(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
A 34-24 loss to Stanford brought ASU football back to earth after riding the high of upsetting Oregon. Now, with two weeks to prepare for the most challenging stretch of their season, the Sun Devils (2-3, 1-1 Pac-12) have time to reflect and make adjustments.
There are plenty of positive takeaways from the last ten quarters. The offense appears to be finding a rhythm, N’Keal Harry is playing out of his mind and the Sun Devils are establishing the run early.
The problem for ASU is that its visible progression has been overshadowed by glaring shortcomings. While the offense is coming into its own, the offensive line is rife with inconsistency and hasn’t adequately protected Manny Wilkins.
Defensively, it’s not getting any better for the Sun Devils. Koron Crump and Joey Bryant are both out for the year, depleting a thin and inexperienced ASU defense even further.
Stanford’s Bryce Love ran for 301 yards on Saturday. Obviously that number is a major cause for concern if you’re Phil Bennett, but what’s likely keeping the seasoned ball coach up at night is the different ways the Sun Devils have been beat this season.
Against an air raid offense, they surrendered over 500 passing yards. Against ground and pound teams, they’ve allowed record numbers to talented backs. Whatever a team’s strength on offense, ASU’s defense has succumbed to it.
Bennett always said this was going to be a journey. It’s been an arduous one to say the least, so these next two weeks serve as an important pit stop before it gets even bumpier.
The focus will likely be on finding a permanent replacement at Devilbacker between Jay Jay Wilson and Abe Thompson, as well as maintaining the development of a young secondary and avoiding any further health scares.
Time off gives Billy Napier more time to iron out the kinks in the offense, too, and find a way to somehow stay competitive with Washington. The Huskies, boasting a talented defense, are the first matchup looming in the upcoming gauntlet of games.
After that it’s on the road to Utah and back home to face USC. If the ASU defense doesn’t significantly improve during the bye week and the offense doesn’t maintain a high level of production, the Sun Devils could enter November at 2-6.
It’s going to be the biggest challenge of Todd Graham’s coaching career: take an underperforming team with more questions than it has answers and pull off another upset or two. That’s the only realistic chance he has of salvaging this season and temporarily cooling his seat.
You’d be hard pressed to find a bye week with more pressure than the one in front of the Sun Devils. They took some of that pressure off by beating Oregon, but the importance of the rest, recovery and adjustments ahead hasn’t changed.
ASU needed this time with its season teetering on the edge. What the Sun Devils do with that time will determine whether they fall off or hang on for a little while longer.
