Offensive performance against Texas Tech raises hopes for ASU’s season

In just three games as ASU's offensive coordinator (including last year's Cactus Bowl), Lindsey's offense has racked up 153 (51 points per game).

BY CRAIG MORGAN

Sep 11, 2016, 1:11 AM Updated: Sep 13, 2016, 4:01 pm

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Arizona State's Demario Richard (4) runs for a first down as he drags Texas Tech's Malik Jenkins (41) during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State defeated Texas Tech 68-55. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State head coach Todd Graham couldn’t resist a jab at last week’s critics when it was noted that his offense looked markedly different on Saturday against Texas Tech than it did in the season opener against Northern Arizona.

“Oh, really?” Graham said to a chorus of laughter in his postgame press conference. “You don’t get preseason games in college so it’s a little challenge. There’s a lot of things you find out in the first week and we were very conservative.”

The Sun Devils were anything but conservative against the Red Raiders. Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey unveiled a handful of new wrinkles and devised a masterful game plan as ASU rang up 652 yards of offense in a 68-55 win.

Chief among those wrinkles was a direct snap to running back Kalen Ballage, who scored six of his NCAA record-tying eight touchdowns out of that Wildcat set which the Sun Devils, disappointingly, have not stamped with their own brand name just yet.

“I knew it was going to be a big part of [the offense], but I didn’t know it was going to be that big,” said Ballage, who also caught a 39-yard TD pass off a flea flicker and scored on a 75-yard run.

Graham kept telling outsiders that the offense ASU ran against NAU last weekend was vanilla flavored because the Sun Devils didn’t feel they needed to be complex against the Lumberjacks. Facing a Big 12 opponent was an entirely different narrative.

Texas Tech sported one of the poorer defenses in the nation last season, so that grain of salt is important to spice into the analysis of ASU’s offense, but Lindsey still faced enormous pressure to keep up with QB Patrick Mahomes and Tech’s high-powered offense.

Mahomes threw for 540 yards and five TDs on Saturday, and there were times when he looked utterly unflappable.

“I’m done with that deal,” Graham said of Mahomes. “We were running out of ideas… Very difficult offense to defend and I’m glad we don’t have to defend it any more.”

Fortunately for Graham, Lindsey more than kept pace, and QB Manny Wilkins was superb in completing 28 of 37 passes for 351 yards and two TDs, while running for 55 more yards.

“I thought that he had a giant growth between Week 1 and Week 2 and I’m not surprised,” Graham said of Wilkins. “The guy hasn’t played in a game in two years. Those bullets are flying. It’s a different deal and it takes you a little bit to get your legs underneath you; just getting with the speed of the game.”

You’ll often hear coaches say that the greatest leap is made between Week 1 and Week 2, but it will bear watching how much more Lindsey and Wilkins can grow in the coming weeks as they get more comfortable with one another.

In just three games as ASU’s offensive coordinator (including last year’s Cactus Bowl), Lindsey’s offense has racked up 154 (51.3 points per game). That should buoy the confidence of fans that feared the worst after last week’s sluggish performance. So, too, should this win.

“This was a big game tonight,” Graham said. “This was game that was going to move us forward or be tough and it moved us forward.”

With a road game against Texas San Antonio and a home game against California up next, it is not a stretch to imagine ASU rolling to a 4-0 record and building some confidence. The 2016 Sun Devil season is looking a lot more promising than it was one week ago.

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