Every player on Arizona State’s football team we talked to on Monday said they tuned in to Southern Utah’s matchup against San Jose State last Saturday to get a first look at their Week 1 opponent. Offensive coordinator Zak Hill mentioned he and quarterback Jayden Daniels even texted their thoughts about SUU’s scheme throughout the game. Here are four observations from that game that can aid the Sun Devils in their preparation for Thursday.

Involve the tight ends

Restructuring the tight end position has been a side project for Zak Hill since he arrived in Tempe. Over four games last season, not too much changed as the receiving group struggled to get acclimated to Jayden Daniels at the start of the season. With a year in Hill’s system under their belts and a better rapport for Daniels, the roles of the tight ends should start to undergo significant change in 2021.

Jalin Conyers said that he expects ASU’s tight ends to “shock some people.” In a few days, Conyers and the rest of his position group will have a prime opportunity to do exactly that. Against SJSU, the Thunderbirds were gashed repeatedly by big, athletic tight end Derrick Deese Jr., The former receiver, created mismatches in the short passing game and finished the night with three catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.

Let’s take a look at those three catches and explain how ASU can accomplish a similar feat.

Deese’s first catch came on SJSU’s opening drive on first down from the left end of the formation. The offense is in 12 personnel: two receivers, two tight ends, and the running back. What creates an open look for Deese is the fact that SJSU is playing pure man coverage across the board.

The outside cornerbacks are matched up evenly at the boundary, and the safety stands his ground from his single-high position upfield. That leaves the linebackers to blanket the tight ends and the running back. It also means the SUU defense is stretched thin, and every man for himself in coverage. The one-on-one matchups are surely expected to open up a look for SJSU quarterback Nick Starkel if his protection holds.

Starkel snaps the ball, and everything plays out according to plan. The SAM and WILL linebackers stream outside to cover the outbreaking tight end and running back, leaving the MIKE to handle Deese, who bursts up the seam to start his route.

Poor technique and discipline get the SUU MIKE in trouble here. The linebacker shifts to his right as the play begins and fails to keep his hips square to Deese, which immediately puts him at a disadvantage. Deese quickly covers ground with lanky strides and realizes the inside release has been gifted to him by the linebacker’s post-snap alignment. Deese fights across the linebacker’s face, sheds the contact and wins the angle as the MIKE struggles to keep up and stay in the play. Starkel delivers a good ball that doesn’t compromise Deese’s speed and momentum, allowing the 6-4, 235-pound weapon to gobble up yards after the catch and bring the offense within striking distance of the goal line. The drive later ended with a rushing touchdown by Starkel.

Deese’s second catch occurred in a much more pressing scenario. Facing a 3rd & 3 situation from SUU’s 45-yard line, the Spartans dialed up a mesh concept to get the team into field goal range. The offense is in 11 personnel this time around (three receivers, a tight end, and a running back), and the SUU defense is still showing the same single-high look with the corners in press man coverage. Based on the information gained during Deese’s first catch, this alignment would suggest the linebackers are matched up one-on-one as well.

This time, something intriguing happens. Both the MIKE and WILL linebackers move to cover the running back, entering the flat upon his exit from the backfield. I don’t believe this was meant to happen, as the MIKE runs full speed into his teammate because he is intensely focused on sticking to the inside hip of the running back. The SAM linebacker disguises his blitz with a slight hesitation before crashing up the middle. Nobody accounts for Deese on the right side of the formation, who sidesteps the SAM on the shallow cross and finds himself free over the middle. Starkel swiftly hits Deese, who bangs his way to extra yards after securing the football. SJSU instantly recognized the miscommunication between the linebackers and capitalized on the mistake.

On gameday, ASU can’t rely on the same mistakes and mental gaffes to be made. But they can create opportunities with play design and innovation. Deese’s third catch results in a touchdown in the red zone from SUU’s 14-yard line. The defense brought in another safety this time around for extra protection in the end zone, but its defensive backs are still playing man coverage. SUU played man for the majority of the game, and while that type of coverage simplifies assignment duties for the defense, SJSU’s quick-hitting pass attack and route concepts intended to create traffic and cause receivers to shake loose from defenders turned out to be its Achilles heel.

