On a night where ASU football sported it's "Desert Ice" uniforms, the Sun Devil defense iced UCLA.
In a shocking twist, they were the main reason that the Sun Devils (5-1) beat the Bruins (3-3).
ASU outlasted UCLA by the score of 23-20, but the final score does not tell the full story of what a defensive battle it was.
Yes, the Bruins lost star quarterback Josh Rosen to injury twice in this game, but when he was on the field the Sun Devils did a decent job of keeping him in check.
Rosen racked up yards, throwing for 400 along with two touchdowns and an interception, but he was constantly under pressure and never got into a groove.
Considering how poorly the ASU defense played last week, and the spotty showing before that, containing Rosen on Saturday night was a huge success.
While Rosen made some accurate tosses and found some holes in the Sun Devil secondary, he was never able to take over the game. Even with the injury, that is something he is more than capable of.
But Rosen's injuries certainly did not hurt ASU — it forced the Bruins were forced to turn to backup quarterback Mike Fafaul. To put it nicely, Fafaul played like a backup, and maybe a bit worse.
The Sun Devils picked him off twice and no problems stopping the Bruins offense.
Fafaul agreed, saying that ASU made it very tough for him.
"They played their butt off out there," Fafaul said. "I felt like they really dialed up some pretty complex blitzes and hats off to them they really played well. But we just didn't play up to our standard, and I think that's the main reason why at the end of the day we lost the game."
Having Fafaul in was a benefit, but there's still room for improvement for the Sun Devils in certain aspects of the game.
First off, this was the best tackling game for ASU this season. Through the first few games of the season, the Sun Devils struggled making open field tackles.
But that changed against UCLA, as ASU tacklers did a good job in taking down UCLA players in space, mostly on quick screens and short routes.
Even when the Bruins connected on deep balls, ASU defenders did a decent job of limiting the receivers yards after contact — something that has plagued the secondary in this young season.
Furthermore, the defense did a nice work in pass coverage in general. Rosen was able to force the ball through some holes, but for the most part the defense did not give up anything too cheap.
A specific example that comes to mind was towards the end of the game when UCLA was trying to take the lead.
It was second-and-25 on the ASU 44 yard line with 5:35 left in the fourth quarter. The Bruins were in desperate need of points.
Rosen took the snap and dropped back, but this time he didn't find anyone. He ran to his right and was eventually sacked by Koron Crump to force a third-and-34.
This play stands out because ASU did not dial up the pressure. Instead, they forced a coverage sack in which the receivers were tightly covered by Sun Devil defensive backs.
Say what you will about the ASU defense, but it came up big on that play. The defensive backs blanketed the receivers in coverage and the defensive line got to the quarterback without bringing pressure.
And as well as the defense performed against the pass, they were amazing against the run. ASU controlled the line of scrimmage all game and consistently harassed the UCLA backfield.
UCLA running backs had no space and the Bruins were held to -1 yards on the ground.
UCLA was completely reliant on the pass all game and, when Rosen was out, they had no chance because their running game was nonexistent.
By no means did the defense have a perfect game — they had some mental lapses and missed tackles — but those were outliers for the game, not constants like they had been in previous games.
All in all, this defense kept the team above water when the offense was stinking up the joint.
With backups Brady White and Dillon Sterling-Cole playing quarterbacks for ASU, the offense could barely pick up a first down for most of the game, save for some late game drives.
This is a giant win for ASU. They keep pace with Utah at 5-1 and steal a win over a quality opponent.
The Pac-12 South is so bunched up, so any win is extremely valuable.
ASU kicker Zane Gonzalez deservedly got the headlines by breaking the NCAA Field Goal Record, but it was the ASU defense stole the show on Saturday Night.
Reach the columnist at mpharri7@asu.edu or follow @Harris_Mark7 on Twitter.
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