Arizona State Football: 2017 Sun Devils season preview, predictions

Defense

After starting the season 5-1, the wheels came completely off last season in mid-October with a 40-16 demolition at Colorado. But before that, ASU’s defense had shown signs of vulnerability. The Sun Devils won September games against Texas Tech and California despite allowing 55 and 41 points respectively. After the collapse to the Buffaloes, though, the defense gave up at least 37 points in every game of the losing streak.

Against the run, the Sun Devils were at least mediocre. They held opponents to 163 rushing yards per game to rank in the top half of the FBS. It was when opponents took to the air that Arizona State fell down on the job. The secondary gave up more than 350 passing yards per game, ranking dead last in the FBS. Teams went scoreless on just eight percent of their trips to the red zone against the Sun Devils.

ASU fans are hoping that a more experienced defense will be able to turn around some of these numbers in 2017. If the Sun Devils are going to return to a bowl game, they will need the defense to come through and make key stops more often than they managed to do last year.

A new face at defensive coordinator

Perhaps the biggest transition for the Sun Devils defense occurred not on the field but on the sidelines. Out goes Keith Patterson after three progressively worse seasons. In comes Phil Bennett, who most recently spent six seasons as Baylor’s defensive coordinator, was the SMU head coach between 2002 and 2007.

Bennett’s main goal is to shore up a secondary that was prone to giving up back-breaking plays. The Sun Devils will likely continue to play a high-energy game in the front seven, but Bennett is likely to emphasize a bend-but-don’t-break philosophy in the defensive backfield. Arizona State hopes to cut back on conceding big plays after giving up an average of nearly two and a half touchdowns of 25 or more yards in 2016. If they can do so, the defensive numbers will inevitably improve.