Four Takeaways from Arizona State's Loss to Washington State

This wasn't how anybody envisioned the Arizona State Sun Devils coming out of the bye week.

To say Arizona State came out flat would be to suggest they showed up at Sun Devil Stadium at all, as Washington State strolled into Tempe and dominated from start to finish.

The final score was 34-21, yet that doesn't give the true story of a team that committed five turnovers, the most in over a decade (2010 vs. Oregon).

Needing to win the remaining five games coming out of their bye, the Sun Devils' chances to slide into the Pac-12 championship game as south division champions became even more narrow thanks to the loss to WSU.

Arizona State now has its work cut out for them, with no time to flinch as USC comes to town next Saturday.

Four Takeaways from the Loss

Discipline Still an Issue

Sure, the Sun Devils committed only seven penalties for 40 yards on Saturday, a vast improvement over other performances we've seen thus far.

However, five turnovers is simply unacceptable. Saturday marked the first time since 2012 where Arizona State committed four or more turnovers in multiple games through the stretch of a season, with their first in 2021 coming in the loss to BYU.

Turnovers. Penalties. Whatever it may be, the Sun Devils simply can't find a way to get out of their own way.

Coming out of the bye week, Arizona State had the perfect opportunity to silence all doubters and ensure discipline wouldn't be an issue.

Instead, Saturday's performance gives little hope the Sun Devils can make anything of this season, largely thanks to their inability to avoid penalties and turnovers.

Vertical Passing

Without the talents of running back Rachaad White, and especially while being down 28-0 in the first half, the lack of pushing the ball down the field by Arizona State was disheartening.

Quarterback Jayden Daniels has displayed his arm strength time and time again, yet his receivers (aside from Ricky Pearsall) have had problems consistently catching the ball this season. Daniels completed only three passes of 20 or more yards in the game.

"We had some opportunities to catch some balls and we didn’t," head coach herm Edwards said. "It became one of those games where all of the sudden they got up early and we were playing catch-up football and that’s always hard to do.

"We dropped some big-time balls on third down and didn’t get in the red zone. We got down there and didn’t score. You have to catch those balls when you’re playing a game like this and you’re behind you can’t make those glaring errors and that’s what kind of happened to us.”

Whether it be the constant screen passes (on second- and third-and-long especially), the inability to reel in deep passes or even Daniels' decision-making to not push the ball deep, there's no true vertical threat to Arizona State's offense at the moment, making it easy for defenses to gather around the line of scrimmage and play closer to the ball.

Filling the Seats

Gone are the days where Arizona State was the only show in town.

That's evident in the team's attendance, as Sun Devil Stadium has become notorious for using "dress like a seat night" more than once this year, as Arizona State simply can't draw huge crowds.

That was the case when the Sun Devils were ranked and riding fairly high, and it certainly was the case once again when Washington State strolled into town.

Scenes after the final whistle blew in Tempe:

Final from Sun Devil Stadium. pic.twitter.com/XJaPiuMSOm
— AllSunDevils.com (@AllSunDevils) October 30, 2021

With how the Sun Devils played, there's no blame being placed for leaving early.

However, coming off a bye week with a student section not even full, on homecoming weekend with the 1996 Rose Bowl team being honored, the stands lacked support.

Winning is the only thing that will drive people back to their seats. That's understandable. Yet at the same time, Arizona State had success earlier this season with little difference than Saturday as far as fan support.

Defensive Woes

Perhaps we held too high of expectations for this Sun Devils defense.

Time and time again, Arizona State has struggled with either pass-heavy offenses or mobile quarterbacks.

The Sun Devils allowed 56 unanswered points dating back to the second half of the Utah game, and have now allowed back-to-back 34 point performances.

Arizona State's defense has been littered with injuries this season, yet a supposed strength of the Sun Devils rested within their depth at each position. Since Pac-12 play has started, quality of play has dipped considerably on the defense, at least in terms of defending the pass.

Yet, the Sun Devils were outgained on the ground against Washington State, leaving little to be proud of in ASU's run-stopping department.

The talent is undoubtedly still there, but perhaps Arizona State's defense as a whole isn't top-tier like their play had suggested against lesser competition earlier this season.