(Photo: ASU Athletics)
The Sun Devils’ 38-24 conference-opening win against Colorado can be summarized by the succinct phrase: The good, the bad and the ugly.
Unfortunately for ASU, the ugly leads because of its potential ramifications for its most important stretch of games.
Senior quarterback Taylor Kelly left Saturday’s game in the fourth quarter with an apparent foot injury. He walked off the field under his own power; however, when he returned from the locker room, he was on crutches and his foot had been placed in a walking boot. Visibly dejected, Kelly sported a towel over his head for the duration of the game.
Redshirt junior Mike Bercovici closed the game out for ASU, completing two of four passes for eight yards.
To make matters uglier for the Sun Devils, the loss of Taylor Kelly, a captain on offense, came after SPUR linebacker Laui Moeakiola, a captain on defense, was sidelined with an arm injury.
“We’re obviously very concerned. It was very tough for us tonight, but that’s part of it,” head coach Todd Graham said. “We’ve got a lot of confidence in Berc(ovici). He prepares like he’s playing every week. Obviously those guys are very important to us—two team captains that you lose—but we have a week and a half and a chance to get those guys back.”
“When that happens, my heart goes out to the kids,” Graham added. “Those two kids are incredible. They don’t ever get that game back. That’s about the last thing that you want to have happen.”
The status of both Kelly and Moeakiola is unknown for the showdown against UCLA in a week and a half, but Graham did say in an interview with AZCentral.com that both are going to be “perfectly fine.” Nevertheless, no official word has been released.
While much of the contest was overshadowed by the “ugly,” injuries are an unfortunate reality of the game. UCLA’s starting quarterback Brett Hundley also left his team’s dogfight against Texas with an injury to his non-throwing elbow. The point is, injuries happen. And while it is tempting to reflect and speculate about these injuries, it must be acknowledged that miscues, independent from the injuries, were still made.
Transition to the “bad.”
After coming out of the gates firing on all cylinders—a 14-0 lead only seven minutes in—the Sun Devils experienced a second quarter letdown for the third straight game.
ASU was outscored 14-10 in the second quarter, and thus saw its lead fizzle to 24-14.
The Sun Devils did outscore Colorado 14-10 the rest of the way, but it is a bit disconcerting that the team has yet to play a complete and all-around intense game three games into the year.
Also of note, the Sun Devils committed eight penalties on the evening, an essence that Graham calls “unacceptable and unnecessary.”
Individual struggles were also apparent. Defensive end Tashon Smallwood has yet to record a tackle after receiving starts in the first three games as a true freshman. Smallwood sports former Sun Devil great Will Sutton’s No. 90 jersey number, and Graham has called his fall camp the best he’s ever seen from a freshman, but his lack of production and effectiveness cannot go unnoticed.
Cornerback Lloyd Carrington was tasked with a matchup against one of the Pac-12’s elite receivers in Nelson Spruce. Carrington committed a few pass interference penalties and Spruce finished the day with seven receptions, 97 yards and two touchdowns. Carrington is a risk-reward cornerback and is extremely aggressive in jumping routes, but Spruce won the battle last night.
But, do not all of the negativity detract from a hard-fought win. After all, the Sun Devils have taken care of business in three games that could have easily been overlooked.
Essentially, there was some “good” in all this “bad” and “ugly,” and the performance from running back DJ Foster is the obvious starting point.
Foster lit up the stat sheet once again Saturday night, racking up 147 yards on 20 carries, 59 receiving yards on four catches and two touchdowns. Foster ranks third in the nation with a gaudy 510 rushing yards and sixth with a stellar 9.4 yards per carry.
“DJ is a warrior,” Graham said. “I don’t know how many times he gets the football, but he gets it quite a bit, and just about every which way you can get it too. He’s obviously the go-to guy for us and he’s done a tremendous job. He’s a big-time player and I love his leadership.”
Safety Jordan Simone was also flying all over the field last night, as he hauled in his first career interception (and first interception for ASU in 2014) and recovered a fumble as well. Simone has alternated between starting bandit safety and backup with James Johnson, but earned the start last night after an excellent start off the bench against New Mexico. With 13 tackles against Colorado, Simone has seemingly cemented himself as the starter for Week 5 and beyond.
“I’m happy. Every week we just have to keep getting better,” Simone said. “I’m just doing what the coaches ask me to do. In our defense, the safeties are playmakers. Without those ten other guys I’m nothing, so I have to give them all the credit too.”
Other Sun Devils were singled out by Graham in the postgame press conference for their “good” performances, most notably punter Matt Haack (seven total punts, with a career-best 48.1 yards per punt), SPUR linebacker Christian Sam (five tackles and a game-icing interception after replacing the injured Moeakiola) and Devilbacker Antonio Longino (10 tackles, one sack and what Graham called the “best game from a pass rusher” to date).
But perhaps trumping all the individual performances, Graham was most pleased about the character his team showed in response to adversity.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of our team than I was tonight,” Graham said. “Just all the different things that happened and how they responded—this team’s got a great character, tremendous brotherhood, finding ways to win. We’re getting better every week.”
Foster echoed his coach’s sentiment.
“I think everyone’s excited. We pulled out a tough road victory and that is what is important,” Foster said. “We have a big challenge ahead of us in the next couple of week, especially this next game. We’re going to try to come together and reload. I’m excited where our team’s at. We’ve got great character and great passion and I think it’s showing out there on the field.”
The Sun Devils have a bye week in Week 4, and then will host UCLA at Sun Devil Stadium the following Thursday for a nationally-televised matchup. Updates will be posted throughout the week regarding the injuries to Kelly, Moeakiola and UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley.
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