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Saturday's trip to Corvallis will be a crucial game for Arizona State. In the wake of their losses to Oregon and UCLA, the Sun Devils are reeling and need a huge win to stop the slide and stay in the Pac-12 South race.
Standing in their way will be the Oregon State Beavers, ranked 13th in the latest polls. OSU has surprised many in the nation with their uncharacteristically strong start, but fell from the ranks of the unbeaten after their interception-filled loss to Washington last week.
We compiled the key numbers from each team into one handy chart to see which team had the advantages. Taking a look at the chart, a few things jump out:
- The ASU pass defense was torched last week, and face a stern test with OSU's 15th ranked aerial attack. Can the Sun Devils shut down Markus Wheaton and Brandin Cooks?
- On the flip side, partially due to OSU's success in shutting down the run, their pass defense, despite the presence of elite cornerback Jordan Poyer, can be gashed.
- It could be a tough day on the ground against Oregon State's fifth-ranked run defense, who has shut down some powerful ground games already this year.
- The Beavers had one of the elite pass rushers in the nation in Scott Crichton, and ASU ranks 105th in the nation in sacks allowed.
Thanks to our friends at Ralphie Report for the inspiration for this feature (and HTML code).
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