Arizona State shutout for first time since 2008

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State welcomed their third opponent of the 2023 season, this time the Fresno State Bulldogs.

Fresno State was looking to continue its winning streak, of 11, which is the second-longest active win streak in the FBS. Fresno State only trails another set of Bulldogs, Georgia, who extended their win streak to 21 against South Carolina on Saturday.

Arizona State struggles in Week 3

The Sun Devils had a slew of injured players coming into the game including QB Jaden Rashada, TE Jalin Conyers, and RB DeCarlos Brooks.

With Rashada out with injury, returning Sun Devil Trent Bourguet was called on to lead the offense.

The first half

Fresno State received the ball first and made their intentions very clear on the first drive. Sophomore QB Mikey Keene, Chandler product, led the Bulldogs offense 75 yards in just eight plays to open the scoring. Keene tossed a 19-yard touchdown to receiver Josiah Freeman.

After the quick start by the Bulldogs, the Devils would look to respond with points of their own. After not scoring at all in the second half last week against Oklahoma State, ASU was looking to end their scoring drought.

Offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin eased Bourguet into the game with a few runs by Cameron Skattebo. After a few runs it would be time to see if Bourguet could return to his 2022 version.

The return of “TB16” did not start how he or any Sun Devil fan would have liked. Bourguet tossed an interception on third down to Fresno State DB Carlton Johnson.

Fresno State was immediately set up with the ball at midfield and would look to strike yet again.

After a promising start, the Bulldog offense slowed down courtesy of the Sun Devil’s defense. After a few third-down conversions, ASU finally got the stop it was looking forward to. Defensive coordinator Brian Ward sent a timely blitz that was executed by DB Ro Torrence. That blitz resulted in a sack and the offense was off the field.

Fresno State would make a 38-yard field goal to extend their lead to 10-0 in the first quarter.

Things looked promising for the Sun Devils after a big third down stop… instead, it went a different direction.

Drew Pyne’s first appearance as a Sun Devil

Notre Dame transfer Drew Pyne came out during drive two after Bourguet left with an injury. Bourguet had led a very promising drive into Fresno State territory. On a 3rd and eight from the Bulldogs’ 28, Pyne was sacked and lost a fumble. The Bulldog defense recovered their second turnover in the first quarter alone.

After recovering yet another turnover the Bulldogs were hungry for even more points.

Keene took the Bulldogs down the field yet again into ASU territory in just five plays. 

After getting into ASU territory the defense showed its “bend don’t break” mentality yet again. On another third and medium in their territory, Ward called yet another blitz, and Torrence came up with yet another sack.

After the sack, Fresno State was pushed all the way back to the ASU 21-yard line. After a short gain on third down Fresno State would be forced to kick yet another field.

Despite two early turnovers from Bourguet and Pyne, the Sun Devils only found themselves down two possessions, 13-0.

Pyne came in looking to reverse the fortune of his last drive but things did not change. On the ensuing ASU drive, Pyne fumbled after being hit yet again. Fresno State picked up the fumble and had the ball on the ASU 13 immediately. The offense gifted FSU a phenomenal field position, which would go on to be a trend.

The ASU defense steps up

Once again, the defense continued to show out and cover for the offense’s mistakes in their own territory. The ASU defense held Fresno State to yet another field goal. The Bulldogs gained just two yards on the three plays they had in the drive. Now, despite three turnovers, ASU was still down only TWO possessions.

Would this upcoming possession be the answer?

Pyne and the Sun Devil offense came out swinging with some deep shots down the field. On a third-and-one from their own 36 Pyne tossed a 24-yard dime down the field to receiver Elijah Badger. The redshirt sophomore continued to march down the field with a nice scramble for a gain of 11. On the scramble, Pyne was hit by Fresno State linebacker Raymond Scott who would be ejected for targeting.

After the penalty ASU had the ball inside the Fresno State three-yard line, almost ensuring points to be scored. Right?

The Arizona State offense comes up short

After four straight plays inside the Fresno State three-yard line, ASU came away with nothing. On third down, Baldwin called for a run up the middle which would be stuffed by the Bulldog defense. 

On the ensuing play, fourth down, Baldwin called a play-action bootleg to the right. Pyne could not find an open receiver and the Sun Devils turned it over on downs. After the pass on fourth, the fans in attendance serenaded the offense with boos. 

Seemingly, the defenses began to dominate the game heading into the half. Fresno State punted and also missed a long kick heading into the half.

The last drive of the first half ended in yet another ASU turnover. This time it would be an interception from Pyne to Fresno State DB Carlton Johnson.

Despite the numerous turnovers, ASU only went to the locker room down 16-0. They were lucky it wasn’t worse.

The second half

Unfortunately for Sun Devil fans who had been hoping for a comeback, things did not pan out the way they wanted.

If anyone thought that the second half could be equally as bad or even worse was proved wrong.

The opening Arizona State possession was a quick three-and-out that gained just two total yards. On the other hand, Fresno State came out and scored on their opening drive yet again. Keene led the Bulldogs offense 68 yards in just 1:32. The drive was capped off by a 42-yard touchdown pass from Keene to receiver Jaelen Gill.

Pyne was being held on a small leash after his multiple turnovers and a three-and-out to start the second half. 

The leash was finally brought back after yet another turnover. Pyne tossed yet another interception and this time Fresno State DB Cam Lockridge got in on the turnover party.

Despite the turnover on offense, the Devil’s defense came to the aid of the ailing ASU offense. After forcing yet another FG attempt, the ASU special teams unit forced a miss by the Bulldogs. 

This was the first sign of light for Arizona State since the game began.

Jacob Conover’s Arizona State debut

Hoping to build some momentum, head coach Kenny Dillingham sent out fourth-string quarterback Jacob Conover to handle the duties.

To ease Conover into the game Beau Baldwin called a set of run plays to calm down the fourth-string QB. After attempting to gently usher Conover into the game, the Bulldog defense had seen one too many runs.

Fourth-string running back Tevin White came into the game and immediately coughed up the ball on one of his first touches of the season. The fumble gave Fresno State the ball on the ASU 32, already in scoring position. A story we’ve heard before.

At this point, you are probably tired of hearing this but the ASU defense came in clutch. Again. 

After a series of penalties, the Sun Devil defense gave up ZERO yards on EIGHT plays. By far the best thing to happen to ASU all night on either side of the ball.

Fresno State was forced to kick a field goal yet again.

Over the next few total possessions things the game really started to slow down. ASU punted a few more times, as did Fresno State.

Turnover trend continues

The next set of action would come from the ASU offense, but yet again not in a good way. Conover an interception and Fresno State DB Al’zillion Hamilton joined on the turnover fun. Fresno State set up shop in ASU territory, again. They also had the same result that they had been getting all night long… field goals.

The old saying “Why not one more for the road?” applied to the ASU offense tonight.

On the second to last Arizona State drive Conover tossed an interception to guess who….. Carlton Johnson.

Johnson tallied a whopping three interceptions in the game. With three interceptions he ties the single-game school record. He is tied with six other players, the last to do so in a game was Philip Thomas in 2012 against Colorado.

Along with the eight turnovers, ASU did not score a single point all game long. 

The last time ASU was shut out at home was in 1988…. The last time ASU was shut out at all was in October of 2008 when they lost at USC 28-0.

That wasn’t the end of the suffering tonight for Arizona State fans. More bad news comes on the injury front, you can read more here.

ASU welcomes reigning Heisman winner Caleb Williams and top 10 USC next Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 local on your local FOX station.

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