The Arizona State Sun Devils are off to a nightmarish start to the 2022 season, coming off three consecutive losses and the firing of coach Herm Edwards after a tumultuous offseason and a stunning defeat to Eastern Michigan at home in Week 3.

Last weekend, the Sun Devils played their first game with interim head coach Shaun Aguano at the helm and were beaten by three touchdowns by a top-15 Utah team at home.

There’s scattered talent across this roster, but the coaching, discipline, and schemes have been such a mess early in the year that the Sun Devils haven’t really put up a fight against anybody since their opener against FCS-level Northern Arizona. Since then, Arizona State has lost in similar fashion in each week, losing to then-No. 11 Oklahoma State 34-17 and to Eastern Michigan 30-21 and then the 34-13 loss to Utah, which is now No. 12 in the polls.

Having to now go on the road to play No. 6 USC seems like a brutal bit of scheduling.

This is a team looking to claw its way out of dumpster-fire territory, and it will have every motivation to try to pull things together for a statement game in the Coliseum against the 4-0 Trojans at 7:30 p.m. PT Saturday (on ESPN).

With that, let's take a closer look at the Sun Devils ...

Interim coach: Shaun Aguano (0-1)

2021 Record: 8-5

2022 Record: 1-3

Scoring Offense: 22.8 PPG (106th nationally)

Scoring Defense: 25.3 PPG (T-71st )

Total Offense: 348 YPG (102nd)

Total Defense: 377 YPG (72nd)

What the Sun Devils do well: Arizona State's offense has hardly been potent this season, but the run game has been productive with tailback Xazavian Valladay leading the charge. He’s been running the ball with great efficiency at 6.5 yards per carry and has rumbled for 391 yards and 4 touchdowns so far. The ASU rushing offense largely leans on him as the bell cow, with primary backup Daniyel Ngata also running the ball effectively at 6 yards per carry. But against Utah, the Sun Devils managed a season-low 32 rushing yards by their backs on just 9 carries, after having averaged 181 yards on non-QB carries through their first three contests. The team doesn’t run the ball as much as it perhaps should, but when it does the running backs have otherwise been able to make things happen.

ASU simply isn’t particularly impressive on the other side of the ball, but there’s real talent in the secondary and it’s easily been the defensive bright spot of the year so far. Cornerbacks Ro Torrence and Timarcus Davis have been largely dependable for the team on the outside, and nickel/hybrid safety Khoury Bethley has made impact plays with consistency. At the safety position, Jordan Clark, son of former Steeler and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, has offered good tackling and security in down-the-field coverage. The quality play in the ASU defensive backfield has helped the team prevent big passing days from any of its opponents so far, allowing an average of just 194.5 yards through the air on a completion percentage of only 62.2%. Against the two top-15 programs they’ve played, the Sun Devils have given up 528 yards passing on 59.7% completion, allowing 4 touchdowns and securing 2 interceptions.

What they don’t do well: Like so many other teams in the Pac-12, the Sun Devils really struggle to contain opposing rushing attacks. They’ve given up 182 yards per game on the ground, with the past two weeks going particularly poorly. It’s one thing (albeit still not a good one) to give up 205 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns against Utah; it’s entirely another to allow Eastern Michigan to run all over you for 305 yards and 2 touchdowns. That Eastern Michigan team had been held to just 41 rushing yards by Louisiana the previous week and hasn't topped 137 against any other opponent.

ASU doesn’t create much penetration up front, and it has handled its gap assignments poorly for the most part. Inconsistent tackling at the second level has only made things worse, allowing opponents to break off a handful of explosive runs per game. The Sun Devils’ passing offense leaves much to be desired as well, with shaky protection, mediocre-at-best quarterback play, and a lack of proven playmakers at the skill positions. The team has averaged only 204.5 passing yards per game, with Florida- transfer Emory Jones completing just 60% of his passes so far. Jones’ accuracy has been erratic and there hasn’t been a ton for him to work with down the field either, rendering ASU’s passing offense rather timid.