Arizona State took the field on Saturday with some extra juice.
During pregame warm-ups, they seemed particularly locked in to get their first Pac-12 victory of the year against Cal. It was their first road game. It was also a smaller crowd. It was a chance to catch a Bear team – who was going through their own quarterback revolving door – on their heels.
Per usual, the Sun Devils fought. Hard.
In addition to the multiple offensive lineman and quarterbacks who already were on the injured list, Jordan Clark did not play. Linebacker Tre Brown left the game on crutches. Trenton Bourguet was hobbled at the end of the first half and then received a hit that left him on the ground for a few minutes. He finished the game and tallied 344 passing yards in the process. The offense moved well, but stalled out a few times in the red zone.
Bourguet would have gone full-Saracen status if ASU was able to cap off the game with a 99-yard drive to take the lead in the closing minutes, but that drive stalled on 4th down and the Bears escaped with the 24-21 win.
It was a game where the Sun Devils did not convert on three separate 4th downs. They only had four penalties, but one was a dead ball penalty on a 4th down touchdown run by Elijhah Badger. Arizona State was backed up and had to settle for a field goal, sacrificing four points in the processs.
There was a broken play on 4th down when Sam Jackson heaved it for the end zone to try to close out the game. The Sun Devils were called for a pass interference, extending the drive for the Bears. Cal did not score, but they ate up more clock and left the Sun Devils on their own 1-yard line and no timeouts.
Cal’s punting game backed the Sun Devils up deep in their own territory multiple times. Whether it was starting drives after stalled 4th downs or off an interception by Bourguet – the only turnover of the day – or from short drives and punts from the Devils, the Bears had a much better start than ASU did throughout the game.
There was juice today. There was fight. But as this team navigates its season, the little details that Dillingham has preached throughout spring ball and the preseason have affected the win/loss column.
Fight and juice can mask a lot, but those details – those moments that keep coaches and players up at night – were not kind to the Sun Devils on Saturday.
