Undoubtedly, somebody on ESPN before Thursday’s kickoff will point out that ASU’s pass defense ranks a meager 98th out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

What does that really mean as the Sun Devils prepare for Arizona’s vaunted No. 9 passing offense? Nick Foles, who passed for 448 yards against Oregon last Friday, should pick his yard total now, right?

How ASU running back Cameron Marshall goes, so go the Sun Devils? There's a good chance of that being the case against Arizona on Thursday (US Presswire photo/Matt Kartozian)

But didn’t USC, which has a worse passing defense of No. 112, beat Arizona in Tucson almost three weeks ago? And look at Auburn, which is No. 1 in the BCS standings, but has a pass defense that is No. 106 — worse than ASU’s, if you believe the numbers. What’s more is didn’t Oregon toast Arizona despite Foles’ career game?

No, what matters most in Arizona’s quest to regain its mojo and stop a three-game losing streak is to return to what it did best the first seven games — control the run. Nothing else matters. Foles could pass for 500 yards, but if ASU running back Cameron Marshall, who had 147 rushing yards last week against UCLA, plays well again, the Sun Devils have a legitimate chance to win.

In the UA’s three-game losing streak, the Wildcats’ run defense has allowed 217 rushing yards to Stanford, 205 against USC and 389 against Oregon. That’s 811 rushing yards in the last three games after the Wildcats allowed 707 to their first eight opponents.

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Arizona quarterback Nick Foles threw a career-high 440 yards in last week’s game against Oregon State, but running back Nic Grigsby had a season-low 22 yards on only five carries.

The imbalance is one reason why Arizona lost its first game and dropped from No. 9 in the AP poll to No. 17.

The Wildcats’ early deficit — 10 points in the second quarter — sealed Grigsby’s fate as did his mild hip-flexor injury (although the hip looked fine late in the third quarter when he took a swing pass from Foles 41 yards to the end zone). Keola Antolin was a more effective runner in the game, however, gaining 70 yards on eight carries. Combined, Antolin and Grisby did not reach 100 yards.

Grigsby’s stats are alarming because he is projected to only gain 658 yards this season. He is averaging only 54.8 yards rushing per game.

Playing Washington State could be just what Grigsby needs to get on track. The Cougars rank last in the NCAA in rushing yards allowed. Opponents have rushed for 154.7 yards per game, including 6.5 yards per carry. If Grigsby does not gain at least 100 yards rushing against the struggling Cougars, he may not reach that mark rest of the season.

Safeties making it safe? Arizona’s passing defense, especially against deep routes and mid-range passes over the middle, was exposed by Oregon State’s Ryan Katz. Another test comes against Washington State quarterback Jeff Tuel, a former Tucson resident who is becoming more effective by the game.

The Cougars’ passing game is one of the best in the Pac-10, averaging 252 yards per game, which ranks No. 33 in the country. Against Oregon’s athletic defense, Tuel was impressive, passing for 245 yards while completing 25 of 40 passes.

Arizona safeties Joseph Perkins and Anthony Wilcox will be challenged to make the right reads, a part of the game they struggled in against Katz. Former UA and NFL offensive lineman Glenn Parker, the color commentator for Versus (which will also telecast Saturday’s game) said the safeties and linebackers (on those mid-range plays) left the cornerback “on an island too much.”

Islands are colder in the Paloose. Cornerbacks Robert Golden and Trevin Wade could use the help.

For Crier-ing out loud. My colleague Anthony Gimino, who is always on top of things, stole my thunder with senior punter Keenyn Crier being a key to the game for the Wildcats.

To repeat what Gimino wrote Thursday: Arizona is last in the Pac-10 — and 103rd out of 120 teams in the nation — in net punting, averaging 33.1 yards per attempt.

“A lot of it has to do with we don’t do a good job of pinning opponents when we have a chance to pooch kick,” UA special teams coach Jeff Hammerschmidt told Gimino. “We have to do a better job of that.”

Crier, who has steadily declined after a stellar freshman season, failed three times to pin the Beavers deep in their territory. That can’t happen on the road against a team like Washington State, which needs any form of momentum that it can get. Pinning them down, literally, will keep the Cougars subdued.

Iowa’s passing game plan last week got to the point where I wondered if Arizona cornerback Trevin Wade should take things personally.

Ricky Stanzi consistently threw to Wade’s side, even though Wade returned his second interception for a touchdown in the last two years against him. That either means Iowa had tremendous respect for Robert Golden at the other cornerback spot, or Stanzi likes throwing to Marvin McNutt (who was consistently defended by Wade). Must be a mixture of both.

UA cornerback Trevin Wade has 10 interceptions in 17 career starts (2009 USPresswire photo, Mark J. Rebilas)

I’m convinced it’s not because Iowa thought Wade is a poor coverage guy. He has 10 interceptions in 17 career starts and is also a candidate for a handful of national honors, including the Jim Thorpe Award, the Bonko Nagurski award and the Bednarik Award.

Cal quarterback Kevin Riley is good, but not as good as Stanzi, who showed poise in the pocket until Arizona sacked him three straight times to shut down the Hawkeyes’ hopes. Riley is experienced, and he stands at 13th in the nation in passing efficiency (165.3). He has 732 passing yards in three games. He has eight touchdowns and three interceptions (all of which were thrown last week in a 52-31 loss to Nevada-Reno).

It’s a safe bet that Cal will notice on the Iowa-Arizona game film that Wade was picked on for the most part. Golden Bears coach Jeff Tedford and his staff know very well that Wade and Golden were flagged for five passing interference penalties (with only three enforced because the receiver caught the ball on the other two, including McNutt’s touchdown in the fourth quarter). The Cal coaches might believe Arizona’s secondary is vulnerable.

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