Chase Lucas, Defense Look Legit
Let me start by saying that Iknowit was only UTSA.
And that Iknowthe competition only gets better from here.
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But man, the Arizona State defense looked confident out there on Saturday night, specifically sophomoreChase Lucas.
Lucas, a guy who I believe has a lot of Sunday football in his future, was a consistent thorn in the side of UTSA through the air and also chipped in with some timely blitzes. Late in the second quarter, Lucas picked up his first-ever sack on a crucial third down that pretty much iced the game for the Sun Devils.Manny Wilkinsthrew a touchdown two minutes later to go up by four touchdowns and I’m sure a large part of the audience collectively changed the channel to something more competitive.
Including the sack by Lucas, the Sun Devils finished with nine sacks in the game. JuniorDarius Sladeand freshmanD.J. Davidsoneach had two sacks apiece.
In total, Arizona State’s defense allowed just 220 yards — almost half of their2017 average(427). Only two of them came on the ground, as the Sun Devils held UTSA to an absurd 0.1 yards per carry average. Additionally, the only touchdown they allowed was in garbage time.
One bummer that comes to mind was the targeting penalty and disqualification by receiver-turned-safetyJalen Harvey. He’s new to the position so it’s understandable, you just would have liked the senior to get some more live reps at his new position in Week 1.
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