College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Arizona State Sun Devils season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Arizona State Schedule Analysis
– Arizona State Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2020 Record: 2-2 overall, 2-2 in Pac-12
Head Coach: Herm Edwards, 4th year, 17-13
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 90
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 37
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 33
Arizona State College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– This is when the offense needs to start working on a consistently explosive level. The Sun Devils led the Pac-12 in total and scoring offense – the 70-7 win over Arizona helped that – and now almost everyone is back. The skill guys are fantastic, and there’s enough depth and all-around talent to hang punch-for-punch with anyone on the schedule. It all starts with …
– Jayden Daniels. The third-year starting quarterback needs to be more accurate and he has to be very, very careful on the move – he ran for 578 yards and seven touchdowns in his first two seasons, but the 6-3, 185-pounder doesn’t have the build to take a ton of deep shots. The talent is there, the decision-making and deep ball ability is there, and the supporting cast is there.
With the lone exception of Frank Darby, every other wide receiver and tight end who caught a pass last season is expected to be back, and the offense gets more help from the transfer portal with Bryan Thompson coming in from Utah.
There’s talent, size, and a whole lot of options to keep bombing away – including spring star Elijah Badger, who missed last year – but as the theme goes for this team, consistency is the key. It was a young group that should grow along with Daniels. Now …
– The offensive line has to keep everyone upright. It did a great job last year for the Pac-12’s top rushing offense – again, a few big moments in a four-game season skews things – and it was solid in pass protection.
Four of the starting five on the O line is expected to be back and the runners are in place, too. Rachaad White led the team in rushing and receiving yards, Chip Trayanum is a 230-pound blaster, and Daniyel Ngata is a dangerous young quick back. Daniels can run, too.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
NEXT: Arizona State College Football Preview 2021: Defense
4. Arizona State College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– All the D has to is hold serve. With the offense the Sun Devils are bringing, there’s no need to be Alabama here – just get off the field, and this group should do that. Last year’s team gave up a ton of yards, but it led the Pac-12 in scoring defense in the four-game run.
– It starts up front with the tackle combination of DJ Davidson and Jermaine Lole, two NFL-sized 300+ pounders who get into the backfield with the ability to anchor the rest of the defense against the run. Leading sacker Tyler Johnson is back in the rotation on one end – five sacks in the four games – as part of a very promising, very big front four.
– Between CB Chase Lucas and leading tackler Evan Fields at safety, the Sun Devils have two All-Pac-12 talents to lead the way in the secondary. With S DeAndre Pierce in a super-senior year, all four starters should be there in the defensive backfield – now the big plays have to come. Pierce is the only DB who came up with a pick last season. The other four came from the linebackers.
6-3, 250-pound Merlin Robertson and 235-pound Darien Butler are big linebackers who add even more size to the D behind the large tackles. The defensive backs make a whole lot of stops in the system, but those two thumpers help allow Kyle Soelle to fly around and get to the ball.
– What You Need To Know: Offense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
NEXT: Arizona State College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Arizona State College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Best Arizona State Offensive Player
QB Jayden Daniels, Soph.
The 6-3, 185-pound third-year starter has to be more accurate. He only had only game among the four last year above 60% completion rate, but he can fire it down the field, he’s great at connecting on the big play, and he can run, too. Everything is around him to succeed and take the Sun Devils to a whole other level.
2. OG Donovan West, Soph.
3. RB Rachaad White, Jr.
4. OT Kellen Diesch, Sr.
5. WR Geordon Porter, Soph.
Best Arizona State Defensive Player
DE Tyler Johnson, Jr.
There’s about eight different Sun Devils who deserve considering for the Best Defensive Player nod, but the 6-4, 285-pound Johnson is the disruptive force for the front seven in the backfield.
There wasn’t too much of a pass rush throughout last year, but Johnson came up with five sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss in his four games of work. If he can stay healthy – not a given so far in his career – he’ll blow up into a national statistical star.
2. DT Jermayne Lole, Jr.
3. S Evan Fields, Sr.
4. DT DJ Davidson, Jr.
5. LB Darien Butler, Jr.
Top Incoming Arizona State Transfer
DE Travez Moore, Sr.
It’s very, very debatable. North Carolina OT Triston Miller and Utah WR Bryan Thompson should each make big impacts, but if Moore can turn into any sort of a pass rushing performer in the rotation, that frees up Tyler Johnson a bit and all of a sudden the line might be a dominant force.
The one-time four-star recruit for LSU only came up with seven tackles and 1.5 sacks for the Tigers in three season, but now he’ll get his shot to make an impact.
