**Editor’s Note: Each week during football season, we feature a column from the opponent’s student newspaper on why Oregon will lose. This week’s edition is from Matthew Tonis of the The State Press at Arizona State University.**
On November 29, 2015, the ASU football team was a blown offside call and questionable overtime touchdown away from likely finishing off a win over Oregon before missing an opportunity in overtime and falling.
Exactly 365 days later, a very different Sun Devil team (5-3, 2-3 Pac-12) will seek revenge in the not-so-friendly confines of Autzen Stadium.
Three quarterbacks, redshirt sophomore Manny Wilkins and redshirt freshmen Brady White and Bryce Perkins, have suffered injuries and left freshman Dillon Sterling-Cole as the likely starting quarterback. Couple that with ailments across the defense and the Sun Devil depth is being put to the test.
After losing three games in a row and facing questions about his character and integrity, there’s no way head coach Todd Graham is going to let his team lose again.
As junior running back Demario Richard so eloquently said after practice Wednesday, Oregon’s defense is “suspect.” The Ducks have given up 5.5 yards per carry on the ground, so Richard and fellow junior running back Kalen Ballage should be prepared for a lot of work come Saturday.
Specifically, ASU will utilize its version of the running back direct snap formation, “Sparky.” Following Manny Wilkins’ departure from the Washington State game, the formation was deployed 20 times for 134 yards with both Richard and Ballage taking snaps. If the Ducks show weakness on the ground early, I expect offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey to keep going to the well until after it runs dry, if it ever does.
Sterling-Cole will probably start at quarterback for ASU, but he will not be asked to carry the offense and likely will be a change of pace, rather than the engine fueling the offense.
Defensively, ASU had its best game of the year a week ago getting pressure. While the Sun Devils gave up nearly 400 yards through the air, they also sacked Luke Falk seven times, generating pressure. Justin Herbert has not been hit that much so far in his young career, and I think the exotic blitz schemes that ASU presents can, and will, rattle the freshman.
The Sun Devils, aside from the Colorado game, have done a great job defending the ground game, admittedly against some less-than-stellar rush offenses. If that success can carry forward, though, ASU could make a dynamic offense one-dimensional. Keeping Herbert on his toes and off-balance is necessary for success for a banged-up, yet opportunistic ASU secondary.
This game is going to be high scoring, but ASU’s defense is just slightly better, meaning the Sun Devils will snap their three-game losing skid and finally reach bowl eligibility.