Rachaad White puts on a clinic in victory
The Arizona State Sun Devils snapped a two-game skid with a 31-16 victory over South Division rival USC in Pac-12 play Saturday at Sun Devils Stadium in front of 53,926.
ASU (6-3, 4-2) put the game away in the fourth quarter. The Sun Devils went into the final 15 minutes clinging precariously to a 17-16 advantage but got two touchdowns down the stretch, both by senior running back Rachaad White.
The Sun Devils were coming off a 3421 loss to Washington State, which was preceded by a 35-21 loss at Utah in which they squandered a 21-7 lead.
“I think the message that we tried to send them, and the message I sent them all week, was about dealing with adversity. When it arrives at your doorstep, how do you look at it? They reacted the way that I thought they would react,” coach Herm Edwards said. “In this game there was some adversity and we didn’t blink on either side of the ball.”
Still problematic were the turnovers but USC was only able to capitalize off one of the three the Sun Devils had.
ASU remains second in the South behind Utah and while mathematically still alive the Utes look to have a lock for the Pac-12 South title because they have the head-to-head tiebreaker and two of their last three games are against Arizona and Colorado, who are a combined 4-14 overall and 3-9 in the conference.
The victory does make ASU bowl eligible however.
Let’s review:
3 takeaways
1. The Sun Devils showed some fight. It has been a tough few weeks for the Sun Devil, particularly the second half of the Utah game and the first half of the Washington State game. With the possibility of a South Division title and berth in the Rose Bowl all but gone many wondered how the Sun Devils would respond. But they came out with a spark, an intensity and fighting demeanor that seemed to be missing previously. When there were turnovers or challenges the Sun Devils held strong. Edwards said earlier in the week he wanted to create a more competitive atmosphere in practice. That seemed to have helped
2. Rachaad White is a special player. Yes he was the team’s leading rusher and averaged 10 yards a carry last year in a shortened season. But White put on a clinic. He ran through defenders, dragged them for extra yardage, spun away from them, hurdled them. And he had a couple of catches as well. It’s an explosiveness that ASU missed with him sidelined last week. He now has 685 yards on 114 carries with 12 touchdowns to go with 29 receptions for 289 yards.
3. It’s now turnovers not penalties making it tough. The Sun Devils have traditionally gotten the better of the takeaway game, finishing first in the country in that category in 2020. But they now have nine in the last three games and four have been interceptions thrown by Jayden Daniels. The three regular season games remaining are winnable but the Sun Devils are going to have to do a better job securing the ball, particularly in the next two games which will be on the road at difficult venues in Washington and Oregon S
Offense
The Sun Devils racked up 427 yards, exactly what they were averaging coming into the contest despite seeming to be a little out of sync in the third quarter. ASU did much of the damage on the ground with 282 yards on 42 tries (6.7 ypg). White was spectacular with a career-high 202 yards on 28 carries, highlighted by scoring runs of 47, 50 and 7 yards and also had two catches for 35 yards. Daniels was 11-for-20 for 145 yards. He had two interceptions, giving up seven for the season and marking the third time this season in which he had two in a game after having only three his first two seasons combined. Bryan Thompson had his best game of the season with a team-high four catches for 68 yards. ASU converted four of nine third down tries but the first one of those didn’t come until five minutes into the fourth quarter. It also was successful on a fourth-and-3 at the USC 32, with the play being an 11-yard completion from Daniels to Thompson which set the stage for the first touchdown.
The Sun Devils cashed in on all thre red zone vistis, with two touchdowns and a field goal. The offensive line did not give up a sack and none of the five penalties for which ASU was called came against the offense.
Time of possession favored USC, which ran 10 more offensive plays, 30:38 to 29:22. The grade here takes a hit because of the three turnovers, the two interceptions as well as a second quarter fumble by DeaMonte “Chip” Trayanum.
Grade:
Defense
The Sun Devils surrendered 312 yards on 72 plays (4.3 app), that’s 28 yards less than the Sun Devils were allowing coming in and 145 less than what the Trojans were averaging. USC was held to 92 yards rushing on 27 tries and registered 220 passing yards with quarterbacks Kedon Slovis and Jaxon Dart combining for a 24-for-45 showing. USC converted five of 16 third downs and one of two fourth downs it attempted and also scored on three red zone tries The only touchdown the Trojans scored was the result of ASU’s first turnover. Other than that the visitors were held to three field goals with a missed field goal as well. LB Darien Butler recorded a team high 10 tackles with Kyle Soellle making nine and getting an interception and a break-up. Timarcus Davis, D.J. Davidson and Merlin Robertson all had six tackles. Deandre Pierce added five tackles and an interception while Chase Lucas had three breakups. There were five penalties, all on the defense but that yardage total was only 48 yards. For the third straight week the Sun Devils didn’t get a sack but overall it was a solid showing against the Pac-12’s top offense which was held to season lows in both points and yardage.
Grade:B
Special Teams
True freshman punter Eddie Czaplicki was stellar with three kicks for an average of 51.7 yards with all three going for more than 50 yards and one downed inside the 20. Cristian Zendejas made his only field goal try as well as all four PAT kicks. Logan Tyler handled kickoff duties with five of his six going for touchbacks. In the return game D.J. Taylor ran two kicks out, one for 26 yards and the other for 20. The Sun Devils did give up a 37-yard return on the opening kickoff by Gary Bryant but the drive ended with a fourth down interception by Kyle Soelle so it did no damage.
Grade:
Coaching
After last week’s game Edwards stressed the need for a more competitive environment in practice and part of that was changing up practices to have the first teams squaring off. That apparently helped as ASU seemed more dialed in from the jump and many said it added an edge to the vibe in practice all week. DeaMonte “Chip” Trayanum had just three carries, none after he fumbled early and it was recovered by USC. It marked the second straight week Trayanum lost one. After the game Edwards was asked about Traynum’s absence the rest of the way and the coach said the player wasn’t benched he just preferred to ride the hot hand in White. That is understandable but there is also a school of thought that if a player has a miscue you go back to him to let him know you still have faith in him. Time will tell of Trayanum’s role diminishes moving forward. The team’s discipline was much improved with just five penalties and none of a grievous nature.
Grade: B
Personnel
The Sun Devils again played without some key players, some of whom have missed other games and others who were out for the first time.
Those sidelined included WR Johnny Wilson, FB Case Hatch, CB Jack Jones. It was the first game missed for Jones and Hatch while Wilson (hamstring) has missed four of the last five. He tried to play last week but was in the game for just a handful of snaps before having to come out.