As recently as two years ago, Arizona State’s defensive line struggled to create pressure with just four linemen. Despite ranking fourth in the nation in turnovers forced during the 2019 season, the Sun Devils struggled to get to opposing quarterbacks on a consistent basis. The defensive line’s challenges were on a painful and full display, for example, when Colorado quarterback Steven Montez traveled to and from Sun Devil Stadium without being touched by an ASU defender, leaving Tempe with a 34-31 CU win.
During the four-game 2020 schedule, the ASU defense improved its sacks per game ranking from 75th to 64th in the country – a mark that on paper seems like a negligible improvement. Yet, most importantly, added pressure on the quarterback from the defensive line helped the Sun Devils rank first nationally in turnovers forced per game, with 3.3. Now, through four spring practices in 2021, Arizona State’s defensive line is evolving into another strength for a Sun Devil defense which expects to be one of the nation’s best in 2021.
“Those guys understand that there’s a clock,” said defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce. “The goal for our defensive line, our linebackers, or whoever is rushing the quarterback – that quarterback can’t be holding the ball for more than 3.5 seconds. We want to see that ball come out quick, and then we can rally everything up.”
Pierce and the Sun Devil coaching staff have known commodities on the defensive line. With the accepted knowledge of what Jermayne Lole and Tyler Johnson bring to the table, the spring period presents the Sun Devils with a view of some of their newer pieces.
“You’re seeing a lot of (LSU transfer) Travez Moore, Stanley Lambert, T.J. Pesefea,” Pierce said. “They are making the most out of it, and they are getting better. They are getting a lot of reps.”
With four years of experience molding the shape of the program, head coach Herm Edwards and Pierce have a clear focus in recruiting: length. That program-defining focus is beginning to take its true form and show its dividends this spring.
“We’ve made a big emphasis on getting taller, longer, bigger, more mass,” said Pierce of the recruiting philosophy for the Sun Devils. “Obviously, speed is a big factor into that. Now you’re seeing that product, I think, being produced on the field.
Pierce is hoping to utilize Arizona State’s spring practices to slow down the game mentally for his defense.
“How can I have them play faster?” Pierce said of the question he’s trying to answer during the Sun Devils 15 practices. “Making sure they are mentally sharp. Making sure they know their assignments, the alignments, and the adjustments to it. Making the game slows down for them mentally.
“The more that happens, those guys are going to be really fast, and we’ll be flying. Right now, we’re playing fast because we are physically fast. But we need to anticipate better.”
Some of the youngest Sun Devils on the roster were those Pierce expressed great optimism with following Monday’s practice. Arizona State’s new defensive coordinator mentioned freshman linebackers Caleb McCullough and Eric Gentry as well as defensive backs Tommi Hill, Cam Phillips, and Kejuan Markham as players on the second team who impressed him.
“A bunch of guys in our second group, you say ‘if that’s our starter I’m OK,’” claimed Pierce. “Those guys understand that, and the guys in front of them understand that because I’m telling them each and every day.”
Returning experience in the secondary with fifth-year starting cornerback Chase Lucas, Jack Jones, Evan Fields, and DeAndre Pierce gives ASU a luxury on the back end of its defense.
“We were fortunate,” Pierce said of the football knowledge returning in the secondary. “We had a bunch of guys come back, and most of those guys were in the secondary. We had some backers not declare for the draft, and that’s beneficial. Then you add in the freshman class that we brought in. Our goal here is to build depth and to hone in on the fine skills of our guys who are older and have played a lot of football here.
“I think it builds each and every practice. There are certain practices you want to see your 1s against our offense and (sophomore quarterback) Jayden (Daniels) and those guys. But then there are certain days where you put our young DBs out there and let them go against our now sophomore receivers and watch them go.”
With young depth pushing talented experience, Pierce said he’s bringing the same “next man up” mentality employed in his previous linebacker room to his new role as defensive coordinator. Different options at each position give the Sun Devils flexibility, affording ASU an opportunity to hold accountable for frequent mistakes from the same player.
“Everybody wants to be on the field, and we can only suit up 11,” explained Pierce of a defense which returns every starter from last season. “They know the substitutions are very simple. The more you produce, the better you are, the less errors you have, the longer you’ll play. If you’re not sharp with your assignments, alignments, and adjustments, it’s next man up.”
Last week, Edwards spoke about the benefits of having a roster three-deep at each position. Pierce echoed that sentiment about the depth in the Sun Devil program early in 2021.
“It’s real simple. Our 2s are really good. Our 2s could be starters, and we’d be comfortable with that,” Pierce said. “We’re really comfortable with our 2s… We’re getting comfortable with our depth because we’re building up our 2s and 3s on paper, who are now 1s and 2s on the field.”
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