At this point, Arizona State and close call contests are no strangers to each other. Dating back to the introductory press conference of head coach Herm Edwards, the term “competitive consistency” has been thrown around as a program standard. It’s been something to strive for. It’s also been something Sun Devil football teams have been able to accomplish frequently.
In 17 of the Sun Devils' 26 games during Edwards’ first two seasons, ASU played in a one-score game. As dawn turned to daylight Saturday morning in Los Angeles, it appeared for much of the second half as if the Sun Devils were on their way to a commanding season-opening win over No. 20 USC.
“We talked about it all week that this game would go down to the fourth quarter,” Edwards told reporters after the game. “We had a lead, and we didn’t finish the game.”
The Arizona State offensive line had done a good job of run blocking through the first three quarters and change. With a revamped backfield, JUCO transfer Rachaad White showcased his smooth running style on a 55-yard touchdown catch, while freshman standout Chip Trayanum gashed the Trojans defense in a powerful nature with two touchdowns on the ground.
The Sun Devils were in full control, making a fool of the supposed wise guys in Las Vegas, who handicapped the Pac-12 South’s preseason second-place team as 11-point underdogs heading into the game. A new defensive scheme under co-defensive coordinators Marvin Lewis and Antonio Pierce forced four turnovers, the last of which came via a Merlin Robertson fumble recovery with 5:12 left on the game clock. An incomplete pass by USC sophomore quarterback Kedon Slovis set up 4th and 13 with 3:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.
According to ESPN’s win probability model, the Sun Devils had a 99.9 percent chance to win the game, leading 27-14.
“You’ve gotta give them credit,” Edwards remarked following the Sun Devils’ first loss in a season-opener during his tenure in Tempe. “They made the plays that they needed to make. We did not whether it was on offense, defense, or special teams.”
The ensuing play saw Sun Devil defensive end Tyler Johnson jump into the neutral zone, allowing Slovis to take a free shot at the end zone, where Bru McCoy was able to secure a 26-yard touchdown on a ball that was batted into the air in a scrum.
“We go over that in practice all the time,” said Edwards of the failure to recover the Trojans' onside kick attempt. “My first year here, they kicked one, and we recovered it. This year, we don’t recover. It’s not like we didn’t have our hands team out there.
“Everyone knew that they were going to try to onside kick, and it took a good bounce and a hard bounce and kicked off one of our guys’ hands, and they made the play.”
An onside kick for the Trojans was batted around by the ASU hands team, fought for by Robertson and eventually ruled to have been recovered by McCoy for the Trojans. Each time a play was absolutely needed down the stretch, the Trojans were able to create success. USC’s comeback was capped off by a perfectly thrown ball from Slovis to Drake London, who tallied eight receptions for 125 yards and the game-winning score.
“[Kejuan] Markham was in really good shape,” said Edwards of the Sun Devils’ defense on the go-ahead touchdown. “He just went for it with the wrong hand. He went for it with the right hand instead of the left hand, and it was a great throw. If you break that up, we get the ball and probably can milk the clock and win it.”
After averaging 24.8 points per game in 2019, a mark that ranked 96th in the nation, the Sun Devils scored 27 in their first game under offensive coordinator – with only 10 second-half points. That inability to maintain separation, and remain aggressive on offense may have been a factor in allowing the Trojans to hang around in a game riddled by their mistakes.
“The thing I’ve learned about college football; they can score at any moment,” said Edwards, after Slovis and the Trojans, scored 14 points in 1:32 of game action. “We had an opportunity defensively to get off the field a couple of times, and we don’t do it. We gave their offense life, and they’ve got some talented players over there and a talented quarterback.
“In the fourth quarter… we had multiple chances to get off the field defensively.”
Edwards talked extensively during the post-game press conference about growing from the defeat, but the blown 13-point lead will sting the Sun Devils. With a commanding grip of the Pac-12 South at stake, ASU allowed Slovis and the Trojans to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
“It was kind of a choppy game at the end,” said Hill, who utilized a wide variety of motions and shifts to create success in the run game for the Sun Devils. “We didn’t finish the way we wanted to with the run game and weren’t clicking with some of the throws. We were in a good spot; we just lost momentum.”
Arizona State’s offense saw sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels throw just twice before the Sun Devils’ final drive, in which a last-ditch effort ended when a fourth-down pass bounced into the hands of freshman receiver LV Bunkley-Shelton. Daniels ran 11 times for 111 yards, but an inability to connect with the youthful receivers after the exit of senior Frank Darby ultimately left the Sun Devils offense with room for improvement.
“There’s going to be a lot of things we look at and go ‘man, I wish we would have done this differently. I wish we would’ve done that differently,” said Hill of the offense, which had just 134 yards passing and 258 yards rushing. Hill cited game flow as the primary reason for staying with the run game. “At halftime, we talked about being able to run the ball effectively, and that really was the game plan moving forward. I felt like we had an edge there.
“There were some things that we wanted to get to and knowing that [Darby] was out changed a few things, but you’ve gotta adjust as a coordinator and as an offense.”
Daniels showed a propensity for stepping up late in fourth quarters during his freshman season, but with fewer opportunities to touch the ball in the second half, he was unable to find the groove necessary to deliver another comeback victory for ASU. That’s the reality of a team that puts itself in a position to need a go-ahead, game-winning drive.
For every moment like Michigan State or Washington State, there seems to be an equal and opposite moment, such as USC or Oregon State. Such is the relationship between ASU and its relationship with one-score games.
In all, the sophomore quarterback finished 11 for 23 for 134 yards passing, with a touchdown and no interceptions, but Edwards and company will surely want to create more success for the face of the program in weeks to come.
Expectations have changed in Tempe. Competitive consistency has been achieved. With just a 9-9 record in one-score games, the next step for Edwards’ team is finishing the job.
“You’ve gotta make the plays,” Edwards said. “It wasn’t like we weren’t in position to make the plays. It’s just we have to make them when they present themselves. That’s football.
“We will grow from it, and we’ll continue to try to improve going forward.”
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