It was a prime example of a “beat down” last week against Utah. The UCLA Football team was dominated by the Utes’ running game and were largely ineffective offensively. This week they will take on an ASU team that specializes in running the football and beating you defensively.
Let’s rewind back to late August. Coming into the 2017 season I didn’t think this UCLA Football team was going to be great. I did think they’d be much better than they’ve showed this season and put their ceiling at potentially eight games. Boy was I wrong. The Bruins have been absolutely abysmal against the run, have had their playmakers picked off one by one at the hands of injury ninjas and recently dealt with a little bit of a scandal.
Arizona State on the other hand received low expectations from me. I had plenty of trouble seeing how they’d be able to muster more than a handful of wins. The holes in the roster I believed to be there coupled with what I know about head coach Todd Graham I thought this undersized defense would continue to blitz and subsequently expose their back end to big plays, put their run first offense in a hole and lose plenty of games.
Again I was wrong. The Sun Devils, under the thumb of new defensive coordinator Phil Bennett, have deployed much less pressure this season with far greater defensive success and typically just brought four. The offense, although still a running dominated team, has improved in the air with Manny Wilkins growing as a QB.
Related Story: Know Your Opponent: UCLA Football vs. Utah 2017
While a better than expected team, ASU has also endured an up and down season with their best win a 13-7 win over the now #5 Washington Huskies. Their worst loss? A 20-30 loss to the San Diego State Aztecs.
The Bruins received some really good news today that should help their offense at the QB position but the Sun Devils have the defensive firepower to get after even the best QBs in the country.
ASU Offense
You may have noticed but the ASU offense is dominated by the run game. Whether it’s Demario Richard, Kalen Ballage or even QB Manny Wilkins, the Sun Devils want to run the football effectively and they do. Richard was an early star as a freshman but has been over taken by Ballage as the “trendier” running back. However that shouldn’t mean the UCLA Football team can forget about him. A talented inside runner who has better than advertised speed, Richard is going to be a handful for a Bruin front seven that’s riddled with injuries.
Ballage is a physical freak and can make anything happen with the ball in his hands. He’s shifty, accelerates quickly and can leap clean over defenders when they try to go low. He tends to bounce more of his runs outside so maintaining contain will be paramount for this Bruin defense. Something they’ve struggled to do.
The QB position is run by Wilkins and he runs this read-option like an old pro. Probably because he’s been battle tested in the PAC-12. Taking control of the job in 2016, Wilkins guided the Sun Devils to a 5-7 record where they lost six of the last seven games on their roster. Oddly enough Wilkins missed two games last season. One against Oregon and one against the UCLA Football team. This will be his first start against the Bruins. Not a strong deep passer despite a strong arm, Wilkins is a rhythm passer who wants to keep things in the short to intermediate range.
The receiver group begins and ends with N’Keal Harry. He’s not draft eligible yet but Harry already has NFL scouts drooling over his size, catching radius and athletic ability. He can win 50/50 jump balls in the endzone with ease, shield defenders with his massive body on back shoulder throws and can pluck the ball out of the sky with his giant mitts. The Sun Devils throw this guy screens because he’s so good with the ball in his hands. Remember these plays? Yeah that’s what he can do.
Kyle Williams the second leading receiver on the team does plenty of what someone like Darren Andrews would have done for this UCLA Football team before his injury. He’s a chainmover and will see a high volume of passes just like Harry. He also gets used consistently as a motion receiver to help Wilkins break down the defense pre-snap. Jalen Harvey is a viable number two receiver giving the Sun Devils another big body outside that can block which is key for this run first offense.
The offensive line relies on the rhythm passing game to keep Wilkins clean but when asked to hold their blocks a little longer they can break down. Their greatest strength is as run blockers where they use the zone blocking scheme employed by the offense to create lanes and cutback options for the runners. Of course penetration is the quickest way to disrupt a play and against some of the better defensive lines in the conference they struggled. They aren’t the PAC-12’s best but they’re capable for this offense.