In a season highlighted by marquee defensive stands and takeaways, the Sun Devil defense failed to step up when the team needed it most on the road versus Oregon State.
Multiple opportunities to force the Beavers into a fourth down scenario were squandered by penalties on the Sun Devil defensive unit, ultimately spelling the demise for ASU.
The woes began for the Sun Devils in the second quarter, as Coach Todd Graham’s blood boiled-over following a roughing-the-punter flag on ASU, erasing a fourth down for the Beavers. This would not come back to hurt the Sun Devils, as the OSU drive would still result in a punt.
Redshirt senior defensive back Damarious Randall cashed in on an early interception from Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion, one of the few defensive highlights of the night for the Sun Devils.
“They just came out with more energy than us,” Randall said following the game. That energy would overpower the Devils in the beginning, but it was self-inflicted wounds that would sink ASU later on.
Fast-forward to the fourth quarter as the Beavers gained a 28-27 edge over ASU, and maintained possession trying to bleed the clock down. Junior defensive back Kweishi Brown would erase a third down stop for the Devils with a defensive pass interference, and then redshirt junior Lloyd Carrington was guilty of defensive holding on the next third down stop.
That drive would ultimately chew six minutes off the clock in a pivotal fourth quarter, as Oregon State would move the ball 54 yards on 8 plays. Following each penalty, both redshirt junior linebacker Antonio Longino and redshirt freshman safety James Johnson sustained injuries that kept them off the field for following drives.
“(It was) very frustrating for us because, obviously we have come along way,” Graham said. “The two pass interference penalties just broke our back ... I can’t explain it other than we just didn’t play very well.”
Although Oregon State would fail to turn the gifts from ASU into points, the momentum, and most importantly the time lost during OSU’s drive were the largest gashes to the Sun Devils during the poor defensive streak.
Along with shooting themselves in the foot, ASU's defense put themselves in a hole early by surrendering two massive touchdown runs to Storm Woods (78 yards) and Terron Ward (66 yards); two integral plays that led to 183 yards rushing for the Beavers in just the first quarter alone.
Coach Graham acknowledged that in the end, Oregon State gave the Sun Devils their best performance and ASU was just simply not prepared for it. The concoction of defensive mistakes peppered between offensive failures led to the demise of the Devils, and the Beavers completed the upset by a final score of 35-27.
Reach the reporter at csafran@asu.edu and follow him on Twitter @ChrisSafran
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