(Tempe, AZ) After disposing of the Golden Flash of Kent State last Thursday, the Devils once again play on an unusual Friday night normally set aside for high school football.
Enter the Sacramento State Hornets from the Big. Sky Conference. This was the second meeting between the two schools. In 2013, the Sun Devils blanked Sacramento St. 55-0.
The. Hornets won handily last week against an outmanned NAIA Southern Oregon team 77-18.
The Sun Devils are trying to start off the season 2-0 in head coach Herm Edwards’s second year.
ASU after an opening kick touchback, Brandon Aiyuk snagged a 24 yard sideline pass from freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels in his second career start. The offense stalled there after three downs and was forced to punt.
On the other side, Sacramento St. was went on the move at the four minute mark of the opening quarter. On a key third down and eight, wide out Tao McClinton caught a pass from quarterback Kevin Thompson for nineteen yards into ASU territory at thirty two yard line. Nothing doing from there as the Devils defense stiffened and got the ball back on downs when the Hornets went for it on fourth and long.
The Devil’s offense was absent in the first quarter only getting two first downs.
Things got interesting at 14:45 when Aiyuk took a punt up the right sideline for 37 yards to Hornets ten yard line. ASU shot themselves in the foot however with a fumble on the half yard line that trickled into the end zone and was recovered by Sacramento St.
Neither team could get any sustained drives, with punting taking center stage. Michael Turk, who received the PAC-12 Special Team Player of the Week didn’t have the yardage he did against Kent State although he still averaged over forty seven yards per kick.
Daniels for the second game showed he could run when flushed out of the pocket and had the Devils knocking at the door with 2:41 left in half.
The Hornet defense was called for a defensive holding that put the ball on the five yard line. Again, the Sun Devils couldn’t stand prosperity and Daniels was sacked on the next play. Christian Zendejas got them on the board with a thirty six yard field goal with just under two minutes before the half.
Arizona State had a uninspired 3-0 halftime lead.
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The first half wasn’t anything what coach Edwards wanted as the offense only produced a scant seventy eight yards of total offense. To magnify this, the Devils only had sixteen rushing yards on fourteen carries with three tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
ASU’s defense allowed one hundred thirty one firsts half yards, but the Hornets never really threatened only getting into Sun Devil territory twice.
The Big Sky was giving the Power Five PAC-12 fits. Another BigSky/PAC-12 matchup is scheduled a day later down in Tucson when Northern Arizona will take on the 0-1 Arizona Wildcats.
At the 10:54 mark tailback Eno Benjamin ran off tackle for thirty three yards down to the Hornets six yard line. Just as in the first half, the next play Benjamin lost three yard back to the nine yard line.
Again, Zendejas bailed ASU out with his second field goal of twenty six yards to give the Devils a 6-0 led with 9:15 left in the third quarter.
With 7:21 the Devils had a sixty three yard touchdown pass and run called back by a blindsight block personal foul on ASU.
Third down from the fifteen didn’t produce anything and Zendejas kicked a thirty five yard field goal to add to the lead 9-0 with 4:57 left
Their next possession, the Sun Devils got it going with a fifty two yard pass from Daniels to Aiyuk down to the Hornets five yard line. The next three plays lost yardage and the ball now sat on the eight yard line to end the quarter.
Back to the Zendejas show as he hit his fourth field goal from twenty six yards out to finally get the Devils into double digits at 12-0 with the first play of the final quarter.
The Hornets finally came out of the nest with a forty yard pass complete from Kevin Thompson to Pierre Williams to put the ball on the nine yard line. Two plays later Thompson found the end zone on a nine yard completion to McClinton and we suddenly had a game on our hands at 12-7 with 6:20 left.
The Sun Devils felt a little heat in the final stages of the fourth quarter.
Needing a score to put the game away, Daniels hooked up on a seventy two yard touchdown pass to Benjamin. Three plays in 1:38 showed what the Devils are capable of but in tonight’s matchup, this explosiveness was rarely seen.
Arizona State’s defense shut down the Hornets the rest of the way on an interception by Cam Phillips to win a unusually difficult game against a spirited opponent 19-7.
The Devils were thirty six point favorites. Many factors led to the less than stellar performance, missed tackles, poor red zone efficiency, drive killing penalties and playing without passion.
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ASU went 5-17 on third downs, while Sacramento St. had nine tackles for losses.
The Hornets quarterback Thompson went 32-50 fro 263 yards and a 110.8 QB rating.
Freshman Daniels had a 169.9 QB rating on 17-27 and the Devils lone touchdown.
Sacramento State’s swarming defense caused problems for the Sun Devils and the best ASU’s backs could muster was 69 yards on 24 carries by Eno Benjamin. A 2.9 rushing average wont win many games down the road or in the PAC-12.
Benjamin and Aiyuk had great receptions, but the offense would sputter time after time in the red zone and Zendejas would be called upon to bail the anemic offensive effort out.
After an good opening game effort, ASU came out flat tonight and one may wonder if the players were caught looking ahead to their important matchup next Saturday afternoon in East Lansing Michigan against the #19 Spartans of the Big 10.
So after two games, it’s difficult to say what this Devil team will do against a quality opponent. Tune in at 10 am next Saturday and those questions will be answered.
