Fork Report: ASU recovers in second half, pulls away from NAU for big win

The fifth season of Arizona State football under head coach Todd Graham began slowly.

Perhaps too slow for fans weary of an upset.

But in the second half, ASU separated itself from Northern Arizona with scores on all six of its possessions to win going away, 44-13 in the first game at recently renovated Sun Devil Stadium.

Quarterback Manny Wilkins accounted for 269 yards, including 89 yards rushing and a touchdown.

Demario Richard, Kalen Ballage and N’Keal Harry also had rushing scores.

Zane Gonzalez added three field goals.

The Sun Devils led 10-3 at halftime, but they outscored NAU 34-10 in the second half.

Wilkins, a redshirt sophomore making his first collegiate start, completed 20-of-27 passes for 180 yards. He was intercepted on his second pass attempt and sacked three times, working behind an offensive line debuting four new starters.

It was ASU’s 15th consecutive Opening Day win at Sun Devil Stadium.

THE GOOD

Well, that didn’t take long. Wilkins’ first drive as a starting quarterback resulted in his first career rushing touchdown, a 13-yard run around the right end to cap a seven-play, 44-yard drive that took 2:02 off the clock to put ASU up 7-0 at 12:58 of the first quarter. All seven plays were runs. ASU has now scored first in 37 of 54 games under Graham.

A staple of the Sun Devils’ defense since Graham arrived has been TFLs, tackles for loss. Through the first two quarters, ASU recorded five, including two by defensive lineman Renell Wren. He tackled Corbin Jountti for a five-yard loss in the first quarter and Kendyl Taylor for a one-yard loss in the second quarter. Wren is a redshirt sophomore.

Just picking up where he left off a year ago, Gonzalez kicked three field goals, including a career-long 53-yarder in the third quarter to put ASU up 13-6 at 7:29. The 53-yard blast tied for the third-longest in school history. He now has 76 career field goals, leaving him two shy of the school mark. Gonzalez is also nine away from the Pac-12 record.

Aided by a 15-yard screen pass to Ballage plus a roughing the passer penalty, the Sun Devils padded their third-quarter lead to 14 after Richard’s two-yard touchdown run, the 12th of his career and 19th score overall for the junior running back. It was a 15-play, 89-yard drive that took 5:11 off the clock to put ASU up 20-6 at the :05 mark.

THE BAD

Though they were held scoreless, NAU outgained the Sun Devils in the opening quarter, 115-67. Elijah Marks has 70 of those yards. He caught three passes all gaining better than 20 yards with a long of 25 and two converted third downs, a 3rd-and-9 and later 3rd-and-8. For the quarter, NAU went 3-for-5 on third down.

With junior long snapper Mitchell Fraboni out with an undisclosed injury, walk-on Riley John rather than freshman Cohl Cabral took over the duties; and in the second quarter, his snap to punter Matt Haack went high. Haack jumped to catch the ball and with defenders bearing down on him, he attempted to run for the first down, coming up a yard short.

After only two penalties in the first half, the Sun Devils committed three in the third quarter, including a targeting call against linebacker Marcus Ball. The play was reviewed and subsequently confirmed, resulting in the ejection of Ball meaning, by rule, he’ll now miss the first half of next week’s game. Already ASU was without Salamo Fiso, who didn’t dress.

The country’s worst passing defense a year ago showed no signs of improvement, at least in game one. Marks burned the Sun Devils secondary for an 87-yard touchdown reception early in the fourth quarter to make it a 26-13 ball game at 10:39. Backed up at its own 13-yard line after a penalty, NAU’s passing attack recorded its sixth play of more than 20 yards.

STAT OF THE GAME

10: The Sun Devils won their 10th straight over in-state NAU and improved to 27-0-1 since 1939 against teams currently in the Big Sky Conference

HE SAID IT

“I’m always pleased when we’re 1-0,” Graham said. “I thought it was a really strong performance defensively. Obviously too many passing yards. Offensively, we were just sluggish. Real proud of Manny. He had some of the things you see with a first-time starter. Hats off to NAU…but really proud of our guys.”

NOTED

Linebacker Christian Sam limped off the field and eventually headed back to the locker room with an apparent ankle injury in the first quarter.

Right tackle Zach Robertson became the first redshirt freshman to start on the Sun Devils offensive line since Evan Finkenberg in 2010.

There were three true freshmen who played: wide receiver N’Keal Harry, defensive back Robbie Robinson and wide receiver/defensive back Kyle Williams.

The gameday captains for the Sun Devils were Wilkins, Gonzalez, wide receiver Tim White and defensive tackle Tashon Smallwood.

Scouts from three NFL teams—Broncos, Cardinals and Panthers—were in attendance plus the CFL’s BC Lions and AFL’s Arizona Rattlers.

UP NEXT

It’s another home game for the Sun Devils.

ASU hosts Texas Tech out of the Big 12 Conference on Saturday, Sept. 10. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning two hours earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Texas Tech is a familiar opponent. Just three years ago the Red Raiders stomped the Sun Devils, 37-23, in the 2013 Holiday Bowl.

The Sun Devils are 1-1 against Texas Tech all-time.

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