Throughout his time at Arizona State, head coach Todd Graham has echoed one mantra.
No negative plays. Have 100 percent ball security. Own the football, on both sides of the line.
On Thursday night against Utah, they struggled to accomplish each of these pillars, eventually giving in to the will and might of the No. 13-ranked Utes in a 49-26 loss.
The loss marked four straight for the Sun Devils, who sit at 5-5 with two games remaining – each on the road.
Utah manhandled Arizona State’s offensive line through four quarters on Thursday, totaling 11 sacks and 22 tackles for loss and harassing redshirt sophomore quarterback Manny Wilkins just about all night. It was the first time a team posted 11 sacks or more against a Power 5 opponent since ASU posted 12 against Washington State in 2009. The figure is so impressive that 14 FBS programs have 11 or fewer sacks all season entering Thursday’s game.
The offensive line started the game featuring three names who haven’t received the bulk of the playing time this season. Stephon McCray and Sam Jones were each out due to injury, replaced by Zach Robertson and Steven Miller, respectively. Tyler McClure started the game at center in the place of AJ McCollum, though McCollum did receive a decent chunk of playing time throughout the game.
“The negative plays – especially the sacks – were a big issue,” Graham said. “We just got stoned up front. They whipped us up front, which is what my impression was just watching the game. We had to do some innovative things [with the offensive line].
“They controlled [the line of scrimmage] with their defensive line.”
The star of the night along Utah’s front was senior Hunter Dimick, who set a program record with five sacks and added 6.5 tackles for loss to bring his total number of tackles to nine for the night. It was Dimick’s pressure, along with the rest of the front seven, that kept Wilkins on the move all night and forced him into some questionable decisions.
The first came on ASU’s opening possession, as the Sun Devils got the ball in prime territory after Utah quarterback Troy Williams’ early fumble. Pressure forced, Wilkins to hold the ball longer than anticipated on a climb route to Jay Jay Wilson. Once he threw, defensive back Marcus Williams read it from underneath and picked it off to take points off the board.
There goes the 100 percent ball security.
Later, in the fourth quarter and the Sun Devils trailing by nine and driving, Wilkins tried finding his man near the sidelines and was picked off by safety Chase Hansen, who returned it for what would be the game-sealing touchdown.
“Those are just mental errors on my part,” Wilkins said. “They are two errors I can’t do. Obviously, there was a climb route down there in the end zone, and I just didn’t see a guy coming back across. Just have to know that we have points there regardless, we have the best field goal kicker in the nation. I just have to throw that away or get what I can get and get down. At the end of the game, just a simple concept. He made a good play, but I shouldn’t have thrown that ball.
Several times, Wilkins was forced to circle around outside of the pocket, dumping the ball off to a freed man or take an unnecessary hit. It was the first full game action Wilkins had gotten since a road loss at Colorado, and it showed.
“I just took some critical sacks and I just need to get the ball out of my hands,” he said. “Obviously not take some of those hits. Just going through my reads and hitting the back when things aren’t there. I take full accountability for that, just have to make sure I get better and not make those same mistakes next week.”
Regardless, the Sun Devils were able to generate enough offense to stay in the game and trail by just two entering the fourth quarter. They mustered 396 yards of total offense, and despite constant pressure and a stagnant ground game (41 yards on 47 carries), they were able to use some trick and gadget plays to make it work. Sometimes it worked, like when freshman receiver N’Keal Harry threw a 46-yard dime to redshirt senior Fred Gammage in the first quarter. Other times, it didn’t, such as when a multilateral play on a game-tying two-point conversion fell apart.
Then, as the Sun Devils needed another push of creativity to get themselves back in the game, they were again manhandled. Utah registered six of their 11 sacks in the fourth quarter, all but sealing the game even before Hansen’s interception.
“We lost the battle up front on offense, and we still manufactured a lot of passing yards and we able to score to make it a two-point game there in the third quarter late,” Graham said. “Even when it was an eight-point game, I thought we still had an opportunity. It was disappointing.”
The Sun Devils must win one of their last two games at least to claim bowl eligibility. Each brings its own set of challenges. Before the season finale in Tucson with the Territorial Cup, ASU will again have a chance to knock off a ranked opponent – on the road against No. 4 Washington next Saturday.
Despite a four-game losing streak that matched Graham’s longest in his ASU tenure, he was optimistic.
“We’re not done yet… We will rise again. We’ve just got to figure it out.”
