TUCSON, Ariz.—Arizona State entered the week dead last in passing yards (4,212) and passing touchdowns (32) allowed. Naturally, its secondary shouldered much of the blame and criticism for the team’s defensive issues all year.
However, Friday night’s Territorial Cup matchup in Tucson took a unique twist. In ASU’s (5-7, 2-7 Pac-12) 56-35 loss to Arizona (3-9, 1-8) in front of 50, 197 at Arizona Stadium, the Sun Devils gave up 511 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns to a team that averaged 200.9 yards on the ground entering the contest.
Those 511 yards are the most an ASU defense has allowed on the ground in school history.
“We just absolutely played atrocious,” head coach Todd Graham said. “We did a poor job preparing them defensively. We give up that many yards rushing, it’s just absolutely ridiculous. We haven’t had a game like that since I’ve been here. That starts at the top with me. We’ve obviously got some things that we have to get straight.”
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brandon Dawkins, who only completed three passes, led the way with 12 carries for 187 yards and two touchdowns, amassing whopping 15.2 yards per carry. Senior Samajie Grant, who recently moved to running back from receiver, carried 19 times for 184 yards and three touchdowns. Redshirt junior Zach Green had 14 carries for 126 yards and two scores.
All three combined to give Arizona its first game with three 100-yard rushers since Nov. 6, 1993.
“They didn’t run anything they hadn’t run,” Graham said. ”It was just very disappointing.”
Arizona’s rushing attack started quickly as Dawkins ran for a 71-yard touchdown on just the third play of the game, forcing ASU to adjust.
The Sun Devils received a boost from junior devilbacker Koron Crump, who picked up a fumble forced by sophomore defensive end JoJo Wicker and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown.
However, the ASU defense did not make a bigger play from there on out, but Graham said he thought his team had things under control considering its two first-half turnovers led to 14 Arizona points, which proved the difference as the Sun Devils faced a 14-point deficit at halftime.
Dating back to its final drive of the first half, ASU scored on three straight drives to make it a 35-28 game.
Its defense could not be relied upon, though. After ASU’s offense made it a one-score game, the defense gave up a 52-yard run to Grant on the first play of the drive. Then, Green rushed for 26 more yards, setting up an eventual touchdown for himself.
“We were just so porous defensively against the run, you’re not going to have a chance to win a game like that,” Graham said.
Following an ASU drive stalling, Dawkins started the Wildcats’ possession with a 68-yard run, setting up another easy rushing touchdown.
ASU scored another touchdown when redshirt sophomore Manny Wilkins completed a pass to redshirt senior receiver Fred Gammage, whose career day of 12 receptions, 116 yards, and that touchdown was overshadowed by the loss.
Grant’s 63-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession proved to be the official dagger.
For added context on Arizona’s dominance on the ground, the Wildcats did not even attempt a single pass in the second half.
It did not matter.
“We played every front that we could possibly play,” Graham said. “We were just getting hooked and getting blocked. Just absolutely did a terrible job defensively in the second half. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like that.”
Graham said his defense lacked discipline in Friday night’s loss.
“We started giving up plays, then you have this person trying to do somebody else’s job,” he said.
Graham said multiple times during his postgame press conference that his team’s poor defensive performance was unlike anything he had ever seen during his tenure at ASU, which started in 2012.
It was also the most inopportune time for a lackluster defensive outing as it squandered any hopes of ASU receiving its sixth win to become bowl eligible. Not to mention the Territorial Cup will be moving from Tempe to Tucson.
ASU started the season 5-1, which seems a distant memory after its six-game losing streak to end the season headlined a downward spiral never experienced in the Graham era.
“As far as us, that was the worst performance we’ve had since we’ve been here,” Graham said. That was embarrassing. No excuses for us, but that was very, very difficult to watch. Let our university down, let our program down and that was very, very difficult. Just absolutely didn’t show up defensively and gave up one big play after another.”
