Stick a PITCHFORK in it

I have seen numerous Duels in the Desert but last night’s was definitely one for the ages.  Though it didn’t get interesting until well into the second half, this game became everything that rivalry games are about.  Defensive slugfest early…little bit of offense in the end…and pure skill, luck and execution to finish the game off right.

Each team was looking for a bit of redemption to end their respective regular seasons.  Arizona had been bowl eligible for over a month, but had lost 3 straight coming into the 84th meeting of these two Arizona rivals.  They needed a solid win to guarantee a somewhat respectable bowl berth.  Arizona State, on the other hand, were attempting to salvage a roller coaster season that saw the Sun Devils lose to 3 top-15 teams by a combined total of less than 16.  And Sun Devil kicker Thomas Weber, one of the top kickers in the nation entering his senior season, needed to makeup for a missed field goal that led to ASU’s loss to USC early in November.

Both teams fought hard for that redemption.  Both defenses kept the game low-scoring through the first 3 quarters with numerous 3-and-outs, and less than a handful of field goals.  But with the fourth quarter came the energy of the Arizona offense.  The Wildcats opened up a 14-6 lead on the Sun Devils with a couple nice TD passes from top QB NFL prospect Nick Foles.  But when it came time for UA’s defense to hold up…they couldn’t.  ASU got a third field goal out of Weber and then proceeded to get a TD with a two point conversion and a fourth field goal to put the Sun Devils up 20-14.  UA came back with a nice TD…and this is where the game got good.

UA kicker Alex Zendejas had been less-than-stellar all year with his kicks.  And when he went to put the Wildcats ahead, and seal their victory, his low trajectory paid off for the Sun Devils defensive stopper James Brooks hung in the air as the ball was kicked and was able to swat down the PAT ensuring an OT.

It was in the second OT, after both teams kicked field goals in the first, that the Sun Devils found their redemption.  RB Cameron Marshall and Weber successfully put the Sun Devils ahead 30-23.  And it was then time for UA to answer.  With a 9 yard TD, it looked like Arizona was going to send the game into a third extra period.  Except Zendejas was once again under pressure to kick that all important PAT.  And just like the time before, he was BLOCKED by ASU’s James Brooks.  Actually it was more like he kicked into the butt of one of his teammates and then James Brooks blocked it down.

This game was everything fans of this rivalry hoped for…well at least Sun Devils fans

In one of the oldest college football rivalry games, the Arizona State Sun Devils look to head down to Tucson and further plunge the once-stellar season of the Arizona Wildcats.  The Sun Devils season has been marked by underachieving week after week, but this Thursday evening they hope to end their season on a high note with a beautiful (heck, ugly wouldn’t be bad) win over their neighbors to the south.  The Devils currently sit at 5-6 and a win over a fairly decent Arizona Wildcats could help with a possible bowl bid for the Sun Devils.

But first they must get past an Arizona team that held Oregon down through most of first half of their game last week.  Though they have now lost 3 in a row, the Wildcats have played very good football this season.  Their passing offense is ranked #1 in the Pac-10 thanks to the arm of NFL-caliber QB Nick Foles.  But last week ASU found a pretty good QB.  Though Threet had helped the ASU Sun Devils passing offense rank #2 in the Pac-10, when he went out with injury last week Brock Osweiler stepped up and filled in.

Osweiler brings a certain swagger back to the position of QB for the Sun Devils many haven’t truly seen since Andrew Walter left in 2005.  The Sun Devils QB picked up 380 passing yards, four TDs, and a rushing touchdown.  He infused energy into the team that seemed to be lacking this season amongst many of the youngsters.  He got the faithful in Sun Devil Stadium on Black Friday on their feet.  