Quarterback
EDGE: Arizona
Junior quarterback Brock Osweiler quietly turned in a solid performance against Washington State. His 351 passing yards and a touchdown with no interceptions took the backseat to the ASU football team’s struggles.
Osweiler threw for 300 or more yards for the fifth time in his career. He’s now ranked No. 2 among all Pac-12 quarterbacks with 2,890 passing yards this season. The 6-foot-8inch signal caller has also accumulated 20 touchdowns.
Then there’s UA senior quarterback Nick Foles, who has been nothing but impressive since assuming the starting duties in 2009. While Osweiler has been solid for ASU, Foles has been even better for the Wildcats.
He leads the conference with his 319 completions and 3,607 passing yards. He also averages 361.2 yards per game, which is tops in the Pac-12 and fourth among FBS players.
Foles passed Willie Tuitama on the career yards list last week, thus becoming UA’s all-time passing leader. The Texas native has thrown for 200 or more yards in 15 consecutive games, and has collected at least one touchdown pass in every game this season.
Running Backs
EDGE: ASU
Opposing defenses have struggled to slow down junior running back Cameron Marshall. He’s bolted for 837 yards and 14 touchdowns on the year to push his career total to 25.
Marshall notched the most rushing yards in a season by an ASU running back since Ryan Torain’s 1,229-yard performance in 2006.
Despite the gaudy season totals, the explosive back was nowhere to be found in Pullman. Marshall ran for just 37 yards on 16 carries. The Sun Devils are 4-1 when he scrambles for 100 or more yards in a game. If ASU hopes to bounce back this week, it will need Marshall to return to form.
UA’s ground game has been weak at best all season long. It ranks No. 11 in the conference in rushing offense with just 912 rushing yards and 3.4 average yards per carry.
Keola Antolin is the Wildcat’s leading rusher with 491 yards and averages 49.1 yards per game. The senior running back notched three touchdowns this season and is 69 yards away from ascending to No. 9 on the program’s all-time rushing list.
Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends
EDGE: Even
Senior wide receiver Gerell Robinson did his part last Saturday by establishing a new career-high with 158 receiving yards. It marked his fourth 100-yard performance of the 2011 campaign. He also tied his career record of eight receptions against the Cougars.
Robinson remains ASU’s leading receiver with 901 yards on 50 catches.
Senior wide receiver Aaron Pflugrad’s 510 yards this year is second most on the team. Junior Jamal Miles’ six receiving touchdowns lead all Sun Devil wide outs.
UA’s offense has benefited from explosive combination of Foles to Juron Criner. The senior wide out has already established himself as one of the top receivers in school history.
Criner owns 693 receiving yards and 57 catches to go with eight touchdowns in 2011. He ranks No. 4 in UA history with 191 career receptions and also fourth in the school record books with 2,596 career receiving yards. Criner needs one more touchdown to reach 30 and tie the Wildcat career record held by Theopolis Bell.
UA boasts three other receivers who have tallied 500 or more receiving yards this season. Senior David Douglas owns three touchdowns and 566 yards while junior Dan Buckner has 577 yards of his own.
Offensive Line
EDGE: ASU
Experience goes a long way in the Pac-12, and the Sun Devils have seen that first-hand. When each member has been healthy, the offensive line has performed well.
The six ASU offensive linemen that own starting experience have combined for 114 career starts. Senior center Garth Gerhart leads the unit with 32 career starts.
Senior tackle Dan Knapp transitioned from tight end and has started 25 games in his career.
After the Wildcats saw the majority of its experienced o-line depart, junior center Kyle Quinn entered the season as the lone lineman with starting experience.
Quinn had started a grand total of one game, the Alamo Bowl last season. UA has allowed 20 sacks through 10 games this season.
Defensive Line
EDGE: ASU
Sophomore end Davon Coleman has notched 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks this season. Sophomore tackle Will Sutton played well a week ago with three solo tackles and a sack. Senior tackle Bo Moos also added a sack in the WSU game.
Similar to the offensive line, UA lost several key contributors on the defensive side in Ricky Elmore, Brooks Reed and Donald Horton.
UA is dead last in the Pac-12 with just eight sacks on the year. Senior defensive end C.J. Parish leads all UA defenders with two sacks for 10 yards.
An inability to put pressure on Osweiler could provide him with plenty of time to find one of his many downfield targets.
Linebackers
EDGE: ASU
Not a whole lot went right for the ASU defense against the Cougars. Senior linebacker Colin Parker called it a lack of execution.
The tools and talent are there for the Sun Devils on defense, and it all starts at linebacker. Parker has totaled 35 solo tackles, five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks this season.
Junior linebacker Vontaze Burfict leads ASU with seven tackles for a loss of 42 yards. His five sacks are also tops among all the Sun Devils. Senior Shelly Lyons owns four tackles for loss, two interceptions, three pass breakups and two forced fumbles.
UA lost junior linebacker Jake Fischer for the season when he suffered a torn ACL during spring practices. Seniors Paul Vassallo and Derek Earls have combined for 11 tackles for loss and 84 solo tackles.
Secondary
EDGE: Even
WSU freshman quarterback Connor Halliday torched ASU’s secondary for 494 yards and four touchdown passes a week ago. Sophomore receiver Marquess Wilson caught receptions for 223 yards and three scores.
ASU’s depth in the secondary has been challenged by injuries throughout the year, and it might finally be catching up to them. The Sun Devils surrendered several big yardage plays against the Cougars including an 85-yard touchdown pass.
For UA, senior cornerback Trevin Wade boasts 12 career interceptions to tie him for third-most among all active players in the country.
Senior Robert Golden tallied four picks and four forced fumbles so far in 2011. Both Wade and Golden have over 200 interception return yards.
Special Teams
EDGE: Even
Both teams have been hampered by an inconsistent kicking game at times. ASU redshirt freshman kicker Alex Garoutte made two out of three in Pullman and is now 11 of 18 this season.
Wildcats senior kicker Alex Zendejas lost his starting job earlier in the year to senior John Bonano. He nailed three field goals against Washington this season with his longest coming from 47 yards.
Miles remains one of the nation’s elite return men after returning Saturday’s opening kickoff 95 yards for the touchdown. With two kickoff returns for a touchdown this season, Miles tied Terry Battle for most kickoff return touchdowns by an ASU player in a single season.
Overall:
The annual Territorial Cup matchup between archrivals UA and ASU is always a compelling one. The Sun Devils stunned the Wildcats last year with a 30-29 overtime win in Tucson. UA has vastly underperformed in 2011 with a challenging schedule, several key injuries and inexperience. ASU, meanwhile, has lost back-to-back games against inferior opponents. With Foles and Osweiler, Saturday could turn into an offensive shootout. Both signal callers possess several viable targets to throw to. If Marshall can reestablish ASU’s ground attack to complement the passing game and the defense can do just enough to slow UA’s high-passing offense, the Sun Devils could claim their second straight Duel in the Desert win.
Reach the reporter at greg.dillard@asu.edu Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
