No. 23 ASU football defeated University of Nevada, Las Vegas 37-10 in its second consecutive home game on Saturday night.
After trailing 10-7 with 4:56 left in the second quarter, the Sun Devils scored 30 unanswered points to pull away in a non-conference matchup.
Junior quarterback Jayden Daniels led the team in rushing with a career-high 125 yards on 13 carries and completed 20 of 29 passes for 175 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Head coach Herm Edwards would've liked it more if Daniels made more throws in the pocket despite his success on the ground.
"I didn't anticipate he was going to rush it for 125 yards," Edwards said. "That’s good, but not so good ... When Jayden sees daylight, he feels like 'I can go make a first down,' and he did, but I think it's more of him spending a little bit more time in the pocket. But that’s easy for me to say because I don't have four guys running at me."
Daniels, whose 125 rushing yards was the fourth-most by an ASU quarterback in a single game, said his runs were a result of what he saw on the field.
"(UNLV) combined a lot of our routes," Daniels said. "They played us really well in the first half in the passing game, especially down the field. That's why I used my legs to hurt them."
He said it's not the game plan for him to run frequently, but he'll do whatever it takes for the team to get the win.
"If the (defense) is going to give me opportunities, then I'm going to take them," he said. "As long as we can stay on the field, and as long as I can help the team win, I'm going to do whatever it takes."
Earlier in the week, Edwards also emphasized the goal of containing UNLV’s rushing attack. In UNLV's first game on Sept. 2, senior running back Charles Williams rushed for 177 yards on 28 attempts.
On Saturday night, he ran for just 35 yards on 13 attempts.
"The first half was slow and methodical," Edwards said. "In the second half, we were able to cover guys and stop the run. (Stopping the run) was one concern we had coming into the game."
In the second half, the Sun Devils put together its most impressive performance as a unit this season, allowing just 155 yards and only 16 in the second half.
Graduate student defensive back Chase Lucas was one of the Sun Devils' most productive defensive players in a shortened 2020 season and continued his success with two pass breakups versus UNLV. Lucas admitted the defensive unit got off to a slow start, but a halftime adjustment was key to stopping the Rebels freshman quarterback Doug Brumfield.
"I think we did a great job in the end, but we've got to start better defensively," he said. "At halftime, we talked to one another and said we're going to set up a spy on the quarterback, which worked in our favor to get the pressure that we needed to give our offense the ball."
Lucas later revealed that defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce wanted the defense to hold the opposition to 150 yards or less every game.
It's a lofty goal that the Sun Devils nearly accomplished with a near-perfect second half on that side of the ball. 155 yards is the seventh-fewest the Sun Devils have allowed since 1996.
It's also the first time since Sept. 1, 2018, that the Sun Devils allowed 10 or less points at home.
ASU faces its first road test of the season on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. MST versus Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The BYU Cougars are coming off a week two win versus Utah 26-17.
Reach the reporter at slynch20@asu.edu and follow @seanlynch845 on Twitter.
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