Arizona State Sun Devils defense’s confidence ‘sky high’ going into Notre Dame
Nov 6, 2014, 10:22 PM | Updated: 10:23 pm
TEMPE, Ariz. — According to the calendar, six weeks — some 42 days — have passed since Arizona State surrendered a Sun Devil Stadium opponent-record 62 points to UCLA. But for defensive coordinator Keith Patterson, that “seems like last year. It really does.”
Since that fateful Thursday in September, Patterson said he’s seen “a transformation” in his defense, a unit that was expected to struggle this season having to incorporate nine new starters.
“It just seems like they’re not even the same people,” he said this week. “I’ve never seen anything click and just fall into place like what I’ve seen and experienced over the last month.”
ASU has won four straight games, with three of those wins against top 25 teams, including a 19-16 overtime victory over then-18th ranked Utah that vaulted the Sun Devils to No. 9 in the latest College Football Playoff Poll.
In large part because of its defense, ASU (7-1) now finds itself in the four-team playoff conversation.
“That left a bad taste in our mouth,” said redshirt sophomore corner Lloyd Carrington, a backup last year, about the loss to UCLA. “So, we just came out to practice each and every day during the weeks focused on just getting better fundamentally, tackling, our technique, footwork. All the hard work is paying off now.”
After seeing UCLA light up the scoreboard for 62 points, the Sun Devils have since allowed a total of 74 points with just two touchdowns permitted by the defense in the past 12 quarters.
“We’ve really matured. We’re getting our fundamentals down. Every position is getting better every day. That (UCLA) game really opened our eyes. I’m glad it happened, to be honest,” senior defensive end Marcus Hardison said.
“Our confidence level is sky high, and it’s only getting higher. We’re coming out here and we’re working and grinding in practice. That’s where it starts at, being prepared to go into games.”
Saturday, ASU hosts 10th-ranked Notre Dame in what is essentially a playoff elimination game.
The Fighting Irish are 7-1 — losing on the road at No.1 Florida State — and are led by senior quarterback Everett Golson, who is coming off a six-touchdown performance (three passing scores and three rushing scores) against Navy.
The key to containing Golson, according to Patterson, is to bring pressure. It’s when teams sit back and wait is “where (Golson) just kills people.”
“We’re going to do what we do. You just got to do it smarter,” he added. “You have to take the proper rush angles. You got to maintain pass rush lane integrity.”
Golson has thrown for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in each of his last three games, but it’s his mobility that makes him so dangerous.
The last true dual-threat quarterback the Sun Devils faced was UCLA’s Brett Hundley, who accounted for 427 total yards and five touchdowns in handing ASU its lone loss of the season.
“It’ll be a complete different game plan than what you saw there,” Patterson said. “We’re going to keep doing what we do. We’re going to try to dictate to them what they can and how they can attack us. I think that’s what makes our defense unique. We’ve never allowed offenses to dictate to us what we’re going to do. We’ve tried to dictate to them what they can do.”
It’s a big challenge for the defense, but they’ve met each challenge and aced each test the past six weeks; quite the turnaround for a group that, again, was expected to struggle but now finds itself carrying the team, to some degree.
“We knew the defense was going to be good no matter what people told us about us being young,” Carrington said. “I had said before we were going to come out and always play with a chip on our shoulders just because of that fact and because of the fact we knew we had talented guys. Now we’re seeing that we’re getting better. We’re limiting errors we have in game, mental errors. We’re starting to develop as a team, as a whole. So, now it’s just all about staying consistent and not getting complacent and continuing to work every day.”
