LAS VEGAS - For much of the 2021 college football season, the Arizona State football team has been a two-faced conundrum. Slow starts have translated to rapid reactions later in the game. Sometimes those adaptations have happened a little too late.
Regardless, before the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl had even begun, ASU anticipated Wisconsin’s freshman phenom at running back, Braleon Allen, to be a problem. Despite their preparation, the Sun Devils stumbled around the trenches in the trenches as the Badgers zoned them off, allowing Allen to sift behind his offensive line with veteran patience and critically select his rushing lanes. Once he committed, Allen’s physical style required multiple players to bring him down. The 6 foot 2, 238-pound bruiser would outrun ASU’s linebackers to the edge or throttle downhill and fake out the safety.
After sitting out Wisconsin’s first drive, Allen announced his entrance into the bowl game fray with 62 rushing yards on the next drive. By halftime, he had racked up 101 yards on 12 carries, eclipsing the century mark in eight of his last nine games. As ASU started to realize exactly how much attention Allen warranted, Wisconsin took their chances in man coverage against Timarcus Davis and first-time starter Keon Markham, who replaced NFL Draft-bound senior cornerbacks Chase Lucas, and Jack Jones. Although Davis snagged an interception in the second quarter, the Badgers were able to find the end zone twice and kick a pair of field goals to hold a comfortable 20-6 lead over the first two quarters.
Defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce knew halftime adjustments needed to be made. Pierce went to the drawing board in the locker room, just like he had against BYU, Colorado, and Stanford. All three of those offenses struggled to counter Pierce’s modifications in the second half this season, putting up a combined 13 points.
First, Pierce switched his base 4-3 front to a 5-2, allowing ASU to gain more of a presence at the line to stymie Allen before his gaps could even appear. Pierce also tested the adaptability of his players and challenged his defensive line to operate from positions not necessarily foreign but unfamiliar to them. Omarr Norman-Lott, who has appeared mostly as a 3-technique, became the primary option at the right defensive end position. Armon Bethea, a converted offensive line prospect, was thrust into action as a second nose tackle alongside T.J. Pesefea. That left Shannon Forman and Tyler Johnson to crash the left side of the formation.
The effectiveness of the new setup was felt immediately, at least temporarily.
Allen was no longer able to rip off chunk yardage. His next eight touches only went for 15 yards. The Badgers were forced to punt three times, allowing the Sun Devils to claw their way back within one score. Newcomers rose to the occasion. Freshman linebacker Eric Gentry, another first-year playmaker, wrapped up Allen for no gain on third down to stall Wisconsin’s post-halftime answer. Walk-on 3-technique BJ Green, another first-year playmaker, hit home on Wisconsin quarterback twice on third down as well from ASU’s speed rush package.
By the end of the third quarter, Wisconsin’s continuous search for answers yielded them a net offensive output of negative seven yards.
Allegiant Stadium echoed the turn of events. The sea of red Wisconsin supporters peppered against the black contrast of the conceded to the raucous chants in support of maroon and gold. The players sensed it, too, as they peered up into the towering rows of black chairs and drew energy from the interaction.
“Our ASU fans behind us were loud,” head coach Herm Edwards remarked in a postgame press conference. “I looked across, and Wisconsin’s fans were sitting down all of a sudden it became a football game. That’s all you can ask for going into the fourth quarter; make it a game. Whether they lead or we lead, it was a game that was going to come down to a couple plays.”
One of those plays was Logan Tyler’s first-ever punt in an emergency fill-in following a leg injury to starter Eddie Czaplicki pinned the Badgers on the five-yard line. A healthy 9:37 remained in the fourth quarter. Momentum appeared to be in ASU’s favor. The comeback, a prospect that seemed almost as bleak as DeaMonte Trayanum finding success at linebacker for Ohio State, was very much alive.
In response, Wisconsin returned to its roots. Braelon Allen started to gain traction behind his mountain movers. Mertz passed twice; both throws moved the chains and extended the long drive. Soon, Wisconsin had bled the clock dry and evaporated Jayden Daniels’ chances for one final drive.
“They’re scary because when you watch them on tape, that’s what they can do,” Edwards said. “They can chew up some drives. They can chew up a lot of time. I kept looking at that clock, trust me.”
“I feel like we did what we were supposed to do in that second half but unfortunately came up short in that first half,” senior MIKE linebacker Kyle Soelle said. “And I think that affected us in the long term.”
The 20-13 postseason loss was the final nail in the coffin to a season that began with Pac-12 Championship aspirations and flamed out well short of expectations with self-inflicted losses to more disciplined teams on ASU’s schedule.
Edwards, who was notified earlier in the month he would return as ASU’s head coach next season, acknowledged and reflected on the toll all the shortcomings, frustrations, and ongoing NCAA investigation had on the team as his fourth year at the Sun Devil helm came to a close. But through defeat, what has never wavered in his loyalty to his staff and players, a trait every good coach prioritizes.
“I said ‘I wouldn’t take any other team but you guys,’ to be quite honest,” Edwards said. “For all the things that these guys have gone through. And I don’t even want to go down that road. But it’s been a long year for everybody.”
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