NEXT: Arizona State College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Arizona State College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Arizona State Biggest Key: Offense
Play the full four quarters. The Sun Devils were terrific against USC. They moved the ball well in the first half, they had a 24-14 lead going into the fourth, and …
They couldn’t close. The D couldn’t hang on late in the 28-27 loss, but the O only managed a field goal.
They were able to take an 18-17 lead against UCLA in the fourth quarter, but the D couldn’t hold, the O stalled at midfield, and it was a 25-18 loss. There wasn’t any need to do much else in in the fourth in the 70-7 win over Arizona, and the cake was baked after three in the 46-33 win over Oregon State. Now, though, with so much talent and so much experience, this is the year the offense needs to be able to take over late and win all of the close ones.
There have been several close wins under Herm Edwards, but out of the 13 losses, ten of them were by a touchdown or less, and there were moments in the other three games when the offense could’ve taken over.
This year, the offense has to keep its foot on the gas and keep on scoring.
Arizona State Biggest Key: Defense
Third … down … stops. The Sun Devils haven’t been totally miserable at getting the D off the field, but like the offense, they haven’t been able to do enough in key moments in the fourth.
But coming up with a big play on third downs would be helpful during the rest of the game, too.
There was a time when Arizona State was a brick wall on third downs, allowing teams to convert fewer than 30% of their chances in 2009 and then fewer than 40% in each season between 2010 to 2016.
The 2017 defense allowed over 42% on third downs, and it hasn’t slowed down since with the first three teams under Herm Edwards allowing 41% in each year.
It was only four games, but the 2020 D allowed teams to convert 45%.
It didn’t matter in blowout wins over Arizona and Oregon State, but it was a problem late in the two losses.
Arizona State Key Player To A Successful Season
WR Geordon Porter, Soph.
Or LV Bunkley-Shelton, or Curtis Hodges, or Ricky Pearsall, or Bryan Thompson, or Elijah Badger, or any one of the very deep, very good ASU receiving corps.
Of course, Jayden Daniels is good enough to spread the ball around and keep everyone involved, but it would be nice if there was one go-to No. 1 guy who could step up and make defenses worry. If there’s one top target who needs attention, all of those other parts should blow up.
The 6-2, 200-pound Porter has the size, deep speed, and upside to be that guy with 13 catches for 203 yards and a score, but he’s in a fight for a spot. That means it could be Bunkley-Shelton, or Hodges, or …
Arizona State Key Game To The 2021 Season
at UCLA, Oct. 2
The Bruins might have struggled over the last few years, but not against Arizona State. The Sun Devils were able to pull out a 31-28 win in 2018, but Herm Edwards’ last two teams lost to UCLA – last year’s 25-18 battle was one of the most fun games of 2020 – in a run of three losses in the last four in the series.
This time around, it’s a road game coming after a date with Colorado and before dealing with Stanford. Win, and there’s a chance at a huge start with a trip at Utah up in late October.
– Arizona State Schedule Analysis
2020 Arizona State Fun Stats
– Fumbles: Opponents 9 (lost 8) – Arizona State 8 (lost 4)
– 3rd Quarter Scoring: Arizona State 51 – Opponents 12
– Field Goals In 4 Game Season. ASU 3-of-5 – Opponents 1-of-1
NEXT: Arizona State College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Arizona State College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Is this really when it all comes together?
Every coach should be allowed a few years to get his guys and his systems into place, and now it’s Year Four under Herm Edwards. He’s been solid so far, and now has just about everything he needs to come up with something sensational.
Helped by the super-senior year, he’s getting just about everyone back, he’s got more than enough depth to come up with a few good position battles, and he’s got the starting quarterback with two years of experience and the upside to become among the nation’s best. If Jayden Daniels really is just that good, look out.
The overall talent level isn’t among the elite of the CFO title-contender elite, but it’s strong enough to demand a possible run to the Pac-12 Championship.
Set The Arizona State Regular Season Win Total At … 8.5
There’s no Oregon on the regular season slate and USC comes to Tempe. Start with that, and that’s as much of a break as any Pac-12 South team can get.
So what’s missing outside of the prove it factor? The program has showed under Edwards that it can hang and beat the occasional great team – like effectively keeping Oregon out of the 2019 College Football Playoff with the win – but it couldn’t get by UCLA or Oregon State just before beating the Ducks two years ago.
It was able to come really, really close to beating USC and UCLA last year, but didn’t.
It’s been able to do a whole lot of good things, and yet five of the 13 losses under Edwards came against teams that finished with a losing record.
So yeah, ASU should be able to pull off a win at Washington here, or a victory over Utah on the road there, but it can’t do that and lose to Colorado or Washington State or at Oregon State.
This is the best team under Edwards so far by a mile. Now it has to get the job done.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Arizona State Schedule Analysis
