The adversity-filled 2023 Arizona State football season, only three weeks in, continued to get worse with a 29-point loss to Fresno State Saturday night in which the Sun Devils did not score.
The game’s outcome was questionable enough before kickoff, considering numerous injuries including the starting quarterback of the previous two weeks freshman Jaden Rashada. ASU’s first offensive drive was indicative of what would be a long night filled with disappointment.
Redshirt junior Trenton Bourguet went under center for only two offensive possessions. His first ended after three plays with an interception which led to a field goal for Fresno State. His second ended after he was helped off the field with a lower leg injury. Redshirt junior Drew Pyne took over on the next play, was sacked and fumbled the football.
“I know our guys are disgusted by how we played,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “If we would have just punted on offense, we probably would have had a better football game.”
The offensive mishaps continued to pile up, as Pyne fumbled a second time and threw an interception, both before the end of the first half. The second half didn’t start any better as the junior threw his third interception in the third quarter in what would be his final appearance of the game. It was later announced that Pyne suffered another injury unrelated to the hamstring issues from which he just recovered.
A long list of challenges both considering injuries and the failure of the offense in Saturday’s game gave the Sun Devils an outcome rarely seen. The last time ASU was shut out at home resulted in a 50-0 loss in 1988. The last time the Devils were shut out anywhere was a 28-0 loss in 2008. Both of these losses came at the hands of the team they host next week, the University of Southern California.
“We’ve got to do some work making sure everyone’s on the same page,” Dillingham said. “Everything we saw, they had shown on tape multiple times and was, sadly enough, what we prepared for.”
Arizona State now begins its last conference schedule as a member of the Pac-12 in a year where the conference, top to bottom, is more competitive than it has been in a while. Eight of the twelve conference teams are ranked in the top 25, with ASU tied for Stanford with the worst record (1-2) to start the season.
The first test of Pac-12 competition will be the Trojans, ranked fifth nationally, who defeated the Sun Devils 42-25 in Los Angeles last year when USC was ranked sixth in the nation. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner and USC quarterback Caleb Williams will provide a tough test for the ASU defense, who played well last night considering they gave up only 29 points despite eight offensive turnovers.
The issue for Arizona State, however, still lies on offense. Depending on the results of testing done to Bourguet and Pyne, there is a chance that Jacob Conover, the redshirt sophomore who transferred in from BYU in the offseason, could get the start under center. Conover, who took over following Pyne’s injury, threw 6-16 for 89 yards along with two interceptions of his own. The dwindling offense which entered the red zone only once includes an increasingly short-staffed and beat up offensive line.
“We’re so banged up at the o-line that if we had one more injury, we couldn’t practice,” Dillingham said. “Yes, I wanted to score, but my better, smarter side told me ‘it’s okay’… when I saw Joey [Ramos] get rolled up on with three plays left, two plays left in the game, I said that we’re done because that just would have been catastrophic.”
The Sun Devils will try to regroup and hope to return some of the injured players this week before wrapping up their opening homestand with a matchup against the Trojans next Saturday, September 23 at 7:30 p.m. MST at Mountain America Stadium.
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