Four Takeaways from Arizona State's Loss at BYU
The Arizona State Sun Devils dropped their first game of the 2021 season on Saturday, losing by a score of 27-17 against BYU. Despite trailing the Sun Devils in time of possession, average yards per play, third-down conversions red-zone opportunities, the Cougars emerged victorious for their third win of the season, going 3-0 against Pac-12 teams and gaining their second consecutive victory over a ranked opponent.
For a Sun Devils team that was favored by four points heading into the matchup, Arizona State sure played like the inferior team. The Sun Devils never held a lead for the entirety of Saturday night's game, a first for Arizona State since falling to USC in 2019.
As with any loss, the Sun Devils will have plenty to fix and work towards ahead of their next game, as the team regroups back at Sun Devil Stadium against Colorado next Saturday.
However, the team will quickly reflect on the game that just happened before moving on, and that's exactly what we'll do here.
Four Takeaways from Arizona State's Loss at BYU
Undisciplined football is still an issue: Arizona State's ability to shoot themselves in the foot is phenomenal to watch for all the wrong reasons. Just two weeks removed from amassing 13 penalties against Southern Utah, the Sun Devils somehow topped that performance by having 16 penalties accepted against them, with three others declined by BYU.
It's not just one side of the ball solely responsible, either. Arizona State has suffered serious drawbacks of momentum on offense, defense and special teams thanks to yellow flags on the field. ASU is averaging 12 penalties for 106 yards in three games, an egregious statistic that needs to be reconciled sooner rather than later if this team has any plans of making noise in 2021.
Daniyel Ngata deserves more work: With Chip Trayanum missing for the last two games, life has been hard for Arizona State's rushing attack. Rachaad White has managed to find the end zone in both games during Trayanum's absence, yet the backfield hasn't been as impactful without their typical bruising running back.
However, Ngata has made the most of his opportunities, and did so again on Saturday night, providing a pivotal spark for Arizona State's offense by rushing for 82 yards on eight attempts and reaching the end zone once.
Ngata, even with the impending return of Trayanum from injury, has established himself as a runner capable of helping ASU's backfield when needed. Ngata's presence on the field would help lessen the load on both Trayanum and White, allowing both a chance for rest while maintaining health and stamina down the stretch.
Acclimating to Road Venues: It's been quite awhile since Arizona State has faced a tough away crowd like they did Saturday night in Provo, and it showed. The Sun Devils did not look prepared at all for what noise they would face, hardly going with silent and hard counts despite being in a loud environment.
Multiple times, quarterback Jayden Daniels and the rest of his teammates appeared out of sync with each other, whether it be executing the wrong play-calls or not even getting the ball snapped in time. There were multiple occasions where Daniels had to either burn a timeout or a delay of game/false-start penalty occurred that could have easily been avoidable.
For a team with as much depth and experience as Arizona State, the Sun Devils looked as if they weren't ready for what BYU's home crowd had in store for them. Perhaps this is a learning lesson for ASU and will benefit them in their next road trip to UCLA.
Mobile Quarterbacks = Kryptonite: We saw a bit of this in the UNLV game, where quarterback Doug Brumfield gave the Sun Devils problems with his ability to move the ball on the ground.
BYU quarterback Jaren Hall proved he could do similar things, as he passed for 214 yards and two touchdowns while also adding 38 yards on the ground. While Arizona State wasn't gashed by Hall's legs, the Sun Devils weren't able to put consistent pressure on the quarterback, allowing Hall to move about the backfield and either hit open receivers or move the ball for a good amount of yardage.
For an ASU defense that practices against Jayden Daniels throughout the week, the team appears to deeply struggle with containing quarterbacks who can move about the pocket better than most. Whether that's a game-planning or personnel issue is another topic.
Donnie Druin is a Deputy Editor with AllSunDevils. Follow Donnie on Twitter @DonnieDruin, and AllSunDevils @AllSunDevils. For more ASU news visit AllSunDevils.com