Senior safety Alden Darby raises his arms after a play against Oregon at home in Tempe. Of all of the questions surrounding ASU football’s defense entering this season, perhaps the most glaring was their ability to stop the run. (Photo by State Press Staff)Senior safety Alden Darby had a simple strategy for beating No. 20 Wisconsin.
“Stopping the run," he said. "Who’s more physical, plain and simple."
Of all of the questions surrounding ASU football’s defense entering this season, perhaps the most glaring was their ability to stop the run.
In their first game, the Sun Devils shut down Sacramento State’s rushing attack, allowing only 51 rushing yards.
Thursday night’s performance boosted confidence, but only a little.The Sun Devils were aware that this performance was against a team they were supposed to dominate. They know stopping the Badgers ground attack is another beast entirely.
“(Beating Sacramento State) gave us a little bit of a boost, but not really, because we know that really wasn’t anything,” Darby. ”It made us confident, but we expected to win that game like we won it, so this week will be the real test.”
The Sun Devils struggled against the rush in 2012 and were 81st in the country, allowing 182.8 yards per game. Improvement in that area has been a focal point for senior will linebacker Chris Young and the rest of the ASU defense.
“We emphasized that a lot since summer workouts,” Young said. “It’s something we want to prove, not only to ourselves, but to the Pac-12.”
While The Sun Devils’ defense struggled against the run last year, Wisconsin’s offense excelled at it, ranking 13th in rushing offense and averaging 236.4 yards per game. Fast-forward through the Badgers’ first two games of 2013, and their rushing attack remains dominant.
Against Massachusetts and Tennessee Tech, the Badgers have averaged 390 rushing yards per game, primarily because of a plethora of long, explosive runs from their trio of talented running backs: senior James White, redshirt sophomore Melvin Gordon and freshman Corey Clement.
Coach Todd Graham said the Sun Devils probably won't play a better running football team this year.
“Last year, they were fourth in the country in plus-40 (yard) big plays as an offense, and most of them are in the running game,” Graham said. “The key is their backs break a lot of tackles and their big, huge offensive line."
Graham said stopping Wisconsin's running game would come down to gap responsibility, grittiness and tackling.
“I think a big factor in having a great run defense is discipline, fundamentals, block protection and tackling," Graham said. “We gotta make sure we don’t give them any cheap touchdowns. That’s the key for us.”
But running the ball isn’t the only thing in the Badgers’ playbook. Wisconsin’s rushing attack also gives them opportunities in the play-action passing game.
In the Badgers’ 48-0 wrecking of Tennessee Tech last week, two of redshirt sophomore quarterback Joel Stave’s three touchdown passes came on play-action passing plays.
When the Badgers drop back to pass on play-action, it will be Darby’s job to stop it.
“You can see how easily you can get put to sleep with the run and then they’ll hit you over the top with a home run post," Darby said. "So we just talk to the DBs about mainly doing your job.”
Reach the reporter at ejsmith7@asu.edu or follow him on twitter @EricSmith_SP
