It started almost exactly the way it ended last week.
On the very first play of the Arizona State-Hawaii game, Rainbow Warriors quarterback Micah Alejado connected with wide receiver Devin Alves for a 47-yard pass. Just one week after the Sun Devils gave up chunk play after chunk play in the blowout loss to Baylor, it seemed like it was happening all over again.
Mountain America Stadium, just rocking after the Stomp the Bus intro, went silent.
Even after giving up the massive play to open the game, the defense was able to hold Hawaii to a field goal.
After that, the ASU defense started to wake up. On Hawaii’s next drive, ASU was able to force a punt.
After a three-and-out from ASU’s offense following an opening scoring drive, Nick McLarty lined up
for a punt and had it partially blocked, traveling only nine yards. This gave Hawaii the ball at the Sun Devils’ 27-yard line with an opportunity to strike fear into the entire stadium.
A 12-yard run from running back DeVon Rice, followed by a nine-yard pass to wide receiver Devin Alves and another four-yard run from Rice, pushed Hawaii all the way down to the 2-yard line. Hawaii had the chance to go ahead 10-7 on ASU early in the second quarter, a borderline disaster after last week’s fiasco.
Then came the pass rush.
After a false start penalty pushed the ball back five yards, ASU defensive end Jalen Thompson came rushing in and sacked Alejado for a loss of nine yards. Another five-yard penalty, this time for delay of the game, pushed the ball back another 5 yards. Following an incompletion to make it 3rd-and-goal from the 21, defensive end Julian Hugo came up with arguably the play of the game.
Hugo bull-rushed past both left tackle Dean Briski and left guard Judah Kaio and took down Alejado for a 12-yard loss. After getting down to the 2, Hawai’i was now backed up to the 33-yard line. Hugo erupted into a frenzy after the sack, the first of his career. He ended the game with two.
“It’s awesome,” linebacker Martell Hughes said about Hugo’s night. “He’s a freshman. Proud of him, his growth. Just watching him grow up. Seeing his energy, it’s amazing.”
Hawaii missed the 51-yard field goal attempt, giving the ball back to the Sun Devils. ASU put together a six-play scoring drive to make it 14-3.
The two sacks swung the game. It was the spark the Sun Devils — sporting all their all-Sparky helmets — needed. Last week, coach Kenny Dillingham emphasized the need to create a pass rush.
“That was huge,” Dillingham said. “That was one of the turning points of the game. We get a punt blocked, they drive down. Then we stop and hold them to no points. That’s unbelievable, to get someone off the field with no points like that in that situation. Unbelievable turning point.”
On Hawaii’s next drive, ASU forced a three-and-out on a pass break-up from safety Montana Warren, who was replacing the injured Lyrik Rawls.
Even after letting Hawaii get down to the 14-yard line just before halftime, the defense was able to hold and only gave up three points. All night, the red zone defense was stingy.
“It was really good,” Dillingham said. “We gave up a lot of yards moving into the red zone. But when they get in the red zone, we played really good defense.”
The game was a return to form for the Sun Devil defense, for the most part. ASU didn’t allow its first touchdown of the game until the 12:35 mark in the fourth quarter. There were still some missed tackles, chunk plays given up and third downs converted. But the intensity and effort were there.
“Our guys were a lot more intent on how we played,” Dillingham said. “I thought we played harder. I thought that was clear. I still think there’s a little bit of trying to figure us out, though. I’m just being transparent. I still think there’s us figuring us out. But I thought we were closer to where we needed to be tonight. I really did. Not perfect by any means, but we were closer to where we need to get.”
Logan Stanley is a sports reporter with The Arizona Republic who primarily focuses on high school, college and Olympic sports. To suggest ideas for human-interest stories and other news, reach out to Stanley at logan.stanley@usatodayco.com or 707-293-7650. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @RLSscribe.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Second quarter sparks ASU's defense in win over Hawaii
