ASU expects a dog fight against Oregon State on Saturday night

It’s been 396 days since quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Arizona State Sun Devils fell to the Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis by a single point.

The Sun Devils, who lost their 2019 clash against the Beavers 35-34, return to the Willamette Valley on Saturday to face a 2-4 OSU squad that’s lost two straight to Utah and Stanford.

Daniels knows how hard it is to win in Corvallis after the Sun Devils were held to 74 rushing yards in their loss a year ago.

Daniels said the team has been trying to prepare itself for the wet weather that’s scheduled to await it come Saturday night.

That soggy weather likely played a role in the team’s two fumbles in last year’s contest.

Fast-forward to this week, and Daniels understands how hard it is to prepare for the wild weather of the northwest.

Saturday’s forecast shows a high of 52 with a 57% chance of rain, according to accuweather.com.

A few days after they shellacked Arizona 70-7 in the Territorial Cup, Daniels said he believes the Sun Devils can be prepared for the conditions.

“I feel like you’ve just got to prepare yourself mentally. There’s not really anything that we can do physically to prepare for it,” Daniels said.

Above all, Daniels understands how difficult it’ll be for the Sun Devils to succeed against an experienced Beavers front seven that wreaked havoc on the team’s offense a year ago.

“They’re a good, sound defense. They don’t really give up too much. They played lot of games and have a lot of experience on the defensive line,” Daniels said. “The back end is a little younger for the most part, but really last year it’s about us not turning over the ball.”

Protecting the ball is also a key message being shared by first-year offensive coordinator Zak Hill.

Hill said he’s well-aware of the Beavers’ defensive prowess, as the former Boise State coordinator knows many of the coaches on OSU’s staff.

“They’re very active and from top to bottom they’ve got a lot of guys who have played together so they communicate really well and they fly around, they play hard and they’ve got a really good coaching staff,” Hill said.

“We’ve got to take care of the football and their D-line is quick and they can create problems, slant and move all over the place, different fronts. They do a good job of not having too many tendencies too.”

What a difference a year makes

The Sun Devils enter its final regular season contest with 1-2 mark, after having three straight games canceled because of COVID-19 cases within the team.

Daniels believes this year’s team is experienced and disciplined enough to avoid the costly turnovers that plagued it a year ago, giving the Sun Devils an edge as they look to get back to .500 for the year.

“Last year, we had two turnovers and turnovers kill the game and momentum swings,” Daniels said. “So the main thing is going in there and keep control of the ball on offense.”

The main thing entering this year’s contest for co-defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce is to stop OSU running back Jermar Jefferson, who is averaging 151 rushing yards per game this season.

The Sun Devils did a pretty good job of that a year ago, when they held Jefferson to 32 yards on 12 carries, which was his third-lowest total of the year.

Pierce joked that the team’s preparation wouldn’t matter if Jefferson is healthy and ready to go come Saturday night.

“If [Jefferson is] out there it doesn’t matter because that guy’s pretty good,” Pierce said. “That running back the last three years has been a pain for us.

“We kind of consider them one the better coached teams that we’ve gone up against offensively.”

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