Against Washington's pass rush, ASU football's offensive line needs to stop alarming trend

Arizona State football nearly hit a breakthrough offensively last week against USC.

With ASU’s offense hitting a lull against Eastern Michigan and Utah with only four touchdowns scored, the Sun Devils were tasked with returning its ground game.

The offensive line made the tall task possible against USC in the first half and didn’t give up a sack to USC. The unit’s work didn’t go unnoticed as quarterback Emory Jones scored ASU’s first rushing touchdown since Week 3 against EMU. The offense took away the lulls from ASU’s ground game with 101 rushing yards, 30 yards more than USC in the first half.

“We have extreme confidence in Emory, just the way he works and attacks every day. The way he talks about film and he’s poised in the huddle, he’s a great leader. It’s something that we like and we can always go to bat for a guy like that. It makes us want to protect him even more,” ASU offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson said.

Behind by four points at halftime, ASU had its chance to upset one of the top offenses in the country. But its efforts fell apart in the second half when Jones was sacked five times.

By giving up five sacks, the Sun Devils continued the trend of Jones absorbing a lot of contact this season. Through five games, the offensive line has surrendered 14 sacks.

“(USC) brought a lot of exotic looks with twisted blitzes and so forth. So that presented some problems in itself. So it is a point of emphasis. We've talked about it, but I wouldn't say it's just on offensive line, the running backs are part of that, the tight ends are part of that, quarterback is part of that," ASU offensive coordinator Glenn Thomas said.

Washington's edge rush will present problems for ASU with the Huskies tallying 16 sacks this season, good for 3.2 sacks per game. The Huskies bombarded Stanford in Week 4 with eight sacks.

“They bring some good stuff," Henderson said. "Don’t plan on that being us. That’s wild.”

Read more: Washington QB will be a tough test for Arizona State secondary

Recruit day held

Between 50 and 60 high school athletes took in practice as part of the school’s annual “Recruit Day.” Among those in attendance were quarterback Dylan Raiola, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 class as well as Chandler tight end Duce Robinson, the No. 1 Arizona prospect in the 2023 class.

There have been recruit days where ASU has had more than that but those days typically came during the spring. It was believed to be the largest contingent of local players, along with some coaches and parents on hand for such an event in October, and seems in step with something interim coach Shaun Aguano has stressed in that he will prioritize recruiting local athletes.

Related: Washington vs. Arizona State picks: Who wins Pac-12 game?

Odds and ends

Among those not practicing was starting offensive lineman Des Holmes. Emmit Bohle practiced with the first team in the right tackle spot usually held down by Holmes. Bohle had been rotating with sophomore Isaia Glass at the other tackle spot.

Brock Osweiler, Scott Peters, Jamal Miles and Bo Moos were among the former ASU players in attendance for Wednesday’s practice.

Reach the reporter at jenna.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com or 602-647-4122. Follow her on Twitter @jennarortiz. 

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State football needs to limit sacks against Washington