Of the several concerns for Arizona State entering Friday night – shoddy tackling, loose ball security, blown coverages, inconsistent quarterback play, to name a few – each came and reared its ugly head.
Yet it was not enough to anoint the Sun Devils as the first Power 5 conference opponent to lose to UT-San Antonio, as they scrounged together a decent enough effort in the fourth quarter to overcome a two-score deficit and win, 32-28, on the road.
“We did as many things wrong as we could, but man this team’s got great character and I just love the poise,” head coach Todd Graham told reporters. “We showed a lot of youth. Made a lot of youthful mistakes.”
It certainly didn’t look good by any means, but ASU is 3-0.
The ramifications of a potential loss weren’t lost on Graham.
“I need a drink….just a Coke, though,” Graham said as he sat down as if to poke light on the situation while still wary of what nearly occurred. “It’s a good thing that I had my lucky coin with me tonight.”
Facing a program that didn’t exist six years ago, the Sun Devils needed their largest road comeback effort since 2002.
There were positives, for sure. Senior kicker Zane Gonzalez knocked a pair of 50+-yard field goals and became the leading scorer in Pac-12 history. Despite an offense that struggled for the most part in the first half, they capped things off with a bang with a spectacular one-handed, 27-yard touchdown catch from freshman N’Keal Harry.
“I was just trying to get off the ball fast,” Harry told reporters of the play. “Manny [Wilkins] has had faith in me ever since I got to ASU, so I had to make that play, not just for myself but just to make sure he still has that trust in me.”
Harry again stood out, catching five passes (being targeted 11 times) for 78 yards and a touchdown with zero drops.
“He’s one of our premier guys, and he’s really developed that,” Graham said of Harry. “[That catch] was really, really special.”
The defense showed some edge in the fourth quarter, forcing four consecutive three-and-outs to fuel the comeback and notching a pair of sacks on UTSA’s final possession.
The alarms should still sound for the Sun Devils, however, as issue after issue knocked them further into upset territory. UTSA junior quarterback Dalton Sturm repeatedly slipped pressure and found gaps in ASU’s coverage to tally 311 yards of total offense and four touchdowns.
“We were very prepared, I think, for [scramble], but we just were making some errors early on, like running with the seam route when we’re in man, just these things that you can’t do,” Graham said.
Twice, he was given a short field to work with after muffed punts – one from junior Kalen Ballage and another from redshirt senior Gump Hates – each of which immediately led to scores. It took the return of Tim White, who was expected to be out with an ankle sprain and took fair catches on all but one return, to stabilize the unit.
ASU quarterback Manny Wilkins, fresh off a 400+-yard offensive performance that led to 68 points against Texas Tech last Saturday, found himself skittish and inconsistent for much of the evening. He completed less than 50 percent of his passes, lofting an easy second-quarter interception and often bailing out after his first read and scrambling for added yardage. His body took a beating as a result, as he took a shot in the first quarter and was nearly flipped again in the second half as he went for his third successful hurdle in his first three games as a starter.
“I will never sit on the floor,” Wilkins said of the hit. “You can ask these guys; I always want to go on the next play. I got a fighter mentality and nothing’s going to hold me back.”
“We obviously weren’t at our best,” Graham said of the offensive output, which put up 469 total yards (though most came in the fourth quarter).
Ballage, who last week matched a NCAA record with eight total touchdowns, took until the fourth quarter – along with the return of the “Sparky” formation – to really get going and eventually scored the go-ahead touchdown with 3:15 remaining. He finished with 62 yards on 14 carries to complement junior workhorse Demario Richard’s 95 yards on 22 carries.
Perhaps with a big win last week and Pac-12 play looming next week and a short week to work through, ASU was destined for a “trap” game.
“We were just a bit cocky tonight,” junior linebacker DJ Calhoun said.
Either that or ASU is just as horrendously flawed, albeit talented, as many had feared when the season began.
“I think we’ve got a young team and what showed is, you have to prepare,” Graham said. “Last week, our guys, they were dialed in. Obviously, there’s a level of competition, but you can’t be up and down like that.”
