Brian Ward Opens Up About Defensive Aggressiveness

“You know, it's always advantage to me, you know, defense from the ball security standpoint in these type of games, but whether there's rain or not, we're always going to emphasize, you know, trying to attack the ball and trying to, you know, take advantage of teams that are trying to create, especially, you know, teams that try to create explosives off of broken plays. You know, when you do that and things are off script, great things can happen for defense. But also, if you're not sound on defense, really bad things can happen. And this quarterback that we're going to see is he makes a lot of off script plays. So we're going to keep the emphasis.”

Ward summed it all up very nicely - as the Sun Devil defense has created 32 turnovers in the 19 games played since the beginning of the 2024 season under Ward's watch, while the unit has collectively generated 19 sacks in five games this season - which is one of the best marks in the nation.

The Utah offense is one that typically avoids game-changing mistakes and rarely allows for negative plays to be created, but the Sun Devils have as strong of a chance as anyone to crack the code.

Arizona State on SI selects three players that have a strong chance to make a mark below.

Players to Watch for Big Plays

• Keith Abney II - The unquestioned CB1 in the program was tied for a team-best mark in 2024 with three interceptions, and secured a key one off of Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson in the week four win over the Bears.

• Prince Dorbah - The Texas transfer enjoyed the best game of his collegiate career against TCU - collecting three sacks with a forced fumble and recovery for good measure. Expect Dorbah to be the major beneficiary if the ASU pass rush is able to create consistent pressure.

• Adrian "Boogie" Wilson - The Washington State transfer has done an admirable job when it comes to filling in for the injured Xavion Alford - seemingly being involved on every play over the last several weeks.

Read more about Arizona State basketball coach Bobby Hurley speaking directly to fans ahead of the start of the 2025 season here, and on previewing key individual Utah players ahead of the Sun Devil football game on Saturday here.