ASU’s defense must contain Cameron Ward

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State will return home to face Cameron Ward and Washington State on Saturday at 5 p.m. MST at Mountain America Stadium. The Sun Devils’ defense is coming off their best performance of the year against Washington. They held the high-powered Huskies offense to just three field goals and their season low in yardage.

In order to build on that defensive effort, they’ll need to contain Washington State’s junior quarterback Cameron Ward. Ward has shown to be an elite passer this season and has the ability to use his legs to extend plays.

Arizona State’s defense looks to contain Cameron Ward

“Cam’s a gunslinger, he’s dynamic with the ball in his hand,” defensive coordinator Brian Ward said. “And Cam is the most dynamic runner we’re going to see.”

Ward has thrown for over 2,200 yards this season and added 131 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. In the Cougar’s wins this season, he has averaged 347.5 passing yards per game and 16 total touchdowns including two games with over 400 passing yards. In half of Washington State’s wins, Ward has rushed for over 40 yards.

“I would rather play the guy at USC (Caleb Williams) than Cam,” ASU’s defensive coordinator said. “He’s a very similar magician.”

However, there seems to be a formula for slowing Ward down. The Cougars have lost three straight games and Ward has been sacked 11 times over that span. In two of the three games, Ward was held to under 200 passing yards and threw three interceptions over that span.

The two most mobile quarterbacks ASU’s defense has faced this season were USC junior quarterback Caleb Williams and Colorado junior quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The Sun Devils sacked Sanders five times, leading to negative rush yardage, and held Williams to 10 yards rushing with two sacks.

Preparing for Cam Ward

In practice this week ASU worked on keeping the quarterback in the pocket and limiting his ability to extend plays. The Sun Devils will need to be disciplined on Saturday in their pass-rushing lanes to not allow Ward to escape and make big plays.

“If someone’s not open initially, he’s a guy that’s going to make his guys get open,” Brian Ward said. “These receivers do as good a job at getting open on scrambles as anybody in the country.”

The key for the Sun Devils will be getting pressure on Ward to make him uncomfortable but staying disciplined to not allow him to escape and make plays on the run. When Ward has had time and been able to escape, he’s been able to pick apart defense this season.

“They do a really nice job with (Ward). He extends plays a lot and he knows where to go with the football,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “He looks really, really confident this year, so he’s been playing well.”

Saturday will be another test for the Sun Devil defense. We’ll see if they can build on the outstanding performance last time out against the fifth-ranked Huskies.

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