Sun Devil sophomore quarterback Brock Osweiler and the Arizona State offense enter the field after the Bruin offense is stopped at the Arizona one-yard line.
TEMPE, Ariz. “”mdash; The situation might sound familiar: The starting quarterback takes a big hit, comes up concussed and the coach is forced to bring in the backup.
UCLA was in the situation last week and crumbled shortly thereafter. But Arizona State’s version of the story, which played out in its 55-34 win Friday, was quite different.
When ASU sophomore quarterback Brock Osweiler came in for an injured Steven Threet, the Sun Devils’ fortunes changed.
The debate of who should be the starter between Osweiler and Threet has been around for months, with ASU coach Dennis Erickson even giving the two equal reps in practice over the past week.
The Bruins accounted for both, but Friday, they might have found out the answer to that question.
“We just prepared to play a quarterback,” junior linebacker Sean Westgate said. “They’re pretty similar in what they do ““ they both throw. (Osweiler) played well, he made his reads, got the ball off quick.”
The offense appeared anemic under the redshirt junior Threet, who led the Sun Devils to just 19 yards from scrimmage in his two drives, both of which resulted in punts.
Osweiler, a dual threat taking the snaps, came in and used ASU’s spread offense to methodically dismantle the Bruins’ secondary. He did it in big chunks, too, finding receivers for gains of 71 and 78 yards on his way to 380 total yards passing.
And even when it wasn’t Osweiler doing the damage, Erickson’s spread offense worked its magic. When UCLA cut the gap to four points late in the third quarter, it was ASU sophomore running back Cameron Marshall who dashed 71 yards for a touchdown, effectively putting the game out of reach.
It wasn’t the first time the Bruins had seen the spread, either. Oregon used its version to drop 60 points on UCLA, while ASU got up to 55.
“It’s very effective, instead of preparing for 10 people ““ because you (normally) don’t count the quarterback ““ now you have to respect the quarterback from the zone read standpoint,” junior safety Tony Dye said. “It’s definitely tougher from a safety standpoint, being able to distinguish the difference between pass and run.”
“We’ve done well against the spread, but they made some plays,” defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough added. “As coaches, we’ve got to make sure our guys are prepared.”
More Throws for Brehaut
When the going got rough, sophomore quarterback Richard Brehaut threw, and threw again, and then threw some more.
You wouldn’t have been able to see that coming at the beginning of the season, when pass attempts out of UCLA’s pistol formation were hard to come by.
“We took some shots, and we hit some and missed some,” coach Rick Neuheisel said. “Then, when the game got to be lopsided, we had to throw.”
Brehaut set school records with his 33 pass completions and 56 pass attempts, which resulted in 321 yards and three touchdowns.
“We try to do whatever it takes to try to win a game,” offensive coordinator Norm Chow said. “We felt like today (passing) was what we needed to do, and we didn’t get it done.”
Quick Hits
Brehaut’s big game helped two UCLA wide receivers set career highs for receptions: Nelson Rosario and Taylor Embree, who both had nine. … Redshirt sophomore running back Johnathan Franklin rushed for 82 yards, putting him at 1,018 on the year and giving UCLA its first 1,000-yard rusher since Chris Markey in 2006. … Freshman defensive tackle Cassius Marsh and redshirt sophomore cornerback Andrew Abbott both suffered head injuries. They will be re-evaluted when the team returns home.