It has not been a season of consistency for the Sun Devils of Arizona State, but their recent performance against UCLA has people assuming that perhaps a corner can be turned before the season gets out of reach for them in the Pac-12 South. Now hosting the Colorado Buffaloes the chance to finally get the ball rolling on an impressive streak would appear to be in the making. However Colorado showed signs of being a sleeper in the Pac-12 with a strong showing against Oregon where they were tied with the Ducks of Oregon before eventually losing 41 to 24. So long as the Sun Devils keep their focus and stay prepared for what the Buffaloes can dish out, they could see themselves shooting for the second spot in the South.
Bercovici Continues Developing
To say that Mike Bercovici has been erratic during his time as the starter with ASU this season would be an understatement. Every time he has a great game that reminds everyone of his brilliance during last year’s campaign he follows up with what seems like a middle of the pack signal caller that isn’t unleashing his full potential. Last week Bercovici showed the signs that made Todd Graham so confident in the young quarterback’s ability to play the game. He controlled the game with his 273 yards, two touchdowns and added a strong scrambling game to his skill set as he even broke away for a 34-yard touchdown run. Sacks have been a key issue for the Sun Devils this year and seeing that Bercovici is actually starting to use his legs to escape the pocket and create extra time for plays to develop is a great sign for those who are looking to root for the team in Tempe this weekend.
Running For Total Yards, Not Average
The Sun Devils running game this season is somehow breaking out their inner designated hitter in baseball. They are not running for average yards per carry, rather just trying to hit the home run scamper every play. Arizona State averages only around 113 yards a game through the rush attack and a majority of that seems to be due to their running backs slamming into the line looking to break through and bust one for a long gain on the ground. Looking at Demario Richard’s fifth highest total amount of yards rushing this season in the Pac-12 initially looks impressive. However, of the five running backs that have taken 90 or more touches out of the backfield his yards per attempt ranks fourth in the conference. If Richard can find it within his skill set to become more reliable and start entering that six yards per carry group that the Pac-12 has then the Sun Devils could see themselves running the clock out a lot faster and putting less pressure on the rest of the team pending they finish their drives accordingly.
Colorado Potentially Due
Keeping up with the baseball analogies as October continues, the Buffaloes certainly have to look at their twelve straight losses on the road in conference play as a hard pill to swallow. But like any hitter that keeps stepping up, as the great fictional manager Lou Brown would say, you got to have a feeling they’re due. Their ability last week to at least keep up with the Oregon Ducks says a lot about this squad’s toughness until the floodgates opened at the start of the second half. Perhaps the shadow that looms over their program when it comes to traveling in the west coast finally comes to an end as ASU may still have serious worries about their inability to rise up at times and take on the challenges that are presented to them. Starting the year off losing to Texas A&M was a bad loss, then losing to USC at home the year after you beat them at their place was a little bit worse. Should the Sun Devils once again trip up and fall flat against Colorado, it may spell the end of the possible scenarios where Arizona State would contend for even a bowl game let alone the conference.
The game will kick off October 10th at 7:00 PM at Frank Kush Field on the Pac-12 Network.