Published Nov 1, 2017
Up Next: Mixed bag for Sun Devils this season
Scott Hood  •  CUSportsReport
Staff Writer

Not yet a subscriber? Click here to sign up now!

Advertisement

For Colorado, the perplexing question heading into Saturday night’s Pac-12 South battle at Arizona State is which Sun Devils team is going to show up.

Will it be the one that outscored Oregon in a shootout, stymied Washington with stellar defense and beat Utah on the road, or the one that barely scrapped by New Mexico State in the opener, lost to San Diego State and was pummeled at home by four touchdowns this past weekend by USC?

“I feel good about our team and where we’re at,” Arizona State coach Todd Graham said Monday during his weekly press conference. “We’re the same team that beat two top-25 teams and one top-five team. We have great character on our team.

“We are playing a very good Colorado team that is coming off probably their best game. They are very talented offensively, big-play capabilities at running back. They’re going to have a really fast tempo. We have a big challenge ahead of us each week.”

As you would expect from a 4-4 team, Arizona State does some things well and other things not so well. The Sun Devils have committed the fewest turnovers in the Pac-12: seven in eight games for a plus-3 turnover margin. They also lead the league in red zone offense, scoring on 24 of 25 opportunities inside the 20-yard line with 19 touchdowns and five field goals.

Arizona State is one of two Pac-12 schools yet to commit a turnover in the red zone (Washington is the other). Defensively, ASU has allowed 17 TDs in 29 red zone chances by opposing offenses, and rank third in the Pac-12 in red zone defense (79.3 pct.).

The Sun Devils are second in the Pac-12 in time of possession (32:14 per game) and have committed the fewest penalties (32 in 8 games) in the league.

Where have the Sun Devils struggled? ASU has struggled to run the football (121.4 yards per game, 9th in Pac-12) and stop the run (186.9, 10th in Pac-12). Their average of 5.6 yards allowed per rushing attempt is second worst in the league behind UCLA. Defensively, ASU has allowed 30.9 points and 440.4 yards per game.

Last week, they surrendered 607 yards and an average of 7.5 yards per play to USC in the Trojans’ 48-17 victory, including 341 rushing yards.

In short, except for the Washington and Utah games, Arizona State has had trouble slowing down opposing offenses, which could be good news for Buffs QB Steven Montez, RB Phillip Lindsay, the Pac-12’s third leading rusher at 139.3 yards per game, and the rest of the Colorado offense.

“People have had to score to beat them,” Graham said. “They’ve lost to some good teams and they’re coming off their best game (of the season) this last week. They’re playing well and they’re pretty healthy as a team. The strength of their team last year was defense and the strength of their team this year is their offense. There solid everywhere else and they’re really well coached.”

Junior QB Manny Wilkins completed 17-of-29 for 259 yards and 1 TD against USC last week, adding a rushing TD as well. Directing ASU’s fast-paced offense, he has thrown for 250 or more yards in five of eight games this season. Overall, he has thrown for 2,096 yards and nine touchdowns with three interceptions this season.

Leading rusher Demario Richard (379 yards on 100 carries; 2,554 career rushing yards) combines with Kalen Ballage (378 yards on 93 carries) to give the Sun Devils a nice 1-2 combination at running back. However, Ballage sat out last week’s USC game because of a virus and the Sun Devils were held to 79 yards rushing by the Trojans.

Sophomore WR Kyle Williams has 21 receptions for 214 yards over the past three games, while sophomore WR N’Keal Harry, who has already started 20 games in his young career, is currently second in the Pac-12 with an average of 89.1 receiving yards per game. He has 54 receptions (6.8 per game) and 3 TDs to lead the Sun Devils.

PAC-12 WEEK 10 SCHEDULE (Nov. 3-4 )

UCLA at Utah, 8:30 p.m. (FS1)(Fri.)

Stanford at Washington State, 1:30 p.m. (FOX)

Oregon State at California, 3 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)

Colorado at Arizona State, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)

Oregon at Washington, 8 p.m. (FS1)

Arizona at USC, 8:45 p.m. (ESPN)

(All Times Mountain)

PAC-12 SOUTH STANDINGS:

USC 5-1 (7-2)

Arizona 4-1 (6-2)

Arizona State 3-2 (4-4)

UCLA 2-3 (4-4)

Colorado 2-4 (5-4)

Utah 1-4 (4-4)

info icon
Embed content not available
info icon
Embed content not available
info icon
Embed content not available