It’s become an all-too familiar scene.
For the second consecutive season, the ASU football team marched into a Big Ten stadium and came away with a disheartening loss fueled by missed opportunities.
“We didn't protect very well,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. “It wasn't anything that we didn't know was coming. A lot of it was that there were times when we held the football when we needed to get it out of our hands. It's a combination of things."
The then-No. 22 Sun Devils (2-1) headed to Champaign, Ill. to take on Illinois, fresh off a resounding victory over a Top 25 opponent the week before.
Instead of riding the momentum to a 3-0 star to the 2011 season, ASU fell victim to a plethora of missed chances and suffered a disappointing 17-14 loss to the Fighting Illini (3-0). Whether it was missed scoring opportunities, penalties, or turnovers, several mistakes hampered the Sun Devils’ performance.
Penalties have become a significant thorn in ASU’s side throughout the past two seasons. It was no different on Saturday as the Sun Devils were flagged for eight penalties for 91 yards.
It seemed as if whenever ASU managed to build momentum on either side of the ball, a discouraging penalty came down and put a halt to the drive.
On ASU’s first defensive possession of the second quarter, junior linebacker Vontaze Burfict was hit with a unnecessary roughness personal foul, which handed the Illini 15-yards. Later in the third quarter, ASU was tagged with another personal foul. The Sun Devils suffered several pass interference, holding, and false start penalties in the third quarter as well.
As the ASU offense tried to mount a comeback in the fourth, a false start penalty stalled momentum on the Illinois 49-yard line. That possession soon ended in a punt.
Then there were the turnovers.
The ASU offense turned the ball over on three occasions, including a pair of interceptions. With the Sun Devils leading 14-10 early in the fourth quarter, Illinois junior defensive lineman Whitney Mercilus drilled Osweiler, and Illini senior linebacker Ian Thomas recovered the fumble.
The Illini seized the opportunity and scored a go-ahead touchdown a few minutes later.
“They brought a lot of pressure tonight,” Osweiler said. “Shoot, it seemed like almost every snap. But you know I thought the offensive line played great. They were seeing a lot of different fronts, stunts, and blitzes."
Osweiler was under pressure for the majority of the game, as the Illini featured an explosive defensive front. Illinois sacked the ASU quarterback six times for a total loss of 23 yards.
Despite the penalties and turnovers, ASU was faced with several key-scoring chances. But they couldn’t capitalize on several, as the Sun Devils finished one-of-three in red zone opportunities.
Redshirt freshman kicker Alex Garoutte lined up for a field goal attempt late in the second in the quarter. The kick sailed wide left and ASU missed a prime opportunity to knot the score at 10-10.
When ASU looks back on its effort against the Illini, it will see that there were plenty of chances to change the outcome. However, Osweiler is confident that they are fixable.
"When you lose you think back to a lot of specific plays,” Osweiler said. “But I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Obviously you want to get the win every game, but we lost this one and now we need to go back and study to see what we could have done better so we can improve upon that to make sure this doesn't happen again.”
Reach the reporter at greg.dillard@asu.edu Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
