Arizona State vs. Arizona: Sun Devils must avoid lethargic start, draw first
Nov 28, 2014, 1:42 AM | Updated: 1:42 am
If the Man With No Name could take on Angel Eyes on a football field, it’d be at Friday’s Territorial Cup.
Arizona State and Arizona are separated by over 100 miles, yet each week in college football has brought them ever closer.
Each win or loss has ticked off another check in the column that brings the two ever nearer to the clash that’s starred on head coach Todd Graham’s calendar.
Now, the two will finally puncture that bloated bubble of suspense that’s been swelling and swelling for 14 weeks (and a hundred years before that) when they square off Friday.
This game has the cadence of a Spaghetti Western.
It’s been ten-paces-and-turn, spurs clicking, tension oozing; Clint Eastwood’s thumb twitching toward his pistol — the steps have all led up to the big dance that is the Territorial Cup.
For the Sun Devils, a win means a third straight year in Tempe for a shiny little silver cup and an unprecedented 3-0 record against Arizona for Graham’s first three years as head coach.
A win also doesn’t just mean “another win”. It’s the only win — the only one that really matters.
“It’s the single most important thing,” said Graham. “When I came here I had the opportunity to go out and speak to all of our fans and they told me that this is the single most important thing.
Winning this game is the top priority for our program and for our players every year.”
So Arizona State had better be awake for it.
The Sun Devils struggled with opening lethargy in their last game against Washington State. Seven of their first 13 offensive plays resulted in four sacks on quarterback Taylor Kelly. They were minus-24 yards on their first four possessions. The offense went three-and-out six of its first seven drives against a defense ranked in the dredges of college football.
Kelly himself only managed to complete three of his first 11 passes for only 44 yards.
When they finally rubbed the sleep out of their eyes, ASU scored 31 unanswered points in a 52-31 win over the Cougars.
But against the Wildcats, a start like that would toss ASU out of the back of a moving truck and leave them rolling in the dust. It would be ugly.
Arizona is tied for third in the Pac-12 in scoring defense and has the nation’s leader in tackles-for-loss, linebacker Scooby Wright, as its backbone. A slow start by Arizona State would be snapped up by the Wildcats and capitalized on.
Yet ASU is very capable of firing first and fast, as seen in early November against Notre Dame when the Sun Devils racked up 34 first-half points over the Irish’s 10.
The key to riding off into the sunset, Territorial Cup in hand, will be to draw first — and keep shooting.
So, Arizona State, are you going to pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?
What to watch for:
Solomon’s solemn situation
One of the major factors in Friday’s game will be whether or not Arizona’s freshman quarterback Anu Solomon is healthy enough to start after re-injuring his ankle last week.
Solomon has utilized a solid receiving corps and his own legs to push the Wildcats’ offense into a whole new spectrum this season. He’s thrown 25 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, plus a whopping 3,216 yards on the season. He’s also rushed for 329 total yards — 105 of which were in a single game against Colorado.
Solomon is listed as “questionable”, so ASU has had to prepare for any potential situation.
If he plays, Arizona State’s blitz attack had better have eaten their Wheaties that morning — Solomon can be sacked (23 times this season), but he can also scramble and has the potential to make those explosive plays that have so pained ASU’s attacking defense.
If he doesn’t play, the Sun Devils will see backup Jesse Scroggins, who would earn his first start under Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez and has only thrown seven passes all season (four completions).
Turn off the turnovers
Kelly is undefeated in 2014 when he hasn’t thrown an interception. He threw two against Oregon State in his only loss this year, one which sealed the Sun Devils’ fate. And while he didn’t get picked off against Washington State, he’d thrown at least one interception in each of the four previous games.
Kelly will have all of his weapons on the field, however, as star receiver Jaelen Strong returns to join D.J Foster and looks for his tenth touchdown reception of the year.
And it also should be noted that Kelly is undefeated in his career thus far against the Wildcats. According to Graham, his quarterback’s experience (as well as lineman Jamil Douglas’s) against Arizona will make a huge difference for the team as a whole.
“I think there is no substitute for experience, and Jamil (Douglas) and Taylor’s (Kelly) experience, especially in big games, definitely helps our younger guys,” he said.
Hardison harrasses quarterbacks
Defensive end Marcus Hardison’s “light has come on” according to Graham. His 10 sacks, fast feet and long arms make him a nightmare in the passing lane as he has developed a knack for disrupting throws.
ASU’s defense as a whole must shut off the explosive-play spigot UCLA, Oregon State and Washington State each found. If shifting and assignment errors during the blitz can be avoided, the big plays will disappear and whoever’s under center for Arizona will have a tough time with the pressure.
Finish strong
This season has dealt a bit of adversity to Arizona State, but now the Sun Devils have the chance to finish with 10 wins for the second year in a row.
This could come down to the fourth quarter — and in that respect, Arizona is deadly, outscoring opponents 121-59. Yet ASU can rally too, and has outscored opponents in the final quarter 107-89 this year.