Arizona State Sun Devils Football: Improvements Shown, But More Are Needed

The Arizona State Sun Devils will return to the field this weekend to take on the California Golden Bears.

ASU (3-3, 1-2 Pac-10) needs to win four of their final six games to become bowl eligible. If they can do this, they are predicted to play in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

While this is still possible, the Sun Devils will need to improve both offensively and defensively to get the job done.

Last week’s bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for ASU. The Sun Devils are coming off a win at Washington and have reached the midway point in the season.

With six games remaining, ASU needs to work on their redzone offense, turnovers, and defensive pressure if they want to receive their first bowl invite in three years.

Offensively, the Sun Devils have shown improvement between the 20s. They average 32.8 points and 455.2 yards-per-game. However, most of the ASU drives seem to stall once the offense enters the red-zone.

Arizona State ranks 111^th nationally in redzone efficiency as the offense either turns the ball over or settles for field goals far to often. The Sun Devils also rank seventh in the Pac-10 in sacks allowed. If ASU wants to score more points, they need to be careful with the football and protect the quarterback.

Defensively, Arizona State has been impressive. They rank third in the Pac-10 in rushing yards allowed and give up 22.7 points per game.

While the defense does a good job of controlling and containing the opponent’s offenses, they have been unable to make big plays.

ASU ranks last in the Pac-10 in sacks and in turnover margin (part of this is because the offense has turned the ball over so often).

The defense has also had problems with penalties, specifically sophomore Vontaze Burfict who was benched because of his tendency to draw personal fouls.

While there are areas to improve upon, the 2010 Arizona State Sun Devils are much better than past teams. It is obvious that ASU is a much better team this year; they have shown that they can compete with anyone, but they have yet to show that they can finish the job and win.

If Sun Devil fans want to vacation with their team this winter, they need to hope the Sun Devils have learned how to win and can do so at least four more times this season.