Likens discusses two-point attempt and challenges posed by Oregon's defense

As Arizona State marched 90 yards, down by a score against Oregon State, offensive coordinator Rob Likens knew his team would go for two if given the chance.

On the road amid a three-game losing streak, Likens knew head coach Herm Edwards wasn’t playing to tie the game at 35. He was playing to take the lead.

“We talked about it during the drive,” Likens stated. “I knew we were going to go for two if we scored.”

Brandon Aiyuk supplied the touchdown the Sun Devils needed on 4th and 8 as ASU lined up for the two-point attempt.

Jayden Daniels took the ball and pitched it to his left as running back Eno Benjamin caught the ball at the 9-yard line before being swallowed up by the Beavers’ defense.

The two-point play was one that looked like it had no chance from the beginning, one that Likens admitted he wished he could have back.

“Actually, we burned a lot of two-point plays,” Likens said. “We’ve already run several of them, three of them. The one that I called was played off of the one that we had already done. It was kind of a variation off of it which was, you know, if you just watched on film, if we had run the original play that we had already run, it would have worked. I don’t know if they didn’t watch the two-point play that we ran before, but it ended up, as all calls that don’t work, you wish you had it back.”

Despite calling the toss play to Benjamin and having it not work out, Likens admitted it was not the only play call on his mind.

The offensive coordinator said he was bouncing between the toss play and a different play during the timeout preceding the two-point try.

“We had two of them and just kind of went back and forth on which one we wanted to do,” Likens admitted. “We ran out there and then they called a timeout ─ then we kind of mulled over, ‘Do we want to stay with this one or this one?’ Then we decided to stay with that one. But we had two of those and we could have run another one.”

Sun Devils face tall task in Oregon defense

The hardest defense to date for the Sun Devils was against a stout Utah team in which freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels threw for a total of 25 yards.

No. 6 Oregon boasts a defense that is just as impressive but one that differs from the style that the Sun Devils saw against the Utes.

“They’re different than Utah,” Likens stated. “They have more team speed, they’re athletic, they run to the ball, they’re rangy, they got guys upfront. Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that, because I knew that question was going to come up, ‘How do you compare them to USC, Utah?’ All three of those types, they’re really tough to go against. They have a really good defensive scheme and they’re simple, and I think that’s what makes them good. Because they work on the same things every day, they don’t get themselves out of position much.”

This sense of simplicity has become the staple for the Ducks program that boasts one of the top defensive units in the Pac-12 and nationally.

Oregon is currently ranked No. 11 in rush defense in the nation allowing 101 yards per game and No. 14 in total defense at 306 yards per game.

The impressive numbers stem from a front line that is able to pressure the quarterback with as few as three or four rushers.

“They can put pressure on the quarterback in a four- and a three-man front,” Likens stated. “That’s why they got so many interceptions ─ because they like to drop eight in their zone package, and there’s not a lot of holes out there and they force quarterbacks to make throws, right? And the other teams are playing from behind a lot, forcing, and so the quarterbacks are feeling the pressure to force throws, force the ball down the field.”

The pressure from the front end, as Likens mentioned, is the main key that has led to a large number of turnovers in form of interceptions for the Ducks.

Just how many interceptions?

Oregon currently leads the nation by a wide margin in interceptions with 17 this season. Florida comes in at second at 15 and five teams are tied for third at 14.

Not only are the Ducks intercepting passes, but they’re also picking a large chunk of yards after doing so as they lead the nation in interception return yards with 268 compared to Florida’s 160.

The Ducks also have two interceptions returned for touchdowns on the year which is tied for third-most in the country.

“They’re throwing the ball and they drop eight in zone coverage and they’re intercepting a lot of balls,” Likens said. “Everything they do, they make it tough, because whenever you can play somebody in just your four-man front and you can get pressure on the quarterback without sacrificing other players and just sitting back and playing in your zone and all that stuff and manning people up, then you’re going to be good.”

In order for Arizona State to overcome the challenges posed by the Ducks defense, they must first overcome themselves and their own mistakes.

These mistakes include situations that have plagued the Sun Devils during their current four-game losing streak including penalties and slow starts to games.

“We take the situations that we had the game before that maybe we failed on a play or somebody did something wrong, according to situational football, and we put them back in that same situation so that they can learn from it. You just hope one of these days, they’ve gone through all the situations and then we’re going to be on the other side of it.”

For Likens and the team’s coaching staff, they look to put their young team in a position every game to be competitive no matter the talent level on the opposing side of the ball.

In the eyes of Likens, as long as his players are fighting hard and not giving up on the team’s coaches, they have a chance.

“As long as the kids aren’t quitting on you, which ours are not, we practiced really hard today. There was so much energy out at practice, which is great to see. We just got to finish the games ─ we can’t turn the ball over. We can’t jump offsides, and you practice that every day.”

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