Mundane red zone performance highlights the Sun Devils' focus

Arizona State football presented an impressive stat sheet last Saturday in its narrow 27-24 victory over Baylor. The Big 12 opener was a showdown that saw both sides have their moments of brilliance; however, head coach Kenny Dillingham noted the disparities across the board. 

The Sun Devils finished the game outshining the Bears in total yards, first downs, rushing yards, turnover margin, time of possession, penalties, yards per pass, and converted on more third downs. Despite all of that, ASU was required to win the game on a field goal as the clock struck zero, courtesy of redshirt senior Jesus Gome. 

The major statistic that ASU fans called into question after the game was red zone scoring. 

Offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo’s group scored touchdowns on just two of six red zone entries while settling for field goals on three other occasions. 

“That’s usually not a recipe for success,” Dillingham said during his Monday press conference on settling for field goals that often. 

The Sun Devils don’t have much time to rework some of their red zone attack, however, because they’re dealing with a short week, playing Friday night at Mountain America Stadium against No.24 Texas Christian. 

“We’re tired, obviously,” Dillingham said following Wednesday’s practice. “So, a lot more walk-through today, then we’ll walk through tomorrow. So, we won’t get our fast Friday. I thought they were dialed in. I told them 

‘Teams who prepare and focus the most on short weeks have an advantage.’ If you do the same thing you do on longer weeks, right, you’re at a disadvantage.

To address this detail before the Horned Frogs come to town, Arroyo noted his desire to look internally for unique ways to attack defenses when near the end zone. 

“Right now in short yardage situations, we’re trying to find ourselves a little bit,” Arroyo admitted. “I think we’ve got to figure that out. We’re trying to do some things and be creative in that regard.”

The offense came up with a creative way to drive and score when trailing 16-17 in the fourth quarter. Redshirt sophomore Quarterback Sam Leavitt was sacked and faced 3rd-and-13 from his own 13-yard line. Leavitt needed to make a play and found former walk-on, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Derek Eusebio, for a 61-yard reception downfield. 

That pass alone game gave Eusebio the most receiving yards on the team, and led to a Leavitt and Tyson touchdown to regain the lead. Eusebio finished the day with 79 receiving yards and opened the eyes of some of his coaching staff ahead of Week 5.

“He’s very coachable,” Wide receivers coach Hines Ward noted on Eusbio Wednesday. “I always tell these guys, man, stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. He deserves some more playing time. We got to find ways, myself and Arroyo, we got to find ways to get him in the game because every time we put him in the game, he’s in the right spot.

“He’s done an awesome job,” Arroyo added. “A guy who really accepts his role and really is a team guy. I can’t say enough good things about Derek. It’s the reason he’s on the team. It’s the reason he went on the scholarship. It’s the reason he’s able to make those plays.”

Although Eusebio’s big-time play saved the day in Waco, the Sun Devils didn’t build up many big-time plays, averaging just 6.9 yards per pass. Many of the issues that drive the lack of home run hitting moments are the lack of time for Leavitt in the pocket. 

“It’s obviously frustrating, but I mean, it’s part of the growth process,” Arroyo said. “I mean, there’s nothing you can do besides coach it better and find opportunities in practice for me, to put it on my owness on myself first.” 

At first glance, it’s easy to assume the issues of blocking rest on the shoulders of the offensive lineman; however, Dillingham clarified that, for big plays especially, that is not the case. 

“When people think pass block, they initially think O-line,” Dillingham said. “I’m not just saying the O-line. Sometimes it’s the back, sometimes the tight end, sometimes it’s somebody else, right? So, it’s an accumulation of things that were just that close and then those shots hit.”

There is an element of this saga that relies on Leavitt’s patience with the ball in his hands as well. Leavitt is No.13 in the Big 12 in rushing yards per game, averaging 54.8 per game. Arroyo admitted his quarterback, while desiring to stay in the pocket at times, loves to turn on the jets when necessary. 

“Obviously, you want to be back there to sit clean and work through rhythm and play ball and not have things present themselves,” Arroyo noted. “His innate ability says, ‘I’m going to go.” Because really, sometimes when he goes, he’s just going because it’s an innate ability to see something, and he just goes.”

Leavitt and the downfield receivers have a tall task on their hands Saturday, coming up against a ranked opponent on a short week. TCU has shown some weakness; however, it allows the most passing yards per game of any team in the conference, with 246 per game. That number isn’t always indicative of the quality of secondary, however, ASU allows the second most yards per game over the air with 238, but gave Baylor a difficult test. 

When taking a deep dive into the secondary, Ward noted senior safety Austin Jordan as a potential problem, although the Denton, Texas native has just four tackles on the year, his energy and intensity are felt between the hashes.

“Number one, their nickel. He’s like a Tasmanian devil,” Ward laughed. “He’s a hell of a football player. They’ve got some dudes out there that love to hit people. So, it’s going to be a great challenge for us. I show (the wide receivers) highlights of these guys each and every day so they can understand that the type of mentality and tempo you need to set because these guys are going to bring it.”

Although the Horned Frogs will be coming into Tempe looking to knock off the Big 12 Champions, they’ll be operating with a short leash. Tuesday’s mandatory injury report was released by both schools, and TCU has 19 players ruled out for Saturday, including leading running back Kevorian Barnes, who averaged 7.4 yards per carry through the first two weeks. 

“We look at it,” Dillingham admitted about Big 12 injury reports. “I don’t look at anything in between. I look at it like out and people not on the list. Hard for me to predict where the difference between probable and doubtful for somebody else, but I definitely look at the outs and the guys that aren’t on the list.”

Friday night light at ASU is expected to be a pivotal battle in the grand scheme of the conference. Dillingham added Monday that he noted from the start of the season that this would be one of the defining games of his side’s campaign. Wednesday’s practice drew nine NFL scouts in attendance, with another 20-25 expected to arrive for the game on Friday. 

“It’s kudos to our players,” Dillingham said. “It means people are noticing our players and their players, right? It’s a game on Friday that everybody wants to be at because there are a lot of potential guys that can play on Sunday out there. So, it’s definitely a big game in more than one way.”