Poise hasn’t been a problem for Jayden Daniels. In his opening season at quarterback for the Sun Devils, the 6-foot-3 native of San Bernardino, Calif., Daniels calm demeanor allowed him to find success when the Sun Devils trailed late in games.
Daniels provided his first display of late-game magic during the Sun Devils first road game of 2019, when he was able to orchestrate an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to give ASU a 10-7 win over No. 18 Michigan State. Two weeks later, Daniels put together a 15-play, 75-yard drive to give Arizona State a late lead in a win over No. 15 California. The late-game poise was capped off with his most dramatic act when the true freshman quarterback helicoptered into the end zone on a 17-yard touchdown run which gave ASU a comeback, 38-34 win over Washington State.
In short, Daniels is more than capable of creating success during the final stages of a contest. But if there was any area in which the Sun Devils’ offense, and by-product Daniels needed to improve, it lies in its’ execution of opening drives and the opening quarter.
“Last year we had a tendency of slow starts and always playing from behind,” Daniels told reporters during the Pac-12 South’s Media Webinar Wednesday. “If we want to be top 20 in the country, we’ve gotta score over 30 plus points a game. That’s one thing we want to work on, on offense; starting off fast and being able to sustain drives, getting more plays in the game, and putting points on the board.
“As a whole with the Arizona State team, we just wanna start fast.”
Opening drives for the Sun Devils in 2019 were almost completely unsuccessful. The Sun Devil offense under former offensive coordinator Rob Likens produced just 3 points on opening drives, with the lone field goal, make coming in ASU’s 30-7 season-opening win over Kent State.
Against Pac-12 opponents, the Sun Devils struggled mightily. There were explosive plays made by Eno Benjamin, Brandon Aiyuk, or Frank Darby, but they never came during ASU’s opening script of plays. In six of the nine conference games, ASU went three-and-out during its opening drive, averaging just 11.2 yards per opening drive. The lack of success often put Daniels and company in a trailing position early in contests.
By contrast, the Sun Devils’ new offensive coordinator Zak Hill’s Boise State offense showed signs of excellence with their ability to execute and capitalize on opening drives. Hill’s offense at one of the premier programs in the Mountain West was able to take early leads often, scoring touchdowns on eight of their 13 opening drives under Hill.
“I think the key to early success in a game is getting some plays that our guys feel really good about,” said Hill, who led BSU to an average of 58.4 yards per opening drive. “Keeping the defense off-balance, but ultimately it’s the focus and their attention to detail in making sure that we’re not overhyped.
“We’ve gotta be in nice and easy, even keel going into a game, where we can play fast, but we can play focused and have that urgency going into a football game.”
There is evidence to support the belief surrounding the program that Hill is the right man to elevate Daniels’ playing abilities, even in his first year of development in a new scheme. During his final season leading the offense at Boise State Hill coached his own true freshman, Hank Bachmeier, who put up good numbers and had success prior to an injury midway through the season.
“Being able to make different types of throws and knowing where to go with the ball at all times,” Daniels expressed as expectations for his ability under Hill after passing for 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions during his opening season in Tempe. “Just going out there and making plays when I need to. I feel like I can elevate my game from last year being able to embrace more of the offensive role, the leadership role of gathering the guys around so that we’re able to make those plays.
“A lot of teams have film on me; there’s different ways that you can stop me, but I just feel like, in the new offense, there’s a different way you have to play us and how you carry your defense and game plan against us. At the end of the day I just have to go out there and be myself.”
Arizona State’s offense will get tested right away, opening up with a road contest against Pac-12 South favorite USC. Having a tough opening week test is another challenge Hill is accustomed to. Last year, Hill’s Boise State offense went into Tallahassee and scored 36 points in a win over Florida State.
“We’re excited for the game. I love that we’re jumping right into it in the Pac-12,” said Hill of the opening week matchup. “Our guys are excited for the game and excited to be able to play football.
“We’ve tried to push them. We’ve tried to make it intense for them, and then once we get into our game planning, it’ll seem a lot simpler just because now we’re reducing the play amounts and things like that. They can focus on through a week of preparation, and I definitely didn’t hold back. I knew we wanted to get in the concepts in the run game and the pass game… I feel good about our install. I think our guys are getting it, and now we get to focus on one what we’re really good at.”
Not only have the Trojans not seen ASU’s new offense, they have also yet to see Daniels play against them. The Sun Devil quarterback sat out of the two program’s matchup last November with a knee injury, in a game the Trojans won 31-26 with Joey Yellen quarterbacking the ASU offense.
“I think it does play a benefit to us as a team,” Daniels explained ahead of the matchup, which many expect to heavily influence the divisional race. “Being able to play them first, they can go back and watch Boise State offense, Boise State film just to get a glance of what coach Hill did recently but going up against it is something different.
“There’s a lot of different things that we bring to the table, so being able to play a good team in USC first is gonna be a good one.”
The level at which Arizona State’s offense is capable of reaching will depend not only on what Daniels or Hill is able to improve, but also the development and the arrival of young players at the skill positions. In particular, the development of freshman receivers Johnny Wilson and LV Bunkley-Shelton, who each had a connection with Daniels from their time in high school 7-on-7 camps.
“They are all trying to learn,” Hill explained. “It’s a new system, so they are all trying to learn it, but I think our guys and our culture here with what coach Edwards brings to this team and the environment that they are in we’re all helping each other.
“Our wide receiver crew in general coach [Prentice] Gill is doing a great job with those guys, getting them ready for practice, and pushing them to compete on a day-to-day basis. It’s been fun watching those guys.”
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, to discuss this article and other ASU football and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today here and get all the latest Sun Devil news!
