Arizona State Football: 5 Things the Sun Devils Must Keep Up Against OSU

The No. 25 Arizona State Sun Devils (3-1) will have visitors in Tempe this weekend as the Oregon State Beavers (0-3) come to town.

The Sun Devils handled then-ranked No. 23 USC pretty well in a 43-22 win last weekend, so expect the Devils to be coming in with big momentum.

The Beavers don't stand as much of a threat as the last three competitors (USC, Illinois and Missouri), but that is no reason to dismiss them.

If Arizona State would like to move to 4-1 and inch closer to a bowl game, here are five things they must do.

Keep the Run Game Going

Arizona State ran the ball extremely well against USC.

Cameron Marshall ran for 141 yards on 25 attempts with three touchdowns.

Those are big numbers, so don't expect Marshall to repeat his performance.

That being said, he should easily put up a 100 yards and carry in a score pending the situation.

Own the Clock

The Sun Devils had the ball for 10 less minutes then the Trojans in Week 4.

Even though Arizona State won the game by a huge margin, they allowed USC to march up and down the field way too easily.

In the end, they made them settle for field goals, but they need to get that defense going earlier.

The Sun Devils need to get their offense out and have them run the clock.

Protect Brock Osweiler

Osweiler had a great game against USC.

He threw 223 yards completing 25-of-32 attempts. He also hit eight different receivers in route to his two touchdown passes.

Osweiler has been great all season, but is at his best when he actually gets the protection he needs.

We have seen what happens when the offensive line lacks the protection. Against Illinois, the Sun Devils let Osweiler get sacked six times and rushed on many passes. That lead to two interceptions.

Avoid the Yellow Flag

Arizona State is known for making stupid penalties.

Against USC they avoided doing that.

They had one face mask call, but that was about the worst of the damage.

The offensive line picked it up and didn't see nearly as many holding and false start calls as they had in the past.

This game cannot be a time thing for Arizona State, so they must continue to avoid penalties from here on out to win games.

Keep the Defense Rolling

Led by MLB Vontaze Burfict, the Arizona State Sun Devils did a pretty good job on holding down the USC Trojans.

USC did have 402 total yards, but the Sun Devils stopped them when it mattered most.

ASU held USC to just one for nine on third down attempts. They also forced four turnovers, two being interceptions and two being fumbles.

Arizona State has been known to have a great defense, so they best keep it up down the stretch. Oregon State may seem like an easy win, but they need to keep up the mentality for opponents like Utah and Oregon that are coming up.

More Arizona State Articles by Jeff Chase:

Arizona State Report Card vs USC

Arizona State Destroys USC