ASU defense maintains aggressiveness in Pac-12 opener

Arizona State’s defense headed into its first conference matchup with the knowledge that the Colorado passing attack would be one of the weakest left on the schedule.

That proved to be true in ASU’s 35-13 victory on Saturday, as the Buffaloes struggled to throw the ball in the face of pressure.

The Sun Devil defense held quarterback Brendon Lewis to just 67 yards through the air. ASU sacked Lewis twice and consistently chased him out of the pocket. Forcing the opposing passing attack to operate off-script was also an immense help to the secondary. No Colorado receiver had more than two catches and batted away three of Lewis’ passes.

The team was especially effective on third down, with the Buffaloes converting just five of 15 chances to move the chains. Only one of those successful conversions occurred through the air, a 10-yard completion to wide receiver Dimitri Stanley on Colorado’s second offensive possession.

Linebacker Darien Butler said the smothering result was simply a product of the team doing their homework.

“I’ll say it started early in practice,” Butler said. “The coaches had a pretty good idea on what they were going to do with their protection. So in practice, we did everything we could. We were prepared really well for how we were going to attack their protection.”

The run defense played well during the first half, stifling reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year Jarek Broussard for three yards on his seven rushing attempts. But on Colorado’s first drive of the third quarter, cracks showed in the lanes upfront. Broussard rushed for 12 and 8 yards on his first two carries, which set up Lewis to hit Ty Robinson off the play-action for a 26-yard gain. Alex Fontenot took over from there, notching back-to-back first downs before punching the ball in three plays later.

“I thought the defense did a nice job,” Edwards said. “In the third quarter, [Fontonet] came and ran the ball on us; we missed some gaps. We had a lot of young guys in there because we lost some guys on the defensive line, so that’s important to get those guys in games.”

After ASU committed 16 penalties against BYU, there were questions about if the tone or aggressiveness of the unit would change. Head coach Herm Edwards was encouraged that the team monitored its discipline without sacrificing the aspects that make this defense daunting.

“I didn’t want us to play cautious,” Edwards said. “I wanted us to play free and not tight, not worried if we make a penalty or make a mistake.”

“We were harping in practice on the penalties, and the emphasis was just come out and play a clean game,” Butler said. “Why do we have all these penalties, you know? We did exactly what we thought we could do.”

While noticeably improved, the team was still not perfect, notching seven penalties at the cost of 90 yards. Cornerbacks Ed Woods and Jack Jones held onto their receivers when they were beaten vertically, resulting in two calls for pass interference. Woods and fullback Case Hatch produced yellow laundry with fouls for holding and a block in the back during special teams, wiping away lengthy returns by DJ Taylor.

But the most significant blow was losing 3-technique B.J. Green to a targeting call at the beginning of the second quarter. Green beat the right guard with a brilliant speed rush inside and had a free lane to bring down Lewis. However, Green delivered his hit high in the upper chest and lowered his helmet in the process. He became the second ASU player to be ejected for targeting this season; defensive end Tyler Johnson was tossed in the first quarter versus Southern Utah on a similar play.

“We talk about low targets,” When we hit the quarterback, we want to hit around the midsection to the sternum. And if we stay there and if we do that, we’ll stay away from those penalties. We’ve had two now, don’t want a third one.”

ASU is already short at the 3-technique position, having lost Jermayne Lole to a triceps injury before the season began. Shannon Forman dealt with a leg injury against BYU, and Omarr Norman-Lott (foot) has also missed time. Green’s ejection is simply a slipup ASU cannot afford with depth at a premium.

The consequences of the targeting penalty will luckily not carry over to next week’s game since Green committed the infraction in the first half.

“That can’t be part of our personality when we go on the road,” Edwards said. “Especially against a good team like UCLA.”

Overall, ASU achieved the desired outcome and proved it learned from the critical mistakes it made against BYU. Although no turnovers were forced against Colorado, the defense promptly gave Jayden Daniels the ball back, which were pivotal opportunities that were not squandered by the offense. Most of the second-team defense was taken off the field by the fourth quarter, which allowed younger players like Tommi Hill, Eric Gentry, Connor Soelle, and Kejuan Markham to put more valuable live-action reps under their belts.

“I think it was a good game for guys to be involved in where it wasn’t a tight game,” Edwards said. “And for the most part, we came out ok.”

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