Sun Devils get right in Week 3 win against Texas State

Ah, that winning feeling. Always good to be on the right side of the scoreboard.

Arizona State needed a much improved performance in the final non-conference game on the schedule and got it, defeating Texas State 34-15 on Saturday night in Tempe.

Hopefully with the early season jitters out of the way, this team can settle in to the flow of the conference schedule. Thankfully there was quite a bit more good than bad to take away from last night, but there will always be opportunities to improve no matter the result.

The Good

Tight End Involvement

Finally! After calling for Chamon Metayer to get involved in the passing game, we saw him break out in a big way, finishing with 6 catches and 60 receiving yards and his first touchdown of the season. Khamari Anderson found his way on to the stat sheet with one catch for 4 yards, but seeing Sam spread the ball around more was a refreshing change from the first two weeks.

Raleek Brown

Raleek got the majority of the running share from the backfield this week after splitting duties with Kanye Udoh in Starkville, recording his second straight 100-yard rushing performance (12 carries for 144 yards). No run was bigger than the 75 yard dagger for the Sun Devils' final score of the game late in the 3rd quarter.

Defensive Stinginess

The Devils recovered from getting gashed deep by the Mississippi State passing game, limiting the Bobcats to 7.4 yards per catch with a game long of 19 yards. Beau Sparks was held out of the endzone as the Bobcats were forced to dink and dump their way down the field without the explosive big plays. The size and speed of the defensive front was critical, keeping pressure in the offensive backfield with 10 tackles for loss and 5 sacks. Jordan Crook led the way with 12 total tackles (7 solo), one sack and 3.5 tackles for loss. The Devils also won the turnover battle, forcing three fumbles and recovering two of them while not turning the ball over themselves.

The Bad

Penalties

While not as critically bad as the first two weeks, careless penalties disrupted potential big plays that could've made the final score even wider. Texas State's discipline was on full display, though ultimately irrelevant as the game was never as close as the final score might suggest.

3rd/4th Down Defense

Maybe more nitpicky than anything else, but Texas State was successful in keeping the Devils defense on the field and extending drives. A combined 9-for-22 in 3rd and 4th down conversion attempts, it didn't end up being as much of a factor in the end but an opportunity for improvement going in to conference play.

The Ugly

AP Pollsters

More on this later on, but I'm not entirely convinced that the collective AP watched this game, dropping the Devils down 5 spots in the rankings, including behind an idle BYU that the Devils were ranked ahead of after last week's loss. That perception stemming from the loss to Mississippi State will be tough to shake for a while.

Sam to Tyson Acrobatic TD Pass

Fundamentally, this was an ugly play, but it produced a beautiful result. After scrambling to keep the play alive, Sam launched off his wrong foot with a jump that might look more at home in an Olympic floor exercise routine, floating a pass to Tyson who then tight-roped down the sideline to put the Devils on top 10-3 early in the second quarter.

Closing Thoughts

The Devils played a much more complete game in this win, producing the bounce back win that they needed to build momentum going in to Big 12 play. From my vantage point in Section 17, I didn't see Sam trying to force the ball through Tyson as much as he had been, instead making educated reads on the defense and not going for the big shot on every single play. Stay tuned all week as we preview the Devils' Big 12 conference opener at Baylor this coming Saturday.