(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)
In the first quarter of Arizona State’s 27-17 win over Washington, a familiar trend arose once again. A trend that had been killing the Sun Devils during their three-game losing streak.
The defense gave up 169 total yards — a 53-yard run, a 21-yard pass, and a 46-yard pass — all within the first eight minutes. Not to mention, Washington receivers dropped two potential touchdowns. With this discrepancy in yardage and offensive execution, ASU was lucky to be down 10-0 by the end of the first quarter. Especially considering they only had 69 yards of offense in the first quarter.
Poor tackling proved to once again be an issue for the defensive unit. On Washington’s fifth drive of the game, junior tight end Darrell Daniels picked up a first down after two missed tackles. Two plays later, Husky quarterback Jake Browning, scrambled out of the pocket, and evaded six different Sun Devils to get the first down.
“We seemed sluggish or something,” Graham said. “I think seven people missed a sack on the same play. I mean, I started to run out there and tackle him.”
It appeared that the Sun Devils dug themselves in a hole that was too deep to get out of. They gave up huge plays of the defensive end to provide Washington with easier opportunities, and offensively they couldn’t find any sort of rhythm. To make things worse, none of ASU’s wins this season came when they were down.
“That’s about as uncomfortable as I have been in a game since I’ve been here,” Graham said. “We’re just trying to keep the walls from falling in on the thing because you’ve got so many things happening.”
Then the second half happened.
Redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici reignited the Sun Devil offense after a miserable first half.
In the second half, Bercovici was 12-14 with 156 yards, and completed the game-tying touchdown to Devin Lucien. He finished 22-34 with 253 yards and one touchdown.
“All we were focused on is the next snap,” Bercovici said. “It’s amazing when you’re single-minded focus like that, your defense gets takeaways, and you just have a team full of character.
The non-existent running game also came alive in the fourth quarter. ASU had 55 rushing yards going into the final quarter of play, and sophomore running back Kalen Ballage had a 48-yard run to extend the ASU lead to 10.
“I was just telling the offensive line ‘just make a crease make a hole and I’m going to try and hit it as hard as I can,’” Ballage said. “We came out in the second half and we were very physical. We talked about it at halftime, just getting our energy up and our effort and things like that, and it showed when we came out.”
To top it all off, the defense came back to life. Through three quarters the Washington offense compiled 443 yards of total offense. They held just a seven point lead going into the fourth quarter, but the ASU defense intercepted Browning twice and forced a fumble to get the revived offense back on the field to extend the lead.
“It was fun,” Graham said of the turnover fest in the fourth quarter. “Kweishi (Brown’s) was huge, that was a big one. Obviously Christian (Sam’s) was huge, and then Marcus (Ball’s) was a big one as well.”
What makes this victory all the more relieving is knowing that they have not given up on their season. The first half was beginning to look like the USC game where a collapse in the first half led to an even greater flop in the second. But this team bounced back, and despite being down three starters on defense it was all about inspiration.
“Just the way (senior linebacker Antonio Longino) inspired his teammates and the way he played, I was inspired,” Graham said. “Usually I’m doing my job but I was sitting there at halftime and I even pointed him out and said ‘man, it means something to him.’”
Longino was questionable to play all week and was about 85 percent according to Graham. But Longino couldn’t let it go, and that mentality is what flipped ASU around and completely changed the game.
“My team needed me,” Longino said. “Nothing is promised. That was my last time playing them, these are my last two to three games here, I’m not passing them up.”
This mentality was nonexistent through the whole first half. The body language, the first-team players dropping like flies, you would have thought they gave up. But guys like Longino, and Bercovici, the inspiration and perseverance in the second half, those are the reasons ASU made its first come-from-behind victory of the season.
