A familiar Arizona State defense puts spotlight on Bulldogs’ wideouts, not their line
When Fresno State center Markus Boyer and quarterback Marcus McMaryion get to the line of scrimmage and peer across at the Arizona State defense on Saturday in the Las Vegas Bowl, what they see and what they will be trying to beat will look very familiar.
Arizona State defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales spent seven seasons at San Diego State and in 2017 was the coordinator for Aztecs coach Rocky Long, playing that 3-3-5 that has given so many teams in the Mountain West so much trouble.
Structurally, the Aztecs and Sun Devils are very similar.
If there is a difference, the Sun Devils are much bigger than the Aztecs up front at nose tackle and the right end with 304-pound redshirt senior Renell Wren and 302-pound sophomore Shannon Forman.
That obviously puts a spotlight on the Bulldogs’ offense and the line, which has struggled this season to sustain a strong running game.
There was a glimmer in the 23-14 victory over San Diego State during a third quarter in which they busted through the Aztecs’ movement in the box and churned out an average of 5.4 yards on 11 rushing plays.
It went like this:
▪ First quarter: 8 for 14 yards, 1.8 ypp.
▪ Second quarter: 9 for 10 yards, 1.1 ypp.
▪ Third quarter: 11 for 59 yards, 5.44 ypp.
▪ Fourth quarter: 15 for 40, 2.7 ypp.
But win, lose or draw up front on any particular play the Bulldogs’ success and chance to win a 12th game in a season for the first time in school history could be determined not up front, but outside with wideouts KeeSean Johnson and Jamire Jordan.
They need to win their man-to-man matchups, beat the Sun Devils’ coverages and take some bigger bites out of the Sun Devils.
In the past two meetings against San Diego State and a defense that will run a lot of the same blitzes that Arizona State will in the bowl game, the Bulldogs did win and they won big — breaking off yardage in big chunks in the passing game so that the offense didn’t have to slog through a mess of moving parts in the box play after play.
A year ago in a 27-3 victory against the Aztecs, McMaryion attempted only 16 passes, hitting 10 for 176 yards, 17.6 per completion. Included were a 48-yard play to Jordan, a 33-yard play to Johnson and 30- and 24-yard plays to Da’Mari Scott. All four of those plays set up scores for the Bulldogs — three touchdowns and one field goal.
This season McMaryion hit 17 of 24 passes for 267 yards, 15.7 yards per completion. Included were an 86-yard touchdown to Jordan and 38-, 37- and 32-yard plays to Johnson. Again, all four plays went for or set up scores — three touchdowns and one field goal.
McMaryion and Johnson, who can set a conference record in the bowl game by catching a pass in a 50th consecutive game, were spot on in that game.
Johnson on 11 targets had 10 receptions for 141 yards. The Bulldogs hit eight in a row to start the game before that incomplete pass, which came in the third quarter.
Arizona State could be susceptible to a few big plays; its pass defense slipping some in the final month of the season.
The Sun Devils are ranked seventh in the Pac-12 in passing defense and have allowed 40 explosive pass plays of 20 or more yards, tied for fifth in the conference.
But they have given up 13 of those 40 pass plays in the final three games of the regular season, including four in a matchup against UCLA, which has the ninth-ranked passing offense in the Pac-12 and is 10th in the conference with just 39 pass plays of 20 or more yards.
The Bulldogs, with McMaryion leading the Mountain West with a 69.8 completion percentage, 8.7 yards per pass attempt and an efficiency rating of 161.95, have 54 pass plays of 20 or more yards this season.
Johnson has accounted for 24 of them, Jordan for six.