It had been 29 days since the clock struck zero in the LA Coliseum and ASU wrapped up its first game against the USC Trojans, but on Saturday night, after COVID-19 had sidelined the ASU Football program, the Sun Devils finally returned to the gridiron to face off with the UCLA Bruins.

Through the first few minutes of play, ASU’s time off quickly became apparent. The Sun Devils seemed sluggish, attempting to get back in the groove of football speed against a Bruins team that already had four full contests under its belt.

ASU sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels was inconsistent in finding his targets to open the game, and suffocating pressure from a UCLA defensive front that blitzed heavily didn’t help the young Sun Devil gunslinger’s case. Daniels was sacked on both of ASU’s drives in the first quarter - a total of three times, accounting for 23 yards lost.

The Bruins, who led the Pac-12 in sacks with 13 entering the contest, hounded the inexperienced Sun Devil offensive line – a group that has a combined 28 starts across the entire quintet. With the lack of protection, Daniels was forced to get the ball out quickly or rely on the offensive line and running backs to make gains on the ground. When Daniels chose to use his feet, a trait that earned him 111 yards against USC, he was swallowed up by the aggressive Bruins packing the box.

“The passing (issues stemmed from) their ability to create pressure,” head coach Herm Edwards explained. “At times, receivers and Jayden weren’t timed up, and he had to hold the ball a little longer than he wanted to, so that made up for some of it. Some of it was we just didn’t pick up our blocks when they brought pressure….(UCLA) felt like, ‘if you don’t pick it up – you hold on to the ball, we’re going to sack you, and if not, you got to get rid of the ball, and we’re going to tackle the guy short of the first down.’”

On the other side of the ball, ASU came out much stronger, forcing UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to use his legs on numerous occasions. The ASU defensive line, a group scrutinized for a lackluster 2019 season ahead of this year had a fantastic night – primarily due to the monster performance of redshirt junior defensive end Tyler Johnson, who racked up a pair of sacks and tackles-for-loss in the first half alone.

Yet every time ASU’s front four were just inches away from making a game-changing play, the Bruins quarterback slipped through an unmanned gap, trotting off to a big gain or dumping off a pass or handoff to another Bruin playmaker.

At halftime, Arizona State trailed 17-3, rounding out a lackluster, sluggish performance that was somewhat expected from Herm Edwards and his staff, but when Edwards’ team emerged from the Tillman Tunnel and ran back out onto the Sun Devil Stadium grass, they started to look more like the team seen for the first 55 minutes of play against USC.

“I told them earlier when the game started; you’re going to have to get into game speed mode now because the game will be real fast for you in the first quarter,” Edwards said, replicating the message he gave his players. “I thought (that showed), I watched it unfold where guys weren’t quite (at full speed and readiness) because they had been out of competition for about a month….At halftime, we sat down and gave them a game plan of what they needed to do to get back in the game.”

ASU’s defense came alight in the third quarter, causing back-to-back three-and-outs, enabling Daniels and the offense to pick up the first-half slack. And while Arizona State did manage to be much more productive on offense in the third quarter, penalties and turnovers were plentiful.

“When we came out of halftime, we had a surge of energy, and that was good to see because that is something you’re always concerned about after being a month off,” Edwards noted. “This was like our first game again, to be honest. We haven’t played in such a long time. I thought in the third quarter, we adjusted offensively and defensively and held a team that has been scoring pretty good, averaging 34 points a game. “

On 2nd and 4 from the UCLA five-yard line, Daniels threw to freshman receiver Johnny Wilson for a touchdown. However, the field had become a wash in a sea of yellow, as sophomore left guard Dohnovan West was called for ineligible man downfield. Nevertheless, Daniels found redshirt senior wideout Frank Darby for a touchdown strike on the next play.

Next ASU drive – 1st and 10 from the UCLA 39-yard line. Daniels throws a bomb over the top to redshirt freshman Andre Johnson for a touchdown. As Johnson celebrating what would’ve been his first score of any kind in maroon and gold, the referees thought otherwise, calling another ineligible man downfield penalty – this time on graduate transfer left tackle Kellen Diesch.

“I don’t know if a guy is leaving or blocking a guy and went too far; if Jayden runs around a little bit, then all of a sudden the play gets extended, and it looks like that,” Edwards exclaimed. “There were numerous of those calls, and what can you say, it’s a foul, and they called it.”

Six plays later, Daniels and Co. stood on the 1-yard line, sniffing the endzone for a score that would’ve put ASU an extra point attempt away from tying the game in a matter of 15 minutes. Graduate center Cade Cote snapped the pigskin towards Daniels, but there was a lapse in transition between the hands of the two Sun Devils, and the ball was left rolling on the grass. Bruins’ linebacker Caleb Johnson jumped at the opportunity. UCLA ball.

ASU’s defense responded accordingly with another big stop against Thompson-Robinson and the UCLA offense, forcing a safety with an intentional grounding call against the UCLA quarterback as redshirt sophomore Michael Matus applied pressure.

On the subsequent drive, Daniels completed a 32-yard strike to freshman slot receiver LV Bunkley-Shelton. On 1st and 10 from the UCLA 32, Daniels opted to go to the freshman again, but threw the ball into double coverage, right into the hands of a waiting Jay Shaw for UCLA.

“(In regard to Daniels’ fumble) I don’t know if Jayden pulled out too fast or not, I’m not quite sure, but it was a bobbled snap right from the start,” Edwards noted. “On the interception, I think Jayden was trying to hit a seam down the middle, and I don’t know if the receiver adjusted; I don’t even think he saw the ball. The safety made a good play; he came over and made a play on the ball. Those were two big plays on the 1-yard line, and that’s big when you don’t get points there.”

"UCLA started getting tired,” Daniels described. “I'd say what really killed us was just the costly turnovers. The fumbled snap at the one-yard line, the (interception), we just can't turn over the ball, but the running game keeps going."

ASU began an aggressive running campaign in the fourth quarter, running counter run plays almost every time the ball was snapped. West would pull and lead for the ASU running backs. Graduate transfer right guard Henry Hattis did the same.

Eventually, it paid off.

Arizona State’s offense grabbed the lead in the fourth quarter on a Daniels rush to the left side, as sophomore fullback Case Hatch sealed a tremendous block on the left side, enabling the Sun Devil quarterback to waltz in for a score.

While the Sun Devils might’ve showed that they had shaken off the rust of a 29-day break, the thought was short-lived, as an illegal formation penalty on a successful two-point conversion attempt negated the chances of ASU stretching their lead to the margin of a field goal.

Overall, the Sun Devils racked up 12 penalties, which accounted for 83 yards of setback and at least two missed opportunities to log points in the endzone, and while they did show flashes of the group’s potential and talent, it wasn’t enough to outlast Chip Kelly’s Bruins on Saturday night in Sun Devil Stadium.

“We had an opportunity to close it out, and we just couldn’t do it,” Edwards sighed. “A really big thing for me is when you get into the red zone and turn the ball over and the fouls. We were very sloppy, and that’s not a good football team when you get that many fouls. It stopped drives, it prevented big plays, and the turnovers were big….We had some chances, but the turnovers and the penalties are what really get you in the end.”