Despite forcing four turnovers, the ASU defense could not come up with a big play when it mattered most in the Sun Devils’ heartbreaking 28-27 loss to the University of Southern California on Saturday.
What went right: The first three quarters
In the first half of the game, ASU held the Trojans' pass-heavy offense to just 14 points and used a zone defense to prevent the Trojans from looking downfield.
The unit was aided by two turnovers, a fumble in the redzone and a USC sophomore quarterback Kedon Slovis interception forced by junior linebacker Merlin Robertson.
Robertson finished the game with 10 total tackles, in addition to the two turnovers forced, and was awarded Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week for his performance.
Senior safety Evan Fields said, heading into the second half, the defense had the mindset of a zero-to-zero football game.
“We haven’t done nothing yet. We didn’t care what the score was,” Fields said. “We’ve got to play with a chip on our shoulder like we’ve got something to prove every play.”
The Sun Devil defense continued their strong performance into the third quarter as they held the Trojans scoreless on three consecutive drives. Redshirt senior defensive back Chase Lucas also punched the ball out from Trojan redshirt senior receiver Tyler Vaughns to force the third turnover of the day.
What went wrong: The fourth quarter
In the fourth quarter, things took a turn for the worse for the ASU defense. Redshirt senior defensive back Jack Jones started to cramp up and was on the sideline for key plays.
Head coach Herm Edwards said he was not surprised at the cramping due to the abnormal number of plays the defense was on the field for.
“I’ve been a part of a lot of football games as a former player and a coach, and I’ve never been involved in a game that we had 95 plays defensively,” Edwards said. “Now, some of that had to do with missed opportunities to get off the field, but 95 plays for a defense is a lot, a lot of plays and a lot of opportunities that you give to an offense that’s very explosive.”
Unfortunately for ASU, the defense found out just how explosive the Slovis-led Trojan offense is as the team put up 14 points in the last three minutes of the game.
Slovis ended the day completing 40 of 55 passes for 381 yards and two touchdowns. Junior receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown had seven receptions for 100 yards and sophomore wide receiver Drake London caught eight passes for 125 yards and a touchdown.
Edwards placed some of the blame on the revolving door of defensive backs that were forced to enter the game, but he credited sophomore Kejuan Markham for his near-perfect coverage on the go-ahead Trojan touchdown pass.
“Markham was in really good shape he just went for it with the wrong hand. It was a great throw,” Edwards said. “The throw was right on time on a fourth down situation. If you break that up you get the ball and probably can milk the clock and win it, but that was not the case.”
The pass rushed showed improvement from last season
Heading into last Saturday's game, the main concern for the Sun Devil defense was the progression of the defensive line.
In 2019, junior defensive linemen Jermayne Lole led the team in sacks with 6.5 and three other ASU defensive linemen recorded 2.5 sacks each.
In Saturday’s game, the unit consistently put pressure on Slovis. Lole led the team in sacks with 1.5, while redshirt junior defensive lineman Tyler Johnson and redshirt sophomore defensive end Michael Matus recorded a combined 1.5 sacks.
The line worked to restrict the Trojan's rushing game, as they limited all three of USC's running backs to 60 yards or less.
Matus said although the line played well, communication will be key if they want to continue having success during the rest of the season.
“That’s the first time, as a front seven, we’ve been able to get in there and play full speed against another opponent," Matus said. "It’s definitely getting there. The communication and the chemistry is there for sure.”
Reach the reporter at cfahrend@asu.edu and follow @chris_drop_ on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
