Redshirt junior wide receiver Jaelen Strong carries the ball after an interception from Taylor Kelly for a first down during the game against Utah on Nov. 1, 2014. ASU defeated Utah 19-16 in overtime. (Photo by Andrew Ybanez)The last time ASU football had to rebound from a loss was nearly two months ago. In that timespan, the Sun Devils won five consecutive games. They rose as high as No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings. They're a very different team now than then.
The loss to the UCLA Bruins on Sept. 25 was a culmination of weaknesses that had been exposed one at a time by previous, weaker opponents. The Bruins were talented enough to exploit them. Now ranked ninth in the nation, UCLA could argue it was simply more talented than ASU.
The Oregon State Beavers, who sit at 5–5 with only two conference wins, can't say the same.
"It was just not our night," ASU coach Todd Graham said of the 35–27 loss in Corvallis, Oregon.
Sept. 25 was clearly not the Sun Devils' night either, but that loss exposed issues in the defense that inspired Graham to shake things up. Few saw the Sun Devils as a championship-caliber team before the loss but after the loss, even more have their doubts.
ASU's most recent loss comes under far different circumstances. By all means, the Sun Devils were playing championship-caliber football. There were few weaknesses one could point to when watching the film of the last five games. Seemingly everything had come into place for ASU's first major bowl game under Graham.
That still could be the case, but the Sun Devils will need some help. They need to get back on their horse, without major changes that bring major improvement. Instead, it's on the players and the coaching staff to get back to doing what won them the last five games.
"I love how our guys responded," Graham said. "This is very, very different."
One area the Sun Devils have regressed in defensively is allowing explosive plays. Notre Dame had seven plays of 20 or more yards in the second half of ASU's 55-31 win. Oregon State had three scoring plays of at least 66 yards, plus another 32-yard run.
"The whole deal around Pac-12 football is explosive plays," Graham said. "You just can't give up explosive plays."
Mike Leach's Washington State Cougars present a unique challenge in that aspect for the Sun Devils. As an extremely pass-heavy offense, there are bound to be long plays over the top of the defense.
But in order to set up those plays, the Cougars run short pass plays similar to what the Beavers did last week, only with significantly less focus on running the ball. They pass on just over 76 percent of their plays.
"They just dink you, dink you, dink you, dink you," Graham said. "Then you start getting impatient." Which is when Washington State quarterback Luke Falk hits one of his many receivers for a 50-plus yard gain.
It will be a major test for the ASU secondary, which played much of Saturday's loss without the defense's leading tackler, redshirt junior Jordan Simone. He's expected back for the Washington State game, in which the unit will need to build on its improvements.
If one thing is clear, it's that the Oregon State loss is behind the team — at least Graham. The loss shouldn't be anything more than an enigma in what has been an impressive turnaround since the Sun Devils only other loss, one that invoked more change and outcry than this one should.
"We're moved onto this week," Graham said. "I'm done. I'm moved on."
Three things to watch for
1. Health concerns
Players on both sides of last week's game were banged up. Whether it was the cold, an especially physical game or another factor, neither team escaped completely healthy. For ASU, redshirt junior receiver Jaelen Strong sustained a "light" concussion and is "50-50" to play against the Cougars. Graham also said in his Monday press conference that redshirt senior quarterback Taylor Kelly might still not be 100 percent healthy. This contradicts what Kelly has said recently, but his play against the Beavers favors Graham's words rather than Kelly's. Redshirt junior Jordan Simone has sustained a stinger in his shoulder each of the last two games, too, along with minor injuries to redshirt sophomore linebacker Laiu Moeakiola and freshman running back Demario Richard. None is expected to miss Saturday's game, but the season seems to be taking a toll.
2. Explosive plays
As was touched on earlier, one of, if not the, biggest keys to ASU's defensive turnaround was the elimination of critical errors and explosive plays. The Sun Devils have regressed here the last two weeks, and it has resulted in them giving up more than 450 yards of offense each week. Washington State thrives on hitting big scoring plays, so ASU has to be prepared and improve in this area from the last two games.
3. Can ASU win a shootout?
If ASU doesn't step up in defending explosive plays, the Cougars could score a lot of points in very little time. They still could score a lot of points, explosive plays or not. They average 33.8 points per game but allow 38 to their opponents. Since the defense improved, the offense hasn't quite put it together. Facing a weak Cougar defense, this could be the week the offense breaks through, too. If not, ASU could be in trouble. A couple of turnovers bailed the Sun Devils out of allowing an alarming number of points to the Beavers. Other than that, neither the offense nor the defense performed up to standard. Another game in which neither unit plays well could result in another upset, or at least a closer game that it should be.
TV/radio information
Kickoff: 11 a.m. Arizona time
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Radio: 620 AM/98.7 FM KTAR
Prediction: No. 13 ASU 42, Washington State 21
Reach the reporter at ewebeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EvanWebeck
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @statepresssport
