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Depleted Sun Devil Football Drops Road Tilt In Corvallis

by thesundevils.com
Nov 20, 2021

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Sun Devil Football - with injuries to 13 players on its preseason two-deep and missing no less than five starters - couldn't overcome a first-half 17-0 deficit as it dropped the penultimate contest of the season, 24-10, at Oregon State on Saturday night in Corvallis, Ore.  

ASU mustered only 266 total yards of offense, falling into a three-possession hole early that proved to be insurmountable. ASU cut it to a touchdown early in the fourth quarter but OSU iced the game on a fourth-and-short that ended up resulting in a 47-yard touchdown on the ensuing Beaver possession to put the game out of reach. 

Rachaad White was stifled in the run game after putting up over nearly 400 yards in the last two games but still managed yet another 100-plus yards of total offense thanks to a career-high 86 receiving yards on six catches. It was the the 10th time in 14 games at ASU that White has recorded over 100 all-purpose yards. 

Despite missing its top defensive player in linebacker Darien Butler and field captain in safety Evan Fields, the Sun Devil defense was largely effective outside of OSU's three touchdown drives. Those three drives accounted for 243 of OSU's 325 yards of total offense. ASU held the Beavers to just 82 total yards on OSU's seven other drives. Kyle Soelle had a monstrous day with a career-best 15 tackles, easily surpassing his previous best of 12. True freshman Eric Gentry, making just his second career start, had a career-high nine tackles as well. 

TURNING POINT
After going down 17-0 in the first half, the Sun Devils put themselves right back in the game early in the fourth quarter as the defense forced a three-and-out and botched snap on the punt gave ASU the ball on the OSU four-yard line. DeaMonte Trayanum punched it in two plays later to get ASU back within a touchdown with 13:56 remaining in the game. ASU got another third-down stop on the ensuing Beaver drive at the Sun Devil 47-yard line. But the Beaver's went to Swiss army knife Jack Colletto on fourth-and-2 and the junior linebacker broke through and took it 47 yards to the house to make it 24-10 with 11:24 remaining and the Sun Devils were unable to mount another rally. 

NOTABLES

  • ASU has held opponents to less than 30 points in 28 of 41 games under Herm Edwards, notable as it DID allow 30+ in 32 of 43 previous games dating back in a span from 2013-17.
  • ASU has rushed for at least 100 yards as a team in 15 straight games, keeping the streak alive by the skin of its teeth with exactly 100 rushing yards on Saturday. It is the longest streak of rushing for over 100 yards as a team since the last 10 games of 1995 and the first 11 of 1996 - a 21-game stretch over two seasons.
  • ASU has multiple games this season in which it has held an opponent to less than 100 yards rushing AND/OR less than 100 yards passing (5 games under 100 yards rushing/3 games under 100 yards passing). The eight total sub-100 stat lines in one category or the other are the most since 2002 (also 8 - 7 games under 100 yards rushing, 1 under 100 yard passing). The three games holding opponents under 100 passing yards - including tonight - marks the first time that has happened since doing it thrice in 1996. The 1996 squad would also be next in line on the most sub-100 yard performance passing/rushing with nine.
  • ASU has held opponents to 400 yards or less in 9 of 11 games this season. That surpasses the total for the 2020 season (7 in 13 games). Under Herm Edwards, ASU has held opponents to the 400 or less mark for total offensive yards on 23 occasions over 41 games (56.1 percent of the time). For comparison, ASU accomplished the feat just 24 times in the 65 previous games (36.9 percent) from 2013-2017.
  • Even allowing a 40-yard play tonight - just its second of the season - the ASU defense still leads the nation with only two 40-yard plays allowed this year. 
  • The ASU defense has gone 13 games without allowing a 50-yard play, the longest active streak in the country. 
  • Rachaad White entered the contest 9th among FBS running backs in receptions and 11th in total targets and significantly improved those numbers with six catches on nine targets on Saturday.

 

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