To get insight on Colorado's huge home matchup on Saturday afternoon, we spoke with ASUDevils.com publisher Hod Rabino. Check out the Q&A below!
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1. ASU seems to be having a pretty up and down season - big wins over Utah and Washington and then a blowout loss against USC. What's the vibe of the team heading into the game against Colorado?
There’s definitely a lot of uncertainty right now. You just don’t know which ASU team will show up, and you don’t know if the USC game was just a bump in the road or was it a game that ultimately revealed ASU’s true colors and is a sign of things to come the rest of the season.
At 4-4 with four games left, you're truly at a crucial fork in the road between still having a chance to turn this season around or just going into a tailspin after a bad loss, something that ASU is very familiar with from the 2016 season.
2. What or who is the key to the Sun Devils' offense to have success?
While I think that ASU’s wide receiver group is the deepest it has been in years, I don’t consider their passing game to be as strong as it can/should be. Even though its rushing offense is currently ranked No. 9 in the Pac-12, it's absolutely the unit that has to carry this team. In the win against Utah for example, ASU won the time of possession battle in a wide margin and rushed the ball for over 200 yards. That’s the cookie cutter that has to be sued for ASU to have a chance to win. This isn’t an offense is likely to fare well in a shootout. It has scored just 24.2 points per game in five Pac-12 games. The margin of error for this group is minuscule.
3. Who are names to know on the Arizona State defense?
Defensive lineman JoJo Wicker, who is the co-leader in sacks with 4.5, is the team’s best pass rusher. Also, he paces the Sun Devils with 9 tackles for loss.
Linebacker Christian Sam leads the Pac-12 with 83 total tackles and is the heart and soul of this ASU defense.
Fellow linebacker D.J. Calhoun is no. 5 in the conference with 70 total tackles. A prolific sideline to sideline sure tackler.
Spur linebacker J’Marcus Rhodes is a hybrid safety adept defending both the run and the pass and has 48 tackles on the year.
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4. Are Arizona State fans pretty confident about their chances to get to six wins?
I’d say somewhat confident and probably in “wait and see mode” more than anything. The result this week versus Colorado will determine quite a bit in this department. I personally think that the month of November features the easiest part of the schedule for the Sun Devils and if they play up to their potential I can see then at worst splitting the next four games which would bring them to a 6-6 mark.
5. What's your score prediction and why?
I know Colorado is coming off their best game of the year, but they will be running into an ASU team hungry for redemption after being embarrassed last week. The Sun Devils know the outcome of this game can greatly dictate their chances of finishing the regular season at .500 or better which is a feat that perhaps feel is very much in their grasp.
Even though Colorado is giving up just 25 points per game, it’s a unit that will probably still have some issues against ASU especially on the ground where ASU stands to enjoy a healthy Kalen Ballage, something that they didn’t have versus USC. A strong running game has been often proven to support quarterback Manny Wilkins and have him jumpstart the passing game. While Colorado’s offense has some weapons I don’t feel overall that this isn’t a unit that the ASU defense won’t be able to contain.
These two teams, don’t exactly light up the scoreboard and I don’t feel as if one team will be able to boat race the other on Saturday.
I like ASU in a close game winning 26-21.
