards on the ground and controlled the pace of the play.
Against Washington, the offense struggled to get anything going scoring only a field goal in both the second and third quarter. This inability to score or move the ball on a consistent basis has been extremely demanding for the defense as they are constantly on the field.
While Arizona State was able to compete against Washington due to their strategic approach, the Sun Devils still have a tremendous amount of work to consistently compete against top programs.
The main difference between ASU and UW is a sense of identity on offense. The Sun Devils currently don’t have an identity on offense as they choose to be run heavy or pass heavy depending upon the team they play each week.
Top programs in the nation do quite the opposite of this. The blue blood programs of college football have their identity whether it is running or passing the ball and they stay true to this no matter who they play.
Edwards may choose to manage ASU’s games like pro games, but his success will come once his offense is able to remain consistent by coming into each game and executing based upon the team’s strengths.
Next. ASU Football: Huskies start fast, grind down Sun Devils. dark
Arizona State will have the chance to do this next week as they face Oregon State in Tempe, Arizona.