Arizona State football: Will this new hire turn around the defense?

TEMPE, Ariz. — If you are a fan of Arizona State football or a college football fan who stumbled across an ASU football game in the 2022 season, you know things did not go as planned.

One of the reasons that ASU struggled last season was the struggles of the defensive unit. Throughout the 2022 season, the Devils defense struggled with staying on the field and tested the depth of the team.

ASU’s defensive struggles

In almost all of the major defensive categories in the NCAA, the Sun Devils ranked towards the bottom 90%. Between the main defensive lineman of Nesta Jade Silvera, Robby Harrison, and Omar Normal Lott, the trio only combined for 2.5 sacks total. Not only did the defensive line trio struggle to get sacks, but so did the rest of the Sun Devil squad. The Devils only combined for a total of seventeen sacks throughout the twelve-game season. Those numbers put them tied for 119th in the NCAA in sacks. 

It wasn’t just the defensive line that had its hardships throughout the season; the defensive backs also struggled to get production throughout the season. The whole defense combined for just 55 tackles for loss during the 2022 season, equating to just 4.2 tackles for loss per game. Only seven teams ranked behind the Devils in that category, including two Pac-12 teams: Oregon and Colorado. 

The next major category that the defense struggled in was third-down defense. This is arguably the most important category when it comes to defense in football. The Devils’ defense was ranked 127th (out of 132) in Division One in third-down defense last season. The defense gave up third down conversions at a 49.4% clip giving up 82/166 third down attempts.

Arizona State players speak about the defense

Not only do the fans see the disappointing numbers on third down, but so do the players. After last season’s 42-25 loss against USC, ASU defensive back Khoury Bethel talked about his team’s performance on third down.

“We got to execute… we didn’t get off the field on third down again today, and that really played a big difference in the game today, and if we win a lot of those third downs, maybe we’re looking at a different outcome, but I mean it is what it is and we to learn from it,” Bethel said.

One of the main contributors to the struggle getting off of the field was the Arizona State rushing defense. Over the course of the twelve-game season, teams averaged 188 rushing yards per game against the Devils’ defense. That ranked 107th in the nation.

Lastly, another way to quickly get off of the field is to force turnovers which ASU struggled to get. Only one fumble was recovered throughout the entire season, and ASU had just twelve interceptions. For quick math, that is just a whopping 13 turnovers for the season which is a little over one per game.

Meet ASU’s new defensive coordinator

This may seem like a lot of negatives coming into the 2023 season, BUT there is hope for the Sun Devils coming into the 2023 season.

To help combat the issues on the defensive end from the 2022 season, new head coach Kenny Dillingham brought in Washington State defensive coordinator Brian Ward.

In the Major defensive categories, Washington State ranked

• 61st in 3rd down conversion percentage at 38%
• Tied for 37th in turnovers gained with 21 total
• 38th in sacks with 33 total
• 55th in tackles for loss with 80
• 86th in total defense, giving up 402 yards per game

Kenny Dillingham and his new staff want to create chaos on the field on defense, and Brian Ward is a guy that can come in and do just that.

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