Early grades are in. And they are in before even the quarter mark of the 2021 season. There were worries during the preseason about how the Arizona State passing game would develop, which receivers junior quarterback Jayden Daniels would build a connection with, and how much it could complement the potent Sun Devil rushing attack. So far, no one has been blown away by Daniels and company’s production in the passing department.
In two games, the 23rd-ranked Sun Devils have yet to reach 200 passing yards in a contest. As head coach Herm Edwards submitted his early report card for what Arizona State’s offense has produced through the air, he did so with his usual understanding tone.
“It’s OK,” began Edwards with his evaluation of the aerial attack. The fourth-year Sun Devil head coach spoke in a soft tone, one that he carried slowly as if he understood that fans haven’t been impressed by what they’ve seen so far from the passing game. “It’s B-minus. It’s got to improve, and I think it will improve. It’s the sixth game with these guys.”
Arizona State’s offense got the ball to open the game and began with an impressive march down the field, with Daniels showcasing his rushing ability. As plays developed, Daniels, on multiple occasions, scrambled for large gains and picked up two first downs on the ground.
“They played us really well in the first half in the passing game,” explained Daniels, who concluded the opening Sun Devil drive with an interception in the end zone. A poorly thrown fade combined with a mediocre route from redshirt freshman wide receiver Johnny Wilson resulted in the fourth interception of Daniels 18-game ASU career. “Especially down the field. That’s why we had a lot of stuff underneath, and if everything gets solved, I’m going to key Rachaad (White), and they won’t have anyone to account for me. That’s why I used my legs to hurt them.”
But as the night progressed, the trend of Daniels scrambling led the Sun Devil quarterback to carry the ball 13 times, a mark too high for Edwards’s liking in ASU’s 37-10 win. At halftime, Daniels had completed 12 of 16 passes for 76 yards and the lone interception. When the night was over, the San Bernardino, Calif., native, was 20-for-29 for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
“Now Jayden, I didn’t anticipate he was gonna run it for 125 yards,” said Edwards. “It’s good, but not so good. I don’t want him running that much. That’s too many runs for him, to be quite honest.”
Offensive coordinator Zak Hill told reporters the Sun Devils came into Saturday’s contest expecting the Rebels to pack the box and force them to throw. Still, ASU was unable to take advantage and create chunk plays in the passing game until late. No Sun Devil receiver finished with more than 42 yards receiving against UNLV. Through two games, the Sun Devils have failed to have any pass-catcher record more than 56 yards in the air.
“We figured they would pack the box and try to stop the run,” said Hill of the game plan. “We wanted to mix things up as much as we could with the pass game and some play-action stuff. Really, some of our shots didn’t hit.
“It was a little bit of that mix of trying to throw the ball around and get (Daniels) in a groove, but it ended up being in the first half that he was just taking off and running more.”
Daniels made it clear he was on the same page as his head coach and coordinator regarding a desire to run the ball less and pass it more. But some of the decisions to keep the ball in the hands of the quarterback were the result of Daniels unwillingness to push the ball down the field in scramble situations.
With just over six minutes to play in the second quarter, and the Sun Devils trailing 10-7, the ASU pocket collapsed, and Daniels stepped up on 3rd and 5. As junior wide receiver, Ricky Pearsall came open in the middle of the field beyond the first down marker, Daniels opted to tuck the ball away and run, picking up four yards instead.
“The game plan is never for me to rush for however many yards I rushed for,” said Daniels, who came up 14 yards shy of Arizona State’s record for rushing yards in a game by a quarterback. “The game plan is to run the ball, play action pass, get the receivers going, and get the running backs going. But when they give me those opportunities; I’m going to take them for as long as we can stay on the field, and as long as I can help the team win, I’m going to do whatever it takes.”
Both of Daniels’s touchdown passes against the Rebels were firsts for ASU receivers. Early in the second quarter, Daniels was successful in his attempt to find Wilson, firing a dart to the 6-foot-7 receiver for the first touchdown of his career. In the fourth quarter, Daniels threw perhaps his best pass of the night, a 33-yard touchdown to sophomore LV Bunkley-Shelton for his first career score.
With the ASU passing game failing to create any explosive plays, Hill opened the third quarter with a trick play. Even that, a handoff to Pearsall, which was passed backwards and toward the sideline to Daniels, was covered well deep. Rather than force a throw deep into tight coverage on redshirt sophomore Andre Johnson, Daniels made a defender miss in the open field and ran for another first down, this time a gain of 11.
“It’s all a learning experience,” said Hill of the continual growth of Daniels. “He was able to drop back and have more reps at throwing the ball here tonight. We’ll go back, and he’ll go back and look at it and see where the pocket was clean and when should (he) work through (his) protection, and when did he do a good job taking off.
“You want him to run at times, but you want to limit that, and you don’t want him to get hit so much.”
While the passing game comes up looking lackluster, Edwards once again pulled his favorite stat out. In the Sun Devils’ last 11 games with over 200 yards rushing – Saturday against UNLV, the Devils ran for 290 – ASU is 10-1. With a road contest with BYU on the horizon, Edwards is still aware of the category in need of the most improvement.
“We still got to get our passing game in sync,” said Edwards as the Sun Devils prepare to go on the road for the first time in 2021. “Jayden is gonna make some plays with his legs. You guys have watched him before, but we’ve got to be careful.”
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