ASU's efforts of pass rush improvement paying hefty dividends this season

In 2024, Arizona State’s defense repeatedly stonewalled opponents en route to the program’s first Big 12 Championship in its inaugural season in the league. Allowing just 22.6 points per game, the third-best mark in the conference. Much of this was due to a stout run defense, allowing just 112.9 yards per game, the league’s leaders by nearly six yards. 

Despite this impressive display of halting ground attacks, an area where the Sun Devils failed to stand out was rushing the quarterback, finishing the season with 24 sacks for 170 yards, which was only the sixth-best mark in the conference. However, given that they played 14 games, their 1.71 sacks per game weren’t even in the top 10. 

Because of this discrepancy and with the context that ASU returned ten of eleven starters from 2024, an emphasis from defensive coordinator Brian Ward was on the team’s ability to rush the quarterback. 

“We’re trying some different ways to rush the quarterback,” Ward said on August 12 during fall camp.

Through five weeks of the season in 2025, it’s clear Ward’s revitalized vision has come to light. Following a four-sack performance against TCU last Friday, the Sun Devils have recorded 19 sacks in just five games; their 3.8 average leads the Big 12 and ranks as the fourth-best mark in the country. 

“Every year that’s something we harp on,” Ward said Tuesday. “It’s who we are, it’s what our identity is. That’s how we recruit; it all starts with those guys up front with everything that we do.”

On Friday, against the Horned Frogs, senior Prince Dorbah epitomizes the improved performance of ASU. The Texas transfer from three years ago notched a career high three sacks on the night and used his speed and power to strip quarterback TCU Josh Hoover of the ball and grasp a fumble in the final two minutes of play. 

Dorbah was a Longhorn for three years but only used one year of eligibility. Using his experience in a power four program, despite not seeing the field often, Ward knew there was a promising player on the way when he recruited him to Tempe in 2023. 

“At this level, you’re looking for someone who has a dominant trait, and his dominant trait was that he was really explosive,” Ward noted. “So we figured, hey, if we can build this guy up, he has three years left. We can develop him; he could be something special.” 

For his performance, Dorbah was awarded the Big 12 defensive player of the week. He gives credit to his teammates and coaching staff, however, for the game plan that allowed him to execute at a dominant level. 

“We were prepared well,” Dorbah said Tuesday. “All week we knew we had an advantage up front, and we just wanted to go out there and show that we’re a dominant defensive line. Towards the end, you can see we started to execute, and that turned the tide.”

The defensive line executed to a phenomenal level late in the contest, generating four sacks in the final quarter and allowing just three yards of total offense. Thus, ASU was awarded the Big 12 defensive line of the week.

“You know what they say, if you can get pressure up front with a four-man rush, you’re going to have a really good defense,” Dorbah added. “For our coach to be able to trust us to go rush and be able to cause pressure that gives our backend and that helps us up front, it’s gonna help us go a long way.” 

Defensive line coach Diron Reynolds has been instrumental in the growth of his position group. Since last year, Reynolds has had virtually the same collection of players in his meeting room and has been able to use his experience to maximize his coaching prowess. 

Reynolds coached in the NFL for over a decade, with stints at the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, and Minnesota Vikings. His experience at the professional level has provided him with the foundation to coach his players at ASU.

“I try to treat ’em like pros,” Reynolds said. “You try to grow ’em as you want ’em to become. And sometimes that takes a little bit longer because sometimes they don’t understand the why. We may finally understand the why and things change for us.” 

Reynolds’ experience is not only beneficial for ASU during the season, but also away from Tempe, as noted by head coach Kenny Dillingham during his weekly press conference on Monday. Reynolds’s ability and proven track record as a mentor are a cornerstone of how they recruit for the position.

“Professional defensive linemen come to train with him at the pass rush summit,” Dillingham said. “We don’t send him on the road to recruit; he doesn’t leave here because I don’t want him to go back to the NFL. 

“If your goal is to be developed, we’re waving the flag that he’s not a recruiter; he’s a developer of people. I say that because his strength is not just coaching football, it’s also discipline and people. His ability to be disciplined in that and then carry that discipline over into the defensive line room and set a standard in that room.” 

Reynolds noted the importance of blocking as a team. According to Dillingham, playing together as a defensive line group is understanding that it’s not always the player who rushes first who gets the sack. 

The Sun Devils’ defensive line is loaded with experience, with six of their two-deep defensive lineman being in their final year of eligibility. Because of this, Reynolds allows them to hash out audibles on the field themselves, forcing them to grow and work together in the process. 

“The biggest thing is just putting more onus on the group,” Reynolds said. “Actually, they call a lot of the games and stuff on the field. I make sure that they have a Rolodex of calls that they can call and we talk about on the sideline. 

“I kind of let it shape itself with what the guys think they need.” 

During the bye, ASU has a chance to reevaluate itself ahead of a difficult Utah opponent. According to PFF, offensive tackles junior Spencer Fano and redshirt sophomore Caleb Lomu are in the top 50 on the site’s draft boards, as Sun Devils fans can expect the pair to be an issue for the high-flying defensive line of ASU. 

“It’s exciting for me because I love to prepare,” Reynolds said. “As long as we get our guys prepared, I think we’ll be ready. 

“The biggest thing is when you get guys with that kind of talent that they’re putting on draft boards already, if guys want to measure up, these are guys you’ve got to measure up against.”