Highlighting Arizona State DC Brian Ward's Media Availability

Reflecting on Saturday's Performance

Ward was pleased with what he saw from his defense for the most part - the defensive line that aided in a first-ranked run defense figure in the Big 12 in 2024 only ceded 89 yards on the ground in 29 carries.

What Ward had to say about the performance:

"You know, it's always, I'll take an average win over a good loss any day, you know? I mean, so, you know, for the most part, if you took, you know, 76 offensive plays. I mean, 60 of them. I was really, really pleased. You know, it was 15 plays. We just played a lot of guys. We played our whole bench and, you know, but it was some other we had a couple penalties on a three-point drive.

We, you know, we gave up an explosive play against the coverage. We should never give up that explosive play. We blew the coverage. You know, they schemed us up on a couple things to attack. What we do defensively, which was really good to see, because, you know, we have answers for it..."

The explosive play ceded by the coverage team is one that should never be allowed in-game, but the growth shown over the last year has potential to continue to grow in the coming weeks.

Miss State QB Blake Shapen Will be Challenge

Shapen enjoyed parts of three successful seasons at Baylor before transferring to Starkville ahead of last season - he only played in four games for the Bulldogs before suffering a season-ending injury on September 21.

The senior struggled in the first half of last season's game in Tempe before settling in during the second half of the game.

Ward echoed very high praise that coach Kenny Dillingham elaborated on earlier in the week in a question asked by ASU on SI.

"Yeah, I mean, he's a, he's an experienced, poised quarterback. He makes good throws under pressure, he's he's He knows when he's about to get hit, and he has the courage to be able to step into some of his throws. You know, he's also a guy that, you know, he trusts his receivers to be in spots.

So he does a great job of putting the ball in spots against certain coverages and and there's an offense to that really exploits space. And so he's, I think he's a really, I think he's just a really talented quarterback and a leader, and he's able to get the ball downfield."

So Will Miss State's Pace of Play

Mississippi State runs a fast-paced spread offense system that is heavily predicated on three- or four-wide receiver sets, and is reliant on the horizontal passing game.

Ward is more than aware of the challenge that lies ahead - and is ready to attack it.

"I mean, the big thing, the biggest thing always, you know, versus alignment teams are, is just getting guys aligned, marking their guys, and making sure we don't leave anybody uncovered. So, you know, the challenges always, are always getting to our coverage adjustments, you know, and those guys getting lined up, they have all the answers for that. In terms of offense, completely well thought out to the naked eye.

It doesn't seem real tough to defend, but they have answers down. We've got a lot of respect for the style of offense. And these coaches, there's a long tree of coaches, have had a lot of success with this offense. So, you know, it's going to be a challenge for us to be able to get lined up and play."

While it is doubtful that the Sun Devil defense recaptures the first-half magic they put forward in last season's meeting, the unit is more than capable of creating moments of chaos in Starkville.

Read more on what the strong week one showing from the Big 12 means for the Sun Devils here, and on what Arizona State players could fit on the Pittsburgh Steelers here.