A 31-point win usually means a dominant victory, but Saturday night's 44-13 victory over NAU didn't always feel dominant for ASU football – especially for the first three quarters.
If you look past the score itself, it's clear that the Sun Devils have some work to do.
Other than scoring a quick touchdown in the first quarter, ASU struggled to move the ball in the first half, and in doing so allowed NAU to stay in the game.
At halftime, the Sun Devils held on to a measly 10-3 lead, and the Lumberjacks very well could have tied it up as the second quarter expired thanks to terribly-executed hail Mary defense from ASU.
This almost happened #NAUvsASU pic.twitter.com/ADywJm57ek
— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) September 4, 2016
If that hail Mary had worked for NAU then it might have been a completely different game. The Lumberjacks would have gone into the half tied with the confidence they can hang with ASU.
And although the almost-hail Mary was a flukey play, NAU did not have much trouble moving the ball down the field.
The Lumberjacks had two wideouts top 100 receiving yards — Elijah Marks grabbed eight passes for 174 yards and a touchdown and Emmanuel Butler secured seven catches for 118 yards. NAU quarterback Case Cookus looked sharp all night, throwing for 369 yards and a touchdown.
ASU frequently surrendered long completions of 20 yards or more and cornerbacks Kareem Orr and Gump Hayes sometimes had trouble staying with the NAU receivers.
NAU also controlled the time of possession, a rarity for teams that lose by large margins.
The Sun Devils are by no means a perfect team, but the Lumberjacks had the fans in Sun Devil Stadium feeling nervous, even if the final score says otherwise.
In fact, one of those nervous people was ASU head coach Todd Graham.
"The second half was more of what I expected and the first half was a little nerve-racking," Graham said. "We expected to score a lot more points in the first half I can tell you that."
With four new starters on the offensive line and redshirt sophomore quarterback Manny Wilkins making his first collegiate start, it was expected that the offense would struggle at times, but even still it was underwhelming when the Sun Devils could only score 10 points in the first half against an FCS team.
At some points, it seemed like the only consistent form of offense was Wilkins scrambling to pick up first downs.
Granted, the offense did heat up in the fourth quarter when ASU scored three rushing touchdowns, it never hid the fact that the Sun Devils had some trouble advancing the ball earlier in the game.
ASU totaled 276 rushing yards, but the ground game was not consistent. During spots in the first half the run game looked stagnant and junior running back Demario Richard had trouble finding running lanes.
Ultimately, failing to put lower-tier teams away early is risky, because letting a team hang around and stay within striking distance is akin to playing with fire in college football.
On a day where teams like Washington State, Iowa State, Mississippi State and Northwestern all lost to inferior competition and many other teams had close calls, letting a scrappy NAU squad trail by just four points at one point in the third quarter is a dangerous recipe for the Sun Devils.
In short, ASU should have built on their early 7-0 lead and ended the game early. Instead, the Sun Devils sputtered on offense and allowed the Lumberjacks to stay within a one score difference until the end of the third quarter.
Of course, the Sun Devils managed to win by a wide margin, but ASU won't play an FCS foe like NAU every week.
"And then you look at it you can say it was 44-13, that sounds good," Graham said. "But it was like 10-6 for a long time."
With Texas Tech coming into Tempe next weekend, the Sun Devils better not get off to another slow start, because the Red Raiders' "air raid" offense will put points on the board in a hurry.
On the defensive side, the Sun Devils will definitely be without redshirt junior linebacker Marcus Ball for the first half after he was ejected on a targeting penalty in the third quarter. Furthermore, junior linebacker Christian Sam got injured in the first quarter and was seen with a walking boot on the sideline.
But according to Sam's twitter page, it appears that his injury is not catastrophic.
Staying with the linebackers, coach Graham did not reveal whether or not redshirt senior Salamo Fiso will play next Saturday.
Surprisingly, despite all of those uncertainties at an important defensive position, ASU opens as a five-point favorite against Texas Tech.
If the Sun Devils allow large chunks of yardage on defense and get off to a slow start on offense against Texas Tech, then it will be a rough night in Tempe, because unlike an FCS team like NAU, the Red Raiders will make you pay for your mistakes.
Reach the columnist at mpharri7@asu.edu or follow @Harris_Mark7 on Twitter.
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