ASU playing for more than pride
Two weeks ago it looked like the only thing Arizona State football would be playing for down the stretch was pride.
But a 38-35 road win over USC last week, along with results of other Pac-12 games, suddenly has the Sun Devils back in contention for both a conference title game bid and a possible bowl berth.
Four foes remain but the next looms as the most formidable, and it’s ASU’s biggest chance to stake a claim to the Pac-12. The Sun Devils (4-4, 2-3 in Pac-12 play) host No. 16 Utah (6-2, 4-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Sun Devil Stadium.
The South Division-leading Utes have won four straight games and are averaging 41 points a game in
that stretch. They’re not too shabby on defense either, ranking first in the Pac-12 and seventh nationally. If that weren’t enough, they’re No. 1 in the country in red-zone defense led by senior linebackers Chase Hansen and Cody Barton.
“They’re on a roll right now. They’re a very confident team and they’ve beaten some good football teams,” ASU coach Herm Edwards said. “We’re going to have to be at our best in all three phases of the game. Our guys understand that.”
Utah is the fifth team ASU has faced that has been ranked or received votes. The Sun Devils are just 1-3 against the other four with a three-point win over Michigan State and seven-point losses to Colorado, Stanford and Washington.
Edwards compares Utah to Stanford and Michigan State in that the Utes are physical on both sides of the ball.
“They’re strong up front both offensively and defensively,” he said. “And they’re probably the most complete team we’re going to play. They don’t have a big weakness so this will be a challenge.”
Leading the Utah offensive effort are quarterback Tyler Huntley and running back Zack Moss, both juniors. Moss, named one of 20 semifinalists for the Maxwell Award as the Collegiate Player of the Year, is sixth in the FBS in rushing (964 yards), one spot ahead of ASU sophomore Eno Benjamin (938 yards). He is coming off a 211-yard showing in a 41-10 win over UCLA.
He is a small but powerful back who prefers to run between the tackles.
“He’s not going to try and run around you, he’s going to run through you,” Edwards said. “You have to be a willing tackler and it’s going to take more than one person to bring him down.”
Huntley is a dual threat at quarterback, which presents another challenge for the young ASU defense.
“They run a lot of misdirection to try and get you looking somewhere else,” ASU defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said. “Then they hit you up the gut. If you’re not disciplined with your eyes then they can get some really big plays on you.”
The Sun Devils are a bit shorthanded on defense, having lost a pair of defenders to injury in Saturday’s win. Freshman lineman D.J. Davidson sustained a broken ankle and will not return this season. Senior safety Jalen Harvey, ASU’s leading tackler, exited with a shoulder/neck stinger and is questionable.
Gonzales has seen his defense make modest strides each week. It came up with a big stop in the second half when the Trojans were going for it on fourth and 2 deep in ASU territory.
ASU allowed USC to convert just 2 of 11 third downs.
“We know this is going to be a tough game,” said sophomore safety Evan Fields, who entered last week in relief of Harvey. “We have to be disciplined. Every guy is going to have to do his job. If that happens we should be OK.”
The Sun Devils are coming off perhaps their most efficient offensive outing of the season, given the caliber of the competition. They racked up 449 yards, 283 of that on the ground. Benjamin ran for 185 of that and quarterback Manny Wilkins managed 89, 45 of that coming on a scoring run with 1:23 left that put the game away.
The other big weapon for ASU came up big, too. Junior N’Keal Harry had four catches for 95 yards and a touchdown and returned a punt 92 yards for the go-ahead score late in the third quarter. He earned Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors for that performance.
Senate candidates to make appearances
U.S. Senate candidates Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema are both scheduled to be at the game.
McSally, a two-term congresswoman who represents a Tucson-based district, is scheduled to sing the National Anthem.
Sinema, a three-term congresswoman representing a Phoenix-area district, is set to take part in the pregame coin toss.