Penalties, turnovers and special teams hiccups set Arizona State behind the eight ball in conference play after a 24-16 loss to Houston.
Self-inflicted wounds plagued the Sun Devils (5-3, 3-2 Big 12) all night, leading to their 10-game winning streak at Mountain America Stadium coming to an end. With another 12 penalties, ASU now leads the Big 12 in the category.
After the game, Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham took the blame for his team’s mishaps.
“That is on us as a staff,” Dillingham said. “We’re not making sure guys know where they are supposed to be and getting them set.”
Flags repeatedly hampered the Sun Devils’ offensive momentum. Meanwhile, defensive infractions helped reset the chains for the Cougars.
“We couldn’t stay in a good rhythm,” Dillingham said. “When we were actually efficient and moving the ball, we couldn’t get points, which is the goal of the game.”
ASU racked up 76 yards worth of penalties, which also took points off the board. With just under seven minutes left in the third quarter, sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt found senior tight end Chamon Metayer up the seam for an acrobatic touchdown grab. However, the play was called back for an illegal shift.
Three plays later, senior kicker Jesus Gomez’s 42-yard field goal missed wide left, and the contest suddenly swung from a potential two-possesion game to a 17-0 score.
Addtionally, the Maroon and Gold, won’t be able to flush all of their penalties away after the loss.. After officials overturned a Cougar touchdown late in the third quarter, they also flagged senior safety Myles Rowser for targeting. The call ejected Rowser from Saturday’s contest and will suspend him from the first half next week at Iowa State.
But the Sun Devils’ undisciplined play extends further than just penalties.
Special team woes conitinued for Sparky, as Gomez finsished 1-for-3 in field goals, while the entire unit struggled to help the Sun Devils in the field position game.
“It is a combination of everything,” Dillingham said. “It is different mistakes happening on different things.”
Two missed field goals took six points off the board, while short punts and a crucial kickoff out of bounds consistently gifted Houston favorable field position. Facing a Cougar offense that looked like a well-oiled machine, the struggles from the two units combined to make winning a difficult trek.
Senior quarterback Conner Weigman gashed the Sun Devils’ defense with his legs, rushing for a career high of 111 rushing yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns. He also completed 77% of his passes for 201 yards and a score.
Nonetheless, the errors remain fixable. And, with a month left in the season, ASU willl look to turn things around fast, as its championship goals are still not completely out the window.
“We had this same exact record in conference play this time last year,” Dillingham said. “It’s funny, last year everyone was like ‘there is no hope,’ this year everyone is like ‘there is hope.’ It is funny how people can get lost in this whole thing. But at the end, we are in the same spot as last year, and we need to go get better.”
The Sun Devils still have plenty of room to improve and need to get healthy. Tyson missed Saturday’s contest due to an injury, while senior edge rusher Prince Dorbah and Leavitt both exited the game early with injuries.
With their conference championship dreams in the balance, a banged-up Sun Devil team will travel to Ames, Iowa, in hopes of taking down Iowa State in a rematch of the 2024 Big 12 Championship game.
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