WSU Football: Scouting Arizona State

Oct 19, 2013; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils running back Marion Grice (1) during the game against the Washington Huskies at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

It’s Halloween in Pullman when the Arizona State Sun Devils (5-2, 3-1) come to town to take on the Cougars in a Thursday night football game. The Cougars are coming into this game hoping to get their third upset of a ranked team in the past two years.

Arizona State is coming off recently upsetting Washington, 53-24, two weeks ago. The Sun Devils, like the Cougars, are coming off a bye last week. The Sun Devils come into this game averaging 45.4 points per game, good enough for 6th in the country.

Arizona State is a good team that has flown in under the radar so far this season. After finally getting the attention they wanted after upsetting Washington, Arizona State is looking to continue that success with a Halloween win Thursday night against the Cougars.

Offense

Arizona State averages 332 passing yards a game, 14th best in the FBS. Behind the arm of quarterback Taylor Kelly who is 173/279 and has 2236 yards with 18 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Kelly has been sacked 15 times this season. The Sun Devils have 4 receivers with over 300 yards and 3 of the 4 have 3 or more touchdowns.

Receiver Jaelen Strong leads the receiving core with 45 receptions for 685 yards and 4 touchdowns. The 6-4 first year receiver for the Sun Devils leads the team in receptions and yards. D.J. Foster comes is second with in both those categories with 36 receptions for 390 yards and 1 touchdown. Running back Marion Grice (33 receptions) and  receiver Chris Coyle (18 receptions) have 302 yards receiving each.

For the ground game the Sun Devils have Grice as their leading rusher with 553 yards on 111 carries. Their second leading rusher is Kelly with 57 carries for 249 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground. The other two running backs with over 100 yards are Deantre Lewis and Foster. Lewis has 32 carries for 192 yards and has one touchdown this season. Foster has 26 carries for 125 yards and has yet to see the end zone this season.

In the red zone the Sun Devils are 39-43 and are 83% when going for a field goal.

Defense

The Sun Devil defense is only allowing 26.7 points per game and is led by senior linebacker Chris Young who has 29 solo tackles and 44 total tackles. Senior defensive lineman Davon Coleman is the Sun Devils second leading tackler with 32 total tackles. Right behind him  is safety Aldon Darby with 31 tackles.

The Sun Devils are a very good pass rushing team with Will Sutton causing havoc on any quarterback he has seen this season. When the quarterback does drop back to pass he has been sacked 17 times for 120 yards. Carl Bradford is their leading sack maker with 4.5 sacks  Four other players have 2 or more sacks so far this season.

The defense is allowing 26.7 points per game, which one would think scoring 26 points would win you a game. The Sun Devil defense goes hand in hand with their offense. The defense gives up yards and points, but the offense can hold their own and score when needed.

When Arizona State played Washington, the Sun Devils held Bishop Sankey and the Washington offense to -5 rushing yards on the game and 217 passing yards while the offense put up 585 total yards. Proving that the Sun Devils defense can hold their own as Washington coming into that game was said to be really good.