ASU Football: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly vs. UCLA

Los Angeles, the city where people go to become stars. People travel to the city of angels to reach their full potential, in hopes they get discovered. On Saturday night, the Arizona State Sun Devils reached their full potential, against the No. 20 UCLA Bruins. Everything was clicking for the first time all season, and the Devils played like a team that belonged in the conversation of contenders for the Pac-12 South. Let’s get into the good, bad, and ugly.

The Good - The offensive line

Jayden Daniels may have been Leonardo DeCaprio in public for how well he was protected. Daniels security guards, aka his offensive line, made sure no Bruins touched their QB, allowing zero sacks and paving the way for 177 yards on the ground. The offense was humming, and the o-line was the catalyst.

The Bad - the RB’s

They weren’t bad, but those guys are BAD (if you know what I mean). Rachaad White found paydirt twice. While Chip Trayanum found the end zone once in his return to the field after missing time due to injury. These guys have been dynamite since they first took the field together last season, and have been near impossible to contain. Thunder and lightning, shake and bake, whatever you want to call them they’re just that good.

The Ugly - UCLA’s second half

Credit to ASU’s defense, they did what they’ve done all season Saturday night: dominated. UCLA’s offense couldn’t get anything going, as the Sun Devils secondary put together a stellar second half and the front seven lived in Dorian Thompson-Robinsons backfield, sacking the quarterback four times and making seven tackles for loss.

What the Sun Devils showed on Saturday night was the team that fans thought they would be getting in 2021. A strong, dominant, physical team that wears down their opponents and steps on their throats. This team has the potential to be dangerous, and if they play like they did last night they have a real chance to compete for the Pac-12 title.