On 3rd & 7, the natural disruption produced by the combination of Deese’s corner route and the inbreaking receiver’s drag in front of the formation allowed Deese to get open here. The two routes create a natural pick play that bumps the defensive back and the linebacker covering Deese into each other. Deese is able to get away from the snarl-up and scoot into the end zone. The linebacker remains with him, but the separation generated by the pick is ultimately too much to overcome.

Deese wasn’t the only tight end that reaped the rewards of miscommunication and concept execution that night. Sam Olson recorded a 75-yard touchdown on a busted coverage by SUU as well. Olson motioned across the formation and ran a vertical route once the ball was snapped. Instead of matching Olson down the field, the linebacker stays in zone coverage with the expectation that the safety will pick up his assignment. However, the safety’s attention has been drawn elsewhere, and both men up high end up drifting to the same receiver. Whoops. As soon as Olson exits the linebacker’s zone, he is gone.

ASU tight end Curtis Hodges said even if the tight ends aren’t a huge element in the passing game; they expect to be “involved in every play.” Whether it’s holding an edge for Daniels, blocking for the team’s running backs or manipulating defenders out of position, the tight ends will be a major factor in what the offense will throw at SUU.

This red zone rush attempt by SJSU in the final minute of the first quarter is an example of what Hodges is talking about. Starkel delays the handoff to the running back, who cuts to the outside edge of the weak side. But in front of the running back is a pulling guard and Deese, who each make critical blocks that spawn massive gaps in SUU’s run support. The running back keeps his balance, dances his way through the traffic, and scores standing up.

On Thursday, expect Hill to feature his tight ends heavily and prey upon SUU’s linebackers. But don’t be surprised if the position group’s most impactful plays are not the ones when they end up catching the ball.

Bring the speed outside

After watching four quarters of SUU’s defense, it was clear to me that this unit benefits from physicality and aggression. Other attributes, like speed and explosion, were not as prevalent. But there was no question every athlete that started on defense for the Thunderbirds last Saturday had the adept size and strength to outmuscle its opponents.

Redshirt junior cornerback Alonzo Davis fits this description perfectly. At 6-2 and weighing 195 pounds, Davis is a good complement for bigger targets. He has long arms that can knock receivers off-balance and impede the timing of certain routes. Against SJSU, Davis exercised his hands often to keep receivers close.

What Davis struggles at is handling any wideout with jets. He is not the most agile cornerback either. He is aware of his limitations, too, and gave himself generous cushions against some of the speedier weapons on SJSU’s roster to ensure he didn’t get burned deep. Sometimes, the extra space to work with still wasn’t enough and even became a hazard once the ball ended up in possession of the receiver.

On SJSU’s second score of the night, Davis plays man coverage against the outside threat, Jermaine Braddock. He plants his feet at the 15-yard line as the receiver gains ground, then flips his hips to cover the fade. Braddock breaks off the vertical route, though; it’s a deep stop instead, and Davis runs past the catch point. The throw from Starkel is there right as Braddock turns around, who does his best Houdini impression with the ball in his hands. Davis doesn’t get a firm grip on the receiver’s upper body and whiffs on his tackle, while the safety is juked into another dimension shortly after.

Later in the first quarter, Davis is matched up against Braddock. His hips are already turned as he performs bail technique, which allows him to keep an eye on Braddock and the quarterback as the play develops. However, the multitasking proves too much for Davis, and he finds himself trailing Braddock simply because the receiver’s speed allowed him to get the upper hand once again. Braddock was able to cut on Davis’ inside shoulder and put himself in position to haul in a lob from Starkel. Davis did not have an opportunity to utilize his hands against Braddock, and he paid the price in the form of a big gain.

With 7:55 left in the second quarter, SJSU exploited Davis’ speed again. The receiver, Charles Ross, threatened the vertical route long enough so that Davis was forced to fully commit and turn his velocity upfield. Because Davis was scared of getting cooked on the fly, Ross is able to break off underneath on a drift route and finds a pocket of space among the defensive backs. Starkel sails in a throw, and Ross makes a great adjustment. From there, the open-field tackling woes continued for SUU. Davis gets taken out as his teammate desperately launches his body toward Ross. The two collapse in a heap while Ross buzzes by them en route to the end zone.

Another play that exposed SUU’s open-field tackling issues was this jailbreak screen. With plenty of space in front of him, the Spartan receiver Isaiah Hamilton is able to move the chains and finesse his way around defenders to a hefty chunk of yardage down the left sideline. Despite multiple defenders angling toward him, Hamilton is able to sift his way through the action and get away from all of them.

