PASADENA, Calif. – Arizona State freshman linebacker Eric Gentry stood in the end zone in his spotless uniform, all-white save for his maroon helmet reflecting the Rose Bowl’s looming lights, his slender frame hard to miss at his perch under the blue and gold UCLA lettering in the end zone.

Gentry was an agent on this play, a spy backed up against the wall at the start of the fourth quarter on 4th and Goal, tasked to protect ASU’s nine-point lead. With the ball at the 1-yard line courtesy of Jordan Clark’s efforts to crash the edge a play before, the Sun Devils stared down the barrel of UCLA’s pistol formation. And yet, despite the encroaching enemy forces and his unfavorable position, Gentry remained unfazed and committed to the mission.

The assignment at hand? Operation: Contain DTR.

It was an undertaking that seemed impossible for ASU at times. Dorian Thompson-Robinson had repeatedly moved the chains for the Bruins with his legs on third down and found open receivers on plays he extended out of a collapsing pocket. He ended the game as UCLA’s rushing leader, taking off with the football 18 times for 93 yards.

To complicate matters, running back, Zach Charbonnet stood behind Thompson-Robinson in the backfield. In UCLA’s previous four games, the Bruins found their offensive flow through Charbonnet. The Michigan transfer rushed for over 100 yards against Hawaii, LSU, and Stanford.

If he was given the ball in the play-action exchange and swerved into the left side B-gap, he probably had an excellent chance to punch the ball in. ASU defensive end Tyler Johnson and strong-side linebacker Merlin Robertson both were stood up at the line. Will Shaffer, another freshman linebacker, subbed in for a cramping Darien Butler was a few paces back from the play. The physical Charbonnet likely would have been favored if that one-on-one opportunity materialized.

Thompson-Robinson pulled the ball away instead, accelerated to the outside like he had done numerous times before. And for the first three steps, his chances looked promising. Thompson-Robinson floated toward the left sideline, propelled by long strides, UCLA’s comeback chances in his hands.

Gentry followed those movements the entire way. Even as UCLA’s left tackle Sean Rhyan surged ahead to combat Gentry, the long-armed linebacker kept his eyes locked to the quarterback. His pterodactyl-like limbs shot into Rhyan’s chest, sending the junior offensive lineman careening to the turf, only a minor obstacle in Gentry’s surveillance of the UCLA backfield.

“We already knew exactly what they were going to do, what they like to do in the red zone,” Butler said after the game. “The quarterback likes to run the ball. Good job by the freshman, Eric Gentry, stepping up. He’s a special kid.”

It was a move Gentry repeatedly practiced at ASU’s football facilities in Tempe, AZ. Linebackers coach Chris Claiborne rarely wavers in his routine during the positional drill period of practice. Claiborne walks the group through a wrap-up exercise, sled work, and re-routing receivers that travel across the middle.

But perhaps the most interesting drill of the entire regimen is when Claiborne chucks medicine balls at his players, who move horizontally in front of him. The objective was to force the linebackers to bat down the heavy objects and maintain their momentum.

In fall camp, Gentry struggled to master the technique. For starters, there was a lot of physical maturity that needed to take place. And then there was the inevitable inexperience factor for a freshman. He caught the medicine balls close to his chest, minimizing power and effectively slowing down his motion. “Extend your arms, E,” Claiborne told him during one session. Gentry looked up, adjusted his facemask, and nodded.

Gentry showed progress in the following weeks. Claiborne still relayed the exact instructions, engraining the proper method into the former three-star Philadelphia recruit. A few weeks ago, Claiborne watched Gentry go through the activity, stayed silent, and turned his attention to the next player in the line. At the end of the rep, with his back shielding any emotions from Claiborne, Gentry flexed those long arms forward in triumph.

So, with Rhyan in a heap beside him, Gentry found himself face-to-face with Thompson-Robinson, knowing UCLA’s dynamic star would be touting the ball. The distance between them disappeared instantly. Thompson-Robinson planted his foot in the ground, a last-ditch effort to spin out of Gentry’s grasp.

The grapevines ensnared Thompson-Robinson, securing the dual-threat weapon in place safely behind the line of scrimmage. Gentry didn’t even fall down in the tackle for loss. He kept his footing and shoved the off-balance Thompson-Robinson to the ground. As he whirled around to face the roaring ASU sideline, Gentry flexed again.

Mission accomplished.

“He finds his way to the ball,” defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce said in a postgame press conference. “He did one hell of a job with his body, always focused; he’s one of the better student-athletes on the team about studying football.”

“But you got to give credit to all those guys. They kept battling for four quarters.”

Gentry was just one of the adjustments ASU made throughout Saturday’s 43-23 win over UCLA. Middle linebacker Kyle Soelle, who led the Sun Devils with 12 tackles, was ejected on the final play of the third quarter for targeting. Soelle delivered a late hit after Thompson-Robinson gave himself up after another one of his scrambles. The senior became the third ASU defensive player to be ejected for targeting this season.

In the secondary, injuries challenged the depth before the game even began. Free safety Evan Fields did not make the trip with a hamstring injury. Sophomore Kejuan Markham was the next man up but was pulled in the second half in favor of T Lee. Senior cornerback Timarcus Davis, who made his season debut against Colorado after dealing with a bone bruise, was slow to get up after a tackle in the second quarter. He was replaced by freshman Macen Williams, who filled in during nickel packages during Davis’s absence. Deandre Pierce was shaken up in the third quarter but later returned.

And UCLA brought the firepower indeed. Tight end Greg Dulcich kept finding open pockets of space en route to a mammoth 9/136 stat line. Wide receiver Kyle Philips was also productive, hauling in six catches for 58 yards and a touchdown. On the score by Philips at the start of the second quarter, Pierce shifted too far outside in anticipation of the rub UCLA designed with the outside receiver. Philips slanted inside, wide-open. And then there was the problem of bottling up Thompson-Robinson.

Still, the Philips touchdown Thompson-Robinson threw all night. ASU forced UCLA to kick four field goals, one of which was missed. The team put points on the board on a botched snap in the first quarter. Anthonie Cooper, Stanley Lambert, and B.J. Green collectively put up five sacks.

Most importantly, UCLA was shut out in the second half. The unit adapted and rebounded with energy.

As ASU streamed toward midfield as the final seconds of the fourth quarter ticked off the clock, Chase Lucas stayed behind on the sideline. The super senior cornerback savored the moment, taking in the roaring ASU fans clustered around the away team tunnel before turning his attention to the scoreboard. While the rest of his team celebrated, Lucas was left by himself to walk down, his eyes never leaving the final score projected on the video board.

ASU entered into Rose Bowl and emerged victorious. But they didn’t win the Rose Bowl; the game Lucas returned to the program after being on the brink of declaring for the NFL Draft earlier this year. Getting a leg up in the Pac-12 South is a massive advantage, but there are more games to play.

Stanford, which took down No. 3 Oregon earlier in the day, arrives in Tempe next week. Tough road tests against Utah, Washington, and Oregon State dot the rest of ASU’s schedule. The Sun Devils welcome USC on Nov. 9; they have not beat the Trojans since 2018.

When Antonio Pierce was asked what the win meant for the team, his answer was abrupt as he left the podium.

“4-1,” Pierce said.

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