In a continuation of everything that went wrong over the final two quarters in a brutal loss to Utah two Saturdays ago, Arizona State could not get out of their own way. The first quarter was a perfect storm of all the mistakes that have been sporadic over this season. Three drives, three turnovers which spotted Washington State a 14-0 lead, the most notably a very uncharacteristic hero-ball style throw from Jayden Daniels who continues to make more mistakes than ever before.
The defense doing what it could to keep the Devils in the game got a gift from WAZZU quarterback Jayden de Laura when he threw an interception and gifted the Sun Devils the ball at the WSU 16. They then went drop from Bryan Thompson (who fumbled earlier), a keeper by Daniels, a tough throw but catchable ball missed by LV Bunkley Shelton. Then, a false start on Christian Zendejas rare make of a field goal this year wiped it off, and he missed his next attempt from 37.
The next drive de Laura continued to shred the ASU defense as anyone not named Darien Butler, DJ Davidson, or Jack Jones remembered what their roles were. With 5:09 left in the half, ASU found themselves down 21-0 and outscored now 49-0 over the last four quarters of football.
Not much changed in quarter two. Any time the offense seemed to gain the tiniest momentum they would do something to cancel it. Daniels had one of the better runs all season, a 55-yard house call called back by holding on Ben Scott who got beat by the WAZZU end on a stunt. The very next play on a 3rd & 17, a screen pass to Daniyel Ngata was fumbled and recovered at the ASU 49-yard line and three plays later, de Laura found Calvin Jackson Jr. for a 45-yard touchdown pass and ASU trailed 28-0.
With the defense finally responding in the second half the responsibility to answer fell back to the offense. Instead of the spark that was needed for a great comeback, the offensive line couldn’t provide Daniels with room to breathe, and the passing game was again in shambles. 16 yards on four plays, three straight incompletions no less, led to a punt, somehow just the first one for the Devils.
Then, came a very interesting punt decision led by Herm or Zak Hill. Down 21, with the ball close to midfield and just over six minutes left in the third all of Sun Devil nation was wondering why a punt was coming. The defense had finally woken up and the offense had to get going to get some momentum, and instead you take a 4th and 2 and punt the ball back. What an act of cowardice on a Homecoming Weekend where a past Pac-10 championship team was being honored.
After that point, you could feel the game was over. The play calling became scared, the o-line could not pass block and anytime they did it was because of a hold. A second just baffling interception by Daniels late in the third quarter led to a Cougars field goal and 31-7 lead as the fourth quarter began.
WAZZU was able to play to their strengths for the remainder of the game, using Max Borghi and Deon McIntosh to cruise past 100 yards rushing against ASU, a feat done by WSU for the first time since 2005. They added a field goal, and the Devils added a score from Chip Traynum and one through the air from Trenton Bourguet to Andre Johnson, leading to a final tally of 34-21 and a wire-to-wire win for WAZZU.
For many Devil fans they may tell you this dud of a game was coming. This game finally showed what was trying to come to light all season for the Devils. They lack the discipline to beat teams that maintain theirs, they have no true receiving threat who can help spark the offense if they need to mount some big plays, and if the running game cannot get over 200 yards, Zak Hill has no idea what to do next. Here’s a hint though, screens, 7-yard curls, and 10-yard crossing routes usually aren’t the proper next move.
ASU drops to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the PAC while the Cougs go to 5-4 and 4-2 in the PAC, winning their last four conference games. ASU next plays November 6 at home against USC with a kickoff time yet to be decided.
Hopefully ASU and ol’ Herm can use their bye week to get it together before the final four games of the season because no one could be this bad after a week off…oh wait.