The billing attributed to ASU football’s conference opener against Cal at Sun Devil Stadium had many of those who watched clamoring for a high-octane showdown, with defense relegated to a mere formality – and yet, the Sun Devils (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) trailed the Golden Bears (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) 24-10 in the first half.
It didn’t last long, once the Sun Devils activated #Pac12AfterDark, scoring an FBS season-high 31 fourth quarter points en route to a 51-41 win. Suddenly all of the hype – from Lil B blessings to pregame prognostications – ceased to matter.
For better or for worse, head coach Todd Graham and his defense has consistently had to fight to shed the labels so haphazardly attached to his group:
Cal, Arizona State a matchup of Pac-12’s worst defenses
– Jeff Farudo, The Mercury News
“a battle of irresistible forces on offense meeting squishy objects on defense”
– ESPN.com’s Ted Miller
Never mind that in 2015 only Utah held its opponents to a lower pass-completion rate than ASU in the Pac-12.
When Cal junior quarterback Davis Webb and his top target, redshirt junior Chad Hansen said that ASU’s secondary was one of the best in the country, (and in Webb’s case the defense collectively) they were mocked by Sun Devil fans on Twitter who assumed that this was an elaborate form of trolling.
Webb on ASU’s defense: “I think they’re one of the best in the country…they’ve proven that on film… Just as good as Texas if not better.”
— Stefan Modrich (@StefanJModrich) September 22, 2016Cal WR Chad Hansen on ASU's secondary: "Last year they were the best corners that I faced – I know that for a fact. They're very physical."
— Stefan Modrich (@StefanJModrich) September 22, 2016
Sure, once redshirt senior Laiu Moeakiola returned a Webb pass 28 yards for a pick-six to put ASU up by 10, it should have been easier to breathe on the Sun Devil sideline. That wasn’t so, as Webb led a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in just under two minutes to pull within three points. With under a minute to go, an onside kick was Cal’s last prayer – and junior linebacker DJ Calhoun iced the game for good, taking the line drive boot 42 yards to the house clinch the win.
There have been numerous occasions in each game this season where missed assignments and outright poor tackling have led frustrations to reach a boiling point. Even though these concerns are fair, it is simply ignorant to pretend that Graham's scheme hasn't been pretty darn good at doing what he loves to watch it do – force turnovers and wreak havoc.
Graham doesn't like giving up 478 passing yards, even if it's against one of the deepest wide receiving corps in the country. But he hasn't let ugly yardage allowances get in the way of earning hard-fought wins.
“You've got to give Arizona State a lot of credit," Cal head coach Sonny Dykes said. "I thought they played really hard, I though they hung in there well. They made a bunch of plays down the stretch certainly and I think that was the difference in the ballgame.”
Moeakiola’s interception was the 14th returned for a touchdown under Graham, while Calhoun’s kickoff return touchdown was the third, and first since redshirt senior Tim White ran one back 100 yards at Utah on Oct. 17, 2015.
Calhoun also had an impact on redshirt senior Salamo Fiso’s interception that led to a go-ahead field goal from senior kicker Zane Gonzalez to put ASU head 37-34.
“They ran that play twice on us in the first half,” Fiso said. “After the third time I saw it, DJ made him climb up, so it was really DJ. DJ is the reason why we got that pick because we made him go vertical and they dropped that running back to the flat and they tried to push me away and I read it, and I was lucky that he threw it to the climb out there.”
Defensive coordinator Keith Patterson has spoken about how ASU’s schedule has set up, particularly the parallels between Texas Tech and Cal, and Graham has also been impressed by his squad’s adaptability.
“We talked about the slants that Cal would go to on the third and five downs,” Graham said. “Laiu showed the quarterback that he was playing the inside slant and pushed it back to the outside to make a big play, it was huge.”
Moeakiola emphasized that communication between players and coaches has been key in getting stops and making game-changing plays.
“It basically goes back to what coach does,” Moeakiola said. “Just buckling down, getting guys settled and reminding one another to just do your job, because a lot of the stuff is self inflicting like Coach Graham talks about. It’s not doing your assignment, guys trying to make plays outside the system, so the biggest thing is just doing our job on the team as an individual, and no doubt we will come out with a victory every time.”
As for Hansen, his praise of ASU’s secondary earlier this week was backed up by sophomore cornerback Kareem Orr and redshirt sophomore safety Armand Perry. The duo locked down the nation’s leading receiver in the second half and limited him to just two catches for six total yards, with another catch negated because of a defensive pass interference penalty.
“In the first half it was really just the two fades he caught,” Orr said. “I felt like they were missed calls though, on one I felt like he pushed off and on the other one I thought he was out of bounds. He was a good receiver, he did what he had to do. I executed my game plan against him coming out in the second half.”
Noted Frank Ocean fan and redshirt sophomore quarterback Manny Wilkins (four touchdowns, 362 total yards) answered a question regarding ASU's identity as a second half team with a simple "4-0."
He also took the fall for a question aimed at redshirt sophomore Jalen Harvey, gesturing that he wouldn't let his teammate answer for mistakes that Wilkins said were "on me."
He may as well have sang the first line of the second verse of Ocean's song, "Nikes".
Leave the prophesies to the pundits, and let the Sun Devils play football.
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepressport on Twitter.
