Arizona State football blitzing less to help young secondary
Over the offseason, Arizona State football coach Todd Graham and his defensive staff studied their personnel. With the youngest secondary of Graham's five years in Tempe, they wanted to put their defensive backs in the best position possible.
Through four weeks, the result has been an ASU defense that has blitzed significantly less, a move that goes against the aggressive defensive culture Graham installed upon arrival.
According to data provided to azcentral sports by the analytics website Pro Football Focus, the Sun Devils last year blitzed on 49 percent of pass plays, the highest rate in the Pac-12 and third highest among FBS schools.
This year, the Sun Devils are blitzing on just 27 percent of pass plays, which ranks below the Pac-12 average rate of 31.
REWIND: Looking back at ASU's win over Cal
At his weekly news conference Monday, Graham said ASU still is trying to find a “happy medium” on how much to pressure without compromising the defensive backfield. He feels confident with sophomore cornerback Kareem Orr, sophomore safety Armand Perry and senior spur linebacker Laiu Moeakiola, but points out that senior cornerback De’Chavon Hayes and junior safety J’Marcus Rhodes still lack experience.
“We’re learning as we go, and we’re getting better,’’ said Graham, stressing the importance of adapting to ASU's personnel. “The good thing is we’ve been able to do that and win, but we’re getting back up there. We’re moving up (statistically) in sacks and in (tackles for loss). We pressured a little more last week.”
It’s a delicate balance. Last season, ASU tied for third nationally in both sacks (46) and tackles for loss (111), but also gave up 24 pass plays of 40-plus yards, six more than any other team in the country.
This season, despite the blitz reduction, ASU is having similar big-play issues. Entering Saturday’s game at USC, the Sun Devils (4-0) have allowed seven passing plays of 40-plus yards – only three schools have allowed more – something Graham attributes to botched coverage assignments.
LISTEN: ASU football Pick Six podcast: Episode 10
Example: In the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win over California, ASU blitzed two linebackers on third-and-9. Two defensive players were supposed to pick up Cal running back Tre Watson. Neither did, and Watson caught a short screen pass and raced 74 yards untouched to the end zone.
In four games, the Sun Devils have allowed scoring pass plays of 87, 59, 75, 66 and 74 yards, contributing to what's statistically the nation's worst passing defense.
“The only time we get beat is when we don’t communicate with each other,” Orr said. “When we communicate, it’s hard to get by us.”
A good sign: The Sun Devils are mostly successful when they blitz. Pro Football Focus combines quarterback hurries, hits and sacks into one category called “pressures.” At this point, ASU’s pressure rate (pressures/pass plays) is 36.9, which ranks behind Washington (48 percent) and Utah (45) in the Pac-12. The Sun Devils last year had a similar pressure rate of 36.3.
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Next step: Converting those pressures into sacks. ASU’s sack rate last year was 7.5 percent. So far this year it's 5.0. Junior Devilbacker Koron Crump leads the Sun Devils with three sacks. Sophomore defensive end JoJo Wicker adds 1.5. Overall, ASU ranks 27th nationally in sacks (2.75 per game) and 22nd in tackles for loss (7.5).
As ASU goes deeper into the season – and faces quarterbacks who don’t get the ball out as quickly – those numbers could jump.
“One of the things I love about our guys this year, when you got to make a play, when you got to make a stop, our guys have risen to the occasion,’’ Graham said. “We just have to eliminate the errors and we need to play a complete game. The great thing is we’ve been able to learn and get better and still be 4-0.”
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Extra points
For the second week in a row, ASU senior Zane Gonzalez is the Pac-12’s Special Teams Player of the Week. Gonzalez last week hit all three of his field-goal attempts and produced touchbacks on seven of 10 kickoffs. He needs five more field goals to set the FBS career record.
-ASU’s Oct. 8 home game against UCLA will kick off at 7:30 p.m., the Pac-12 announced Monday. ESPN or ESPN2 will have the telecast.
Contact Doug Haller at 602-444-4949 or at doug.haller@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/DougHaller. Download and subscribe to the ASU Pick Six Podcast, available on iTunes, Google Play Music and Stitcher.
