(Marana, AZ) After a stinging 29-0 loss to the Bulldogs of Fresno State, the Arizona State coaching staff will have a lot of questions that need answering.
Before last night, the Sun Devils hadn’t been shutout since a 50-0 loss to the USC Trojans back in the 1988 season. Ironically, the same Southern California Trojans come to Tempe next Saturday hitting on all cylinders.
One of the first questions would be the decision to start true freshman Jaden Rashada at quarterback to begin the season.
Let’s take a look at the particulars; Rashada hadn’t taken a single snap in Spring Practice and really didn’t get many repetitions in the early summer practice sessions. Most freshman take a season to acclimate not only into the college game itself, but also to learn the offensive sets and nuances of the system.
Photo – 3on3.com
According to first year Head Coach Kenny Dillingham, Rashada came on strong the last half of the summer, but was he head and shoulders above last year’s starter Trenton Bourguet to sur plant him as the starter? It appears the answer is NO.
Rashada has a cannon for an arm and can throw deep downfield, but can’t complete touch passes to the backs in the flat or a quick out pattern. Many of his passes are either at the feet of the receivers or five feet over their heads. He doesn’t lead the receivers so they can catch the ball in stride without breaking their momentum. Accuracy so far isn’t one of his strong points. That’s one of the strengths that Bourguet possesses.
ASU had their fourth string quarterback redshirt sophomore Jacob Conover in last night after injuries to Rashada, Bourguet and Notre Dame transfer Drew Pyne. How long the other will remain out of action is unknown. With conference play now looming, the team cannot continue on their current path of an anemic offense and putting the opponent constantly in short field situations. The Devil defense has stepped up admirably having to face very difficult situations. They forced Fresno State into five field goals otherwise ASU may have lost 64-0.
After the announcement of the Bowl ban this season by Athletic Director Ray Anderson, took the coaching staff by surprise and also stung the players. There was no reason to take this route. It felt like the rug was pulled out from under them just as in the 2020 Covid season.
The NCAA hasn’t been on campus since September of 2021 and publicly has said nothing on the subject of the allegations facing ASU. Why do something to that extreme when there was more of an unknown factor that pending sanctions or fines.
Let’s do our first parallel with the situation that the University of Arizona faced in their basketball misconduct allegations.
Arizona had six Level One infractions it had to be concerned about. Just like in Tempe, the Athletic Department in Tucson hadn’t heard a peep from the NCAA or the Independent Council they chose to oversee the case in over two years. The entire situation took over three years to come to a conclusion. The Wildcats chose a self imposed ban on postseason basketball when they had a very good team. That most likely made a strong impact on the resolution and subsequent “slap on the hand” verdict that was levied.
Arizona State doesn’t have a strong team this season coupled with a new coaching staff and over sixty new players via the transfer portal. Was it necessary to be ultra proactive attempting to soften the blow (if there even was one forthcoming).
I think the dismissal of head coach Herm Edwards and most of his staff including former Wildcat Antonio Pierce whom the brunt of the allegations were centered around would have sufficed. That’s the course the Arizona took firing Sean Miller and it was enough to keep the hammer from falling on the basketball program.
The second parallel with the University of Arizona, their football program had fallen on very hard times with the lack of recruiting in the later stages of the Rich Rodriguez era followed by the unpopular and head scratching hire of Kevin Sumlin.
Instead of revitalizing Wildcat Football, Sumlin proceeded to take their program to unprecedented depths including an NCAA record losing streak. Many fans and people in Tucson saw Sumlin as a guy who just wanted a big paycheck before deciding on his next move elsewhere.
Was there finally a light in Edwards tenure that was going to begin to shine in the upcoming 2022 season? ASU had earned a spot in the 2021 Las Vegas Bowl after tying for second place in the PAC-12 South. They played a strong Wisconsin Badger team losing a close contest 20-13 in a game the Devils could have won.
The wheels began to fall off the Sun Devil football program when allegations surfaced of improper contact with recruits coming on campus during the Covid “dark period” that led to several coaches either being dismissed or resigning.
Herm Edwards still remained as the head coach, but things were far from ideal. It all came to a head when the Sun Devils inexplicably lost 30-22 to a very average Eastern Michigan team in the third game of last season. Athletic Director Ray Anderson who was a close friend of Edwards was forced to take action and dismissed him.
After Shaun Aguano was named interim coach for the remainder of the season, there was a nationwide search for a permanent replacement.
Names like Urban Meyer and Deon Sanders surfaced but seemed more like a Christmas wish list than a realistic opportunity.
President Crowe and Anderson decided on Oregon Offensive Coordinator Kenny Dillingham, and ASU alumn and former coach at juggernaut Scottsdale Saguaro High School in the East Valley.
Third parallel with ASU/Arizona is the hiring of a relatively unknown coach.
Arizona’s President Robert Robbins made the hire of Jed Fisch even though that task normally would belong to Athletic Director Dave Heeke.
ASU President Michael Crowe made a similar move himself with Athletic Director Ray Anderson being very unpopular with the Sun Devil Alumni and fans due to his relationship with Edwards.
Fisch’s first Wildcat team went 1-11 and there were Cat fans almost immediately calling for his head, even though the cupboard was bare from the Sumlin regime.
Sun Devil fans relished the opportunity to kick the Wildcats while they were down in the transition to Fisch. Last season, Arizona’s record improved by four wins and they finished 5-7 despite Vegas projecting their win total at three and half games.
Year three of the Fisch era has the Wildcats 2-1, although the level of non-conference competition hasn’t been strong. Las Vegas had this years over/under win total at five and a half putting them on the cusp of a long awaited bowl game. New systems take time, although it has been sped up by the advent of the Transfer Portal.
So Arizona State is in the same situation the Wildcats were in 2021 and will have to take their lumps much to the delight of Cat fans.
Is Dillingham and his staff the answer to getting Sun Devil Football back on tract? Time will tell, but he should be given every opportunity to succeed just as any team with a new coach even as some are already calling for his dismissal.
