Video by Ben Margiott | Multimedia reporter
This is dependent on the status of UA redshirt freshman quarterback Anu Solomon. UA coach Rich Rodriguez won't declare whether or not he will play until Friday, but my thoughts are the same as ASU redshirt senior safety Damarious Randall: "Unless his leg is cut off, I'm pretty sure he'll be out there." With that in mind, let's take a look at the numbers each quarterback has posted this season (take into account ASU quarterback Taylor Kelly missed three games).
Kelly: 57.7 completion percentage, 7.79 yards per attempt, 18 touchdowns, five interceptions
Solomon: 57.6 completion percentage, 7.02 yards per attempt, 25 touchdowns, seven interceptions
Pretty similar, eh? To Kelly's credit, there's no replacing three years of starting experience. But against him, he's hardly been the Taylor Kelly of the past since returning from a right foot injury. Washington State was the first game since the injury Kelly didn't throw an interception. If Kelly plays to the caliber he has in the past, ASU should have the advantage here.
A season ago, the Territorial Cup was the first game the Sun Devils got their first look at D.J. Foster as their most relied upon running back. Marion Grice was injured and out for the game, so Foster got the bulk of the carries. He rushed 23 times for 124 yards. Since the first three games of the season in which Foster didn't run for fewer than 147 yards, he's yet to come close to the workload he got in last year's Territorial Cup, except his 120 yards against Notre Dame. Foster is on the rebound, though, after rushing 15 times for 96 yards last week against Washington State. What really separates the Sun Devils from the Wildcats here, however, is that Foster doesn't have to be relied upon for ASU to have success on the ground. Offensive coordinator Mike Norvell can choose from a bevy of running backs from Foster to Demario Richard to Kalen Ballage to Deantre Lewis. The Wildcats' ground game is no slouch, though. Nick Wilson has been one of the best backs in the Pac-12 and was a key part in UA's domination of Utah last week, rushing for a season-high 218 yards on 20 carries.
Just like ASU's depth at running back wins it the battle there, UA's depth at wide receiver gives it the advantage here. Luckily for the Sun Devils, they should get redshirt junior receiver Jaelen Strong back this week after he missed the Washington State game with a concussion. Strong's absence may have been a blessing in disguise for ASU and Taylor Kelly, however. It allowed Kelly to establish more in-game chemistry with a receiver other than Strong — that being Cam Smith, who caught six passes for 131 yards. Smith's emergence should help the Sun Devils, but there's still little competition with what the Wildcats have to offer. UA has more receivers with 20 or more catches than ASU has with 10. Its receiving corps is led by Cayleb Jones, who is just a sophomore and has 60 catches for 803 yards. By the time he leaves UA, Jones could be in the discussion that Strong is in now as one of the best receivers in the nation.
Both these groups are solid, and their job is made easier by the quarterback they are protecting. UA's Anu Solomon and ASU's Taylor Kelly have the ability to escape pressure, when it occasionally breaks through the line. The Sun Devils surprisingly struggled quite a bit against Washington State's pass rush — at least in the first half. Kelly was sacked four times and was affected by the pressure far more than that. Right tackle Tyler Sulka took the brunt of the beating but his struggles were more of an aberration from what has been a strong season for him and the rest of the ASU line. UA's offensive line is going to have to deal with a far-improved pass rush from ASU. They faced one of the best defensive lines in the nation last week and didn't have many issues, allowing just three sacks to Utah's force in the trenches.
At the start of the season, it didn't look like ASU's defensive line would have the EDGE in any Pac-12 game. But this unit has steadily improved week by week, led by the play of senior defensive end Marcus Hardison. ASU's sack-leader has seen his NFL draft stock soar from likely not even being an underrated free agent to possibly being a mid-round selection. Hardison has 13 tackles for loss and 10 sacks, more than either Will Sutton or Carl Bradford has last season. Now both of them are playing on Sundays. Where ASU might struggle is with interior line depth. UA will be junior Jaxon Hood's third game missed because of personal issues. His absence clearly hurt ASU's run defense and depth in its loss to Oregon State. The blow wasn't felt as much against Washington State because of the lack of a run game, but with UA's balanced attack and up-tempo offense, the Sun Devil defensive line might be gasping for air before the game is over.
Don't discredit ASU's linebackers. That has been one of the most stable units, when healthy, the Sun Devils have had all season. But UA has one of the best linebacking corps in the country, led by one of the best linebackers in the country: Scooby Wright. The sophomore is up for a handful of national awards and is finally getting the recognition he deserves. He's sixth in the nation in tackles and behind only UCLA's Erik Kendricks in the Pac-12. His 22 tackles for loss are second only to Washington's Hau'oli Kikaha and his 12 sacks rank fourth in the country. He's been feasting on opposing running backs, receivers and quarterbacks like they're Scooby Snacks. If there's a defensive player that will be a game-changer in the Territorial Cup, it's Scooby Wright. His position-mates aren't bad, either. Sophomore linebackers Cody Ippolito, Derrick Turituri and Jake Matthews combine for 101 tackles, including 11 for loss.
The Sun Devil secondary has come alive at the end of the season. ASU played its first four games with getting only two interceptions — both came against Colorado's Sefo Liufau. In its last three games, the Sun Devils have picked off opposing quarterbacks nine times — four of WSU's Luke Falk, one of OSU's Sean Mannion and four of Notre Dame's Everett Golson. ASU, all of a sudden, has become a ball-hawking defense. The one area where the Sun Devils still struggle is in explosive plays. Against Notre Dame, they allowed seven passes of 20 or more yards in the second half. Three Oregon State scoring plays were of 66 yards or more. And against Washington State, ASU allowed 17 plays of at least 15 yards. If the Sun Devils can limit explosive plays while still capitalizing on turnovers, they'll be in a very good position to win Friday.
The Sun Devils manage to win the field position battle almost every week, despite having a nonexistent return game. The Sun Devils have still only returned 18 kickoffs this season and for an average of just over 20 yards. Punt returns have been even worse. ASU ranks third-to-last in the nation, averaging just 2.08 yards per punt return. The Wildcats average punt return (12.29 yards) is about half of the Sun Devils' season total of punt return yards (25). Sophomore punter Matt Haack has quietly seen drastic improvements as the season has progressed, though. Against Washington State, Haack averaged 53.5 yards per punt for a total of more than 300 yards. He's quickly joining sophomore kicker Zane Gonzalez to form an impactful sophomore special teams duo.
