ASU Recap 2010

(AP)

After Cal’s 50-17 manhandling of Arizona State, the biggest story will likely be the disparity between the Bears’ performance at home and on the road. The Bears are a perfect 4-0 at Memorial Stadium, having outscored opponents 184-34. Conversely, the Bears are winless on the road this year, losing by a margin of 110-54 over those three losses.

The Bears have been bit dismissive of the strangely advantageous aura of Memorial Stadium, and have been a bit more adamant about attributing the win to a proverbial gutcheck, and the response to some of the “negativity from the outside” and the Cal alumni who had been questioning the teams’ heart.

While this blogger never questioned the team’s heart or effort, I was one of the many who scratched their head trying to get a sense of a team that could look so dangerous in one game, and look clueless in the next. If anything, the game highlighted the team’s resilience in being able to bounce back from a tough loss. Even after the Nevada loss, the Bears showed great fire and drive in competing against a pretty good Arizona squad. The more pressing question of course, is how the Bears maintain this hunger and try to string some wins together, especially on the road.

In focusing squarely on the ASU game, while far from perfect, the Bears showed one of their more complete performances of the season. Arizona State did itself no favors, committing nine penalties for 72 yards as has been typical with Erickson’s squad for the past few years. But make no mistake about it, the Bears dominated the Sun Devil squad in nearly every regard.

After having averaged nearly 33 points per game coming into Memorial Stadium, the Bears didn’t allow a single touchdown defensively, with ASU only getting into the endzone on a punt block return and a fumble recovery. Most impressive was the way the Bears shut down the Sun Devils passing attack which had been second in the conference with 299 passing yards per game. The Sun Devils managed just 177 yards through the air on 33 pass attempts, failing to get into endzone, and committing three interceptions in the process.

ASU’s run game was also nowhere to be found, scraping up just 57 yards against the Bears’ smothering defense. The Bears also rolled against ASU’s scrappy defense, rolling up just 371 total yards, but taking advantage of all six trips to the endzone. The Bears also rolled up 50 points, going over the half century mark for the third time this season.

Looking at a couple of details from the game…


Riley Shines
I thought Kevin Riley had his best performance of the season, going 19 for 28 on the day for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. While there were a few bad moments and iffy passes (which all quarterbacks will have), I thought Riley was about as sharp as he’s been for a while. There were two passes in particular that really stuck out to me. His four yard strike to Keenan Allen in the endzone was the definition of threading the needle, and one that could have been disastrous had Allen not showed the perfect zip and accuracy on that pass. Also, his 32 yard toss to Jeremy Ross on his rollout was about as perfectly placed as you can get when throwing on the run. Just a beautiful toss.

With that said, I do think Riley is hesitating a bit still on some of his passes, particularly his deep throws, which is leading to him underthrowing his receivers a tad. Also, I’m still confused as to why Riley has completely eliminated his ability to tuck the ball and run. There was a moment in the game where Riley had open field in front of him for him to pick up 10 to 15 yards he were to take off and run, but he continued to scan the field before throwing the ball away. I appreciate his greater focus on going through his reads, but I do think one of his strengths is his ability to gain some yards on the ground.

It’s still quite amazing to see how different Riley looks at home versus on the road. He’s failed to throw a pick at home!

Also, final note on Riley. I still continue to think he’s at his best in a no huddle, hurry-up offense. He’s just really shined in a lot of moments he’s been forced to lead two minute drills. Perhaps it’s because it’s less about running through his reads and more about getting the ball quickly to defenders who are in space because the defense is on their heels a bit more, but I’d like to see the Bears try and implement an occasional no-huddle offense once or twice a game—even when the situation doesn’t call for it.

Shane Vereen Continues to Impress
Vereen looks so much different from his not-quite-healthy self from the beginning of the season. He’s been impressive since the Nevada game, and is continuing to make a statement for all-conference honors next to LaMichael James.

Vereen piled up 91 yards on 19 yards with two scores. While these aren’t amazing numbers, it’s impressive considering the Sun Devils had been giving up just 3.59 yards. Also consider that the Bears were inconsistent in their run blocking on the day. Depending on the linemen personnel on the field, the Bears had mixed results in their blocking for runs up the middle and runs to the outside.

