When your opponent’s running back throws as many TD’s as your starting QB you know you’re in trouble. With UCLA’s starting QB and backup both out to injury it was their third string Junior QB, Collin Schlee, that was handed the reins. The Bruins weren’t the only ones with injury problems as the Sun Devils came in fourteen players down including five offensive linemen and facing one of the toughest defenses in the country. To deal with the situation and protect the multiple players they ended up using behind center they resorted to what is called a swinging gate formation, also referred to as the “muddle huddle.” The very strange looking formation sets up with the center, QB, and running back unprotected on one side of the field and the rest of the offensive line on the exact opposite. The objective is to give the defense an unexpected or unusual formation that they have to line up against in an effort by the offense to gain an advantage in the coverage in order to execute a quick screen pass to a WR with six blockers or a short run. If in the process of setting up the QB doesn’t feel the defensive lineup is advantageous they can always shift back to a standard formation prior to snapping the ball. Sun Devil Head Coach Kenny Dillingham commented on the decision to use it afterwards considering the number of players he had out. “I was trying to put our players in the best position to win. Point blank. Did we really want to play 70 snaps for these guys just to try to kill our quarterback? And the answer was no, we did not.” According to the AP writeup for ESPN; “Arizona State went to a swinging gate formation often and had one play during the first half that was a combination of a swinging gate and flying wedge formations.” The whole point of using a variety of formations was to keep the UCLA defense off-balance, and it worked, as Arizona State upset the Bruins in the Rose Bowl 17-7.
Except for two glaring mistakes—an interception of Arizona State by UCLA who then proceeded to fumble the opportunity away—the first half of this game was like watching grass grow as the teams combined for six punts with the Bruins turning it back over on downs twice. The only points on the board came from the Sun Devil’s Place Kicker Dario Longhetto who connected on a 29 yard field goal to go up 3-0 halfway through the second quarter. The second half started off equally sleepy with three punts, two after back-to-back three-and-outs, before Arizona State took over at the 1 yard line and took it 99 yards in a fourteen play, seven plus minute, drive that culminated in a 25 yard TD pass to Elighah Badger from Sun Devil RB Cameron Skattebo who two possessions later would also run one in from 17 yards out. Between those two TD’s and Longhetto’s earlier field goal that was all the points that Arizona State would need as the Bruins only scored once in this one on a Cameron Schlee 16 yard TD pass to Logan Loya early in the 4th Qtr for a 17-7 defeat at home in their fourth conference loss.
The Arizona State starting QB, Junior Trenton Bourguet, connected on 19-of-34 for 149 yards but never found the end zone although he did throw a pick. The Sun Devils found little traction in their run game, rushing 30 times for just 74 yards and the one TD mentioned above. For UCLA, QB Collin Schlee was 11-of-18 for 117 yards, 1 TD, and no picks while also rushing 14 times for another 51 yards. On the ground, Senior WR Keegan Jones and RB’s TJ Harden, Carson Steele, and Anthony Adkins combined for 132 yards on 23 carries but never found the end zone. As pointed out by the AP in their recap for ESPN; “The Bruins got inside the red zone twice in the first half, but came up empty. Carson Steele was denied the end zone on a fourth-and-goal run up the middle from the Arizona State 1. On the next drive, Steele again was held for no gain, this time on fourth-and-1 at the Sun Devils 9. Steele, who had 51 yards on 14 carries, was then stopped short on fourth-and-2 from the Arizona State 37 early in the fourth quarter.”
Given the fact that the Sun Devils were a 17 point underdog coming into the game there was a strong reaction from social media in which, in addition to praising the performance of ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham, some called for the firing of Chip Kelly. It looks like both Kelly and USC’s Lincoln Riley will be under a lot of pressure to come out on top of their meeting in what it called the LA City Championship game this coming Saturday in the Coliseum. For Arizona State, they’ll be heading out to the Palouse to face a Cougar team that seems to have completely lost their way.