ASU takes out NAU in opener: What stood out?

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona State Sun Devils walked away from their 2016 season opener with a 44-13 victory over the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks in front of 45,300 fans at a partially revamped Sun Devil Stadium.

But the final score doesn’t tell the story of the game.

The Sun Devils outscored their FCS opponent 34-10 after halftime to salt away the fourth Week 1 win in five tries for head coach Todd Graham.

Here are a few things that stood out from Saturday night’s game.

What you feared may have been warranted – The biggest concerns about the Sun Devils heading into the season were a) breaking in a new quarterback, b) inexperience on the offensive line and c) giving up the big play in the passing game.

We saw a little bit of all three of those concerns rear themselves against NAU.

Manny Wilkins, making his first collegiate start at quarterback, was adequate. The redshirt sophomore completed 20-of-27 passes for 180 yards and an interception. Many wondered if Wilkins, who is an exceptional athlete, would be patient on dropbacks, or show a tendency to tuck the ball and run. His debut was a mixed bag. Wilkins did end up running the ball 14 times for a team-high 89 yards and a touchdown. And outside of an interception on his second collegiate pass, he took good care of the football.

The offensive line, which was featuring four new starters (Sam Jones, Stephon McCray, Quinn Bailey and Zach Robertson) took a while to impose its will on NAU’s defensive front. But the Devils did manage 178 yards rushing in the second half.

And the secondary did struggle at times. NAU quarterback Case Cookus threw for 369 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown strike in the third quarter to Elijah Marks. That duo hooked up for three other completions of 20 or more yards on the night — all in the first quarter.

Where was the pressure? In defense of the secondary, there was very little pressure produced by ASU’s front seven. Graham admitted after the game that the Sun Devils came into the game not wanting to blitz until the Lumberjacks scored a touchdown — and that didn’t happen until the game was in the fourth quarter.

“We were very simple,” Graham said. “That’s probably the least amount of pressure we’ve run in a game. I’m not sure how much I liked that.”

Graham caught flak for his reliance on the blitz, which lead to a lot of big plays yielded by his secondary. In fact, ASU ranked last among FBS teams by allowing 337.8 yards per game through the air.

One would expect a much more elaborate game plan and a lot more blitzing against Texas Tech next week.

Shorthanded on defense, already – Safety Laui Moeakiola, nose tackle Ami Latu and linebacker Salamo Fiso didn’t play. Spur Marcus Ball was ejected in the second half for a targeting penalty — the first in Graham’s tenure at ASU — meaning he’ll be out for the first half against Texas Tech as well. Linebacker Christian Sam was the victim of a downfield chop block and injured his ankle in the first half. He didn’t return and was wearing a walking boot after the game.

Without giving details, Graham said the violations could have been academic or disciplinary.

“Ami will be back next week,” he said. “We’ll see on the other one.”

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