People who enjoy runningback play have to appreciate all the small things Vereen demonstrates. His vision, patience, and ability to shake defenders is really a joy to watch. You have to think Jahvid Best was fist pumping on the sidelines watching his boy do some damage.

Offensive Line Play Still Inconsistent
O-line play continues to be a trail mix of performances. There were really nice moments, including some nasty pancakes and good pockets of time for Riley. Then there were whiffed blocks, and moments in which the line looked overpowered by ASU’s defensive front.

The Bears allowed two sacks, giving them 12 on the season. They look to be improved in pass protection this year, after having allowed 31 last year. But gone are the days when the Bears would allow just 11 on the season.

We simply don’t have the personnel right now to be consistently dominating in the trenches, but I do think the Bears are continuing to play around with the big fellas a bit to try and fight the right combination. There appeared to be an increased intensity with MSG and Galas in the game, but a few more blown assignments, particularly one in which Summers-Gavin got beat on the outside for a sack. I’d like to see MSG show a bit more consistency before entrenching himself full time at the RT position, but Edwards has shown some nice athleticism on the lateral running plays.

Better WR Showing
I liked how Ludwig showed a greater emphasis on getting Keenan Allen involved more early on. Allen didn’t have a monster game, with just 40 yards on six catches and a touchdown, but getting Allen involved does so much more in terms of keeping the defense honest when they have to key in on a player. Allen needs to get the ball 8 to 10 times a game, if not just for production, but for his confidence and instilling some fear in the secondary’s mind.

Don’t think for a second that it doesn’t have an effect on opening up some lanes for Marvin Jones, who was able to reap the benefits with 110 yards on 4 catches. Jones also had a score, but it really should have been two (that fade route, dah!). Jones has 508 receiving yards this season, and is looking to have one of the best WR seasons since 2006. It’s also good to see Jones bounce back after having some uncharacteristic crops the past few games.

Also, Ross had a nice grab, and Michael Calvin had his first catch this season that made me say, “Atta kid.”

Defensive Lockdown
It’s hard not to be impressed with the defense’s showing on Saturday. ASU scoring 17 points is a bit misleading, as the Sun Devils failed to score an offensive touchdown. I was actually a little peeved with the two touchdowns given up on offense and special teams, as it broke the Bears’ streak of keeping opponents under double digit scoring this season. More on this later.

In addition to the statistical dominance mentioned above, the Bears showed nice variety in some of their looks, though I thought the decision to play a lot of nickel was the right call against ASU’s spread formations.

Despite some hair-wringing over ASU’s opening drive, I actually thought to myself, “No way ASU stays this lucky over the game. Threet is going to get picked off two or three times today if he continues to fling those ducks off his back foot.” Sure enough, the Bears hassled Threet all day, forcing him into throwing two picks and batting down a number of other passes.

Defensive Backfield Redefined
I honestly think Conte has been the Bears’ best defensive player for the past few weeks. He’s had some very strong showing, and continues to be all over the field in pass defense and coming in for support. Just when you think a big play is about to break lose, you see Conte blazing in to make some type of play.

It’s a bit of a shame that Conte wasn’t moved over to the safety position earlier, which I do think has been his more natural position all along. I would take Conte’s play over any of our safety play from the past year or so, save for some of Sean Cattouse’s big days.

Speaking of which…

…It was good to see Cattouse have a signature game this season. I think Cattouse has been a bit sporadic, but when he’s on, I think he’s about as athletic and as nasty of safety as you can get in this conference. I’d like to see him continue that level of viciousness in the defensive backfield.

Outlook
Sure ASU isn’t far from the best team in the conference, but I think they’re a bit more quality than their end of season record will indicate, and a 50-17 win is impressive in most regards.

Again, the question will be how the Bears respond and whether they will continue their momentum as they again hop back on the road against dreaded Mike Riley’s Beavers. That last statement sounds terrible if you interpret it in certain ways.

As of now, a potential 6-6 or 7-5 team will have to scratch and claw for every win. Enjoy the ones that come with a 33 point victory.