Anyway, an ideal mismatch for Davis on ASU’s roster would be Bryan Thompson and Geordon Porter. The two speedier options on the team would be able to cause problems for the stocky cornerback vertically with their track talents. In addition, with SUU playing a lot of Cover 1 on Saturday, the speed could force the safety’s hand to frequently shadow that side of the field. Daniels would then look to the other side of the field, where a true one-on-one matchup between the Z receiver and the opposite cornerback should be taking place.

Don’t underestimate the SUU offense

Despite the score deficit, the Thunderbirds were far from a vanilla offense. Throughout the game, SUU kept SJSU on their toes with bunch formations, route misdirections and proved they had an eye for the creative.

On its first trip to the red zone, the SUU offense managed to pull off a variation of the “Philly Special” trick play, which was originally popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles on a gutsy fourth-down decision against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

After receiving the handoff from quarterback Justin Miller, running back Jordan Jefferson tossed the ball to wide receiver Judd Cockett. Miller slipped through the defense after selling the run play and sprinted to the corner of the end zone. Cockett promptly lofted an easy pass for a wide-open touchdown.

With so much motion and deception to unpack, SJSU was thoroughly confused, and the Thunderbirds came away with their first points of the game.

SUU also employed a lot of concepts to shift the defense and isolate looks downfield. On this particular 3rd & 15, SUU clusters their receivers to the right end of the formation. Upon snapping the ball, each receiver bolts in a different direction, forcing the Spartan defense to move and adapt. The middle receiver in the bunch slants inside, the leftmost receiver breaks to the flat, and the rightmost receiver runs a “Thunder” route (stop and go) down the right sideline. Miller pulls the trigger on the deep ball, but the timing is off, and he puts a little too much air on his throw.

In the fourth quarter, SUU ran a play-action bootleg with receiver motion across the formation. Miller ended up keeping the ball, but the two moving pieces headed to the left side of the field forced the linebackers to crash that way initially. Miller bought time for his tight end to get ahead of him and behind the front line of the defense before whistling the ball into play just before the line of scrimmage. The completion was one of the longest of the night for the Thunderbirds.

On the same drive, SUU demonstrated its understanding of routes that extended past the nine fundamental branches of the route tree. On 3rd & 7, receiver David Atencio ran a “Hurricane” route, which is essentially the same as a shallow cross but with a short stutter included somewhere in the path of the middle of the field to freeze the defender in coverage. Atencio runs the route flawlessly and archives the desired hesitation from the linebacker, which nets him the catch and first down.

Bottom line: the 45-14 final result does not tell the entire picture of SUU offense, which is more advanced than the box score suggests.

Win the trenches

SUU’s offensive line struggled mightily to give its ground game some life early in the game. When running the ball no longer became an option, and pass protection became the primary concern, things did not improve too much on that front either.

Down by three touchdowns at the start of the second quarter, SUU faced an obvious passing situation on 3rd & 9. The line needed to give Miller time for the team’s receivers to get open downfield.

Instead, there was a miscommunication between the center and left guard, which left the B gap wide open. SJSU linebacker Kyle Harmon quickly streaked through the hole and put pressure on Miller, who was forced to check down and get rid of the football.

The Thunderbirds soon got the ball back after a special teams turnover by SJSU, but the offensive line broke down on another key third down to end another drive. The Spartans sent a cornerback on a blitz to the right side while their right EDGE got the jump and sidestepped the right tackle to contribute to the takedown. The tackle could not get to the angle fast enough and is forced to run backward instead of shuffling sideways, which would have helped maintain power and stability.

In the fourth quarter, the SUU offense mustered enough energy for one final drive. However, a sack on 2nd & 2 bled the rest of the clock and ended any hopes of last-minute redemption. In this case, the guard remains too upright in his stance, and when he extends his arm to engage the SJSU defensive tackle, his center of gravity becomes unsteady. When the pass rusher crosses over to the other side, the guard cannot recover in time to stop the penetration.

ASU defensive end Tyler Johnson said he watched the game and took note of some of SUU’s tendencies upfront. While he decided to keep his insight to himself, one aspect he most certainly would have noticed was the effectiveness of speed rushes against the Thunderbird offensive line. By overwhelming the edges of the formation and forcing blockers to hurry into positions of leverage, Johnson and the rest of the defensive line will be able to thrive and benefit from that sense of panic.

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