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ASU Football: Why the Sun Devils have struggled on the road this season

By Koki Riley

BOULDER, CO - OCTOBER 06: Head coach Herm Edwards of the Arizona State Sun Devils walks back to the sidlines after confering with officials in the first quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field on October 6, 2018 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
BOULDER, CO - OCTOBER 06: Head coach Herm Edwards of the Arizona State Sun Devils walks back to the sidlines after confering with officials in the first quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field on October 6, 2018 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /
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A shaky defense combined with an offense unable to consistently string drives has doomed ASU football away from home.

Another year, another struggle on the road for the Sun Devils.

Even with Todd Graham out the door, Arizona State has continued to struggle on the road in the Herm Edwards era. Saturday’s 28-21 loss to Colorado at Folsom Field marked the Sun Devils’ 11th road loss since 2016.

With Manny Wilkins under center, ASU has gone 3-10 away from home.

The evidence is now indisputable when it comes to the Sun Devils’ lack of road success, but what should frustrate ASU fans more should be the margin of loss in all three contests.

The Sun Devils have lost their road games this season (at San Diego State, Washington and Colorado) by just a touchdown with the three losses occurring in an eerily similar fashion.

In each defeat, Danny Gonzales’ defense was unable to make enough stops to close out a win.

Against San Diego State, the Sun Devils lost the time of possession battle by over 12 minutes. At Washington, the Huskies were 5-for-11 on third down. And this week in Colorado, the Buffs had nearly seven more minutes of possession and were 8-for-16 on third down.

All three of ASU’s road opponents outgained the Sun Devils in total yards.

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Despite only allowing 21.2 points per game on the season, the defense’s inability to make timely stops on the road has made it much more difficult for an ASU offense that has struggled away from Tempe.

At Frank Kush Field, the Sun Devils have averaged 39 points per game including a 52 point performance against Oregon State. On the road, ASU has failed to score more than 21 points.

Despite the low point totals, ASU has been able to run the football affectively. Eno Benjamin has posted 100 yards of rushing or more in the past three weeks, including a school record 312 rushing yards against Oregon State.

Even with Benjamin’s success on the ground, the Sun Devils’ passing attack has not fed off the sophomore’s success.

Under center for ASU, Wilkins has thrown for less than 225 yards in his last two road games. The senior has only thrown three touchdown passes in as many road games and only had 12 completions against the Buffaloes.

Wilkins has not been a disaster for the Sun Devils with only one interception on the season. But he has not made enough plays for ASU through the air.

The redshirt senior’s top weapon, N’Keal Harry, has been limited away from Tempe as well with only one touchdown catch on the road this season. The star wideout has also failed to amass more than 90 receiving yards.

Injured on a punt return this week against Colorado, Harry’s questionable status of health does not inspire any confidence heading into ASU’s bye week.

With Wilkins also getting banged up in the loss in Boulder, the Sun Devils are beaten down and frustrated.

Next. ASU Football: Buffs’ Shenault too much for Sun Devils. dark

A 13th loss on the road in less than four seasons for ASU is not acceptable. Edwards’ team will need a philosophical overhaul in order to find more success on the road.

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