This defense gives me a bigger migraine than trying to explain to Hawk fans that they aren’t that good. One play we look like a defense that won’t allow a single yard by ground or air, then we look away
for two seconds, and our secondary has a coverage lapse that even Uncle Rico could hit. We always say that Jon Heacock will come up with better adjustments coming out of the second half, but the defense’s constant lapse in proper coverage assignments, along with our offense not being helpful, we have not looked good since losing Cooper and Williams for the season. Let’s look at the bright side – Dom Orange is really good at coverage
Iowa State
For once, I would like to go a whole game without a severe blown coverage. Week in and week out, we see this secondary develop and have shown potential to become a solid unit without Cooper and Williams at corner. On the other hand, we have seen some drastic blown coverages that leave everyone confused. Under Heacock, we usually see the defense make strides in developing the players on the field to make up for our injuries (as we saw last year with our linebackers), so now is the time for this secondary to take the next step.
Iowa State is now facing a very experienced quarterback who is a dual-threat. It will be up to this secondary to force him into mistakes and keep the coverage air-tight to try and swing the turnover margin back in their favor and get that sixth win and go into the final third of the season with the outlook of another high-end bowl game.
Arizona State
Keyshaun Elliot is Arizona State’s anchor on defense. He currently leads the team in tackles with 67, most tackles-for-loss at nine, tied in first with most sacks at four, and has a pass deflection. He started his career at New Mexico State before transferring in 2024 to the Sun Devils and was part of that Big 12 Championship team, playing in all 13 games. He’s poised for his biggest season yet and will be going up against a very inconsistent offensive line.
Pretty high praise from a coach. Obviously, they are all biased towards their own players, but the stats he has been putting up are showing he has taken that next big step, and in a conference with a lot of top-tier linebackers, he’s still in the mix for All-Big 12.
