SALT LAKE CITY -- Aashari Crosswell stood near midfield, holding a shrug like he was Michael Jordan. As the eyes inside of Rice-Eccles Stadium veered toward his direction, he kept still. With his crude shrug intact, he plead his innocence.

When a group of referees convened near him, near the Utes’ sideline, he walked up to them alone. He argued they missed the call. He didn’t commit pass interference against Demari Simpkins, he argued -- blatantly sticking out his arm in front of one referee’s upper body to mimic how he defended Simpkins.

Nothing changed. Play resumed. Crosswell’s psyche, his emotion, though, that was still plays behind.

After an incomplete pass a few moments later, Crosswell walked to the left side of the field, setting up at safety. He likely wasn’t close enough to the stands where a yell would become audible. But the Utah student section had a few hundred yells, and all directed in Crosswell’s direction, those got his attention.

As Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley walked up to the line, Crosswell was off to the side, waving his arms up and down in the, ‘Get up. Get loud,’ motion to the student section. Even when he turned his eyes to Huntley, he was still waving his arms. Then he began jumping up and down while waving his hands.

Aashari Crosswell was standing on about the 35-yard line. His mind was somewhere else. And in No. 17 Arizona State’s 21-3 loss at No. 17 Utah, that happened all too often to more Sun Devils than it should have.

ASU, which allowed just under 55 penalty yards a game prior to Saturday, committed 12 fouls for 122 yards. Those 12 penalties were the most an ASU team committed since playing Missouri in 2011; and the 122 yards were almost triple the amount Utah (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) forfeited.

“When you play in a game like this, you can’t let your emotions take over. We’ve been pretty good about that, but tonight was one of those nights,” ASU coach Herm Edwards said. “ I was like, ‘What are we doing?’ I couldn’t believe what I was watching.”

“We were playing with a lot of emotion, instead of passion,” defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said. “We’re playing with a bunch of young guys who need to grow up quickly.”

ASU’s youth has been its catalyst this season. When the Sun Devils (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12) win, it makes for a nice additional caveat. ASU won … and did it with a bunch of freshmen. In losses, like Saturday, the caveat spoils. ASU lost … well, it was playing a bunch of freshmen.

“Our youth on both sides of the ball showed up today,” Edwards said. “It just did. We’ve been waiting for that to happen, we were hoping it wouldn’t happen, but I’m not naïve enough to think that it’s not going to.”

Though the Sun Devils switched up their offensive line into myriad combinations, the much bigger, much faster and much more experienced Utah front often faced two freshmen -- left tackle LaDarius Henderson and right guard Dohnovan West.

It showed. The Utes never had a problem putting pressure on quarterback Jayden Daniels. Sometimes they rushed three and got a little push. Sometimes they blitzed and had Daniels running for his life. If ASU’s freshman signal-caller had more than a second in the pocket, it felt like a miracle.

Daniels had no time for check downs. Hardly any time to get out his signature quick passes to receiver Brandon Aiyuk. And there never seemed to be space for his elusive 6-foot-1, 175-frame to gallop through. And in the end, offensive coordinator Rob Likens ran out of options.

ASU’s offense finished with just 136 total yards. Daniels only completed four passes. ASU only moved the sticks eight times. And it only converted on third down twice. Herm Edwards’ style is built on running the ball and controlling the clock. In rainy Salt Lake City, ASU’s defense was on the field over 10 minutes more than its offense.

Likens’ creativity has been tested in 2019. Every week, it seems, he tries to conjure up new ideas and new plans to buy Daniels time in the pocket. He called max protection most plays. He called plays to roll the pocket. He tried to develop the run game.

Nothing worked. And if it did work, it didn’t work the next play.

There were two back-to-back drives in the second quarter that illustrate the second-year offensive coordinator’s frustration. On both, the Devils gained at least eight yards on first down. And on both, the Devils punted two plays later.

“No, never, not one time,” Likens said when asked if he ever felt like the offense was ever in a rhythm Saturday. “Never ever ever.”

And that brings us back to the penalties. ASU doesn’t have room for very many mistakes -- not when it’s as young and inexperienced as it is. Even in the Devils’ five victories this season, none were these sweeping, grandiose victories that were in the bag by halftime.

They needed game-winning drives against Michigan State, Cal and Washington State. That’s how tight ASU’s games are. One drive. Sometimes one play. On Saturday night, it gave a more-talented team 12 plays and more yards than the length of the field.

Sure the defense notched a quartet of turnovers -- that gave ASU a full tank of gas. But the penalties were the two faulty engines that wouldn’t allow the plane to fly.

“You can’t help a team,” Likens said. “A team that good, you give them any help -- good luck. You’re done.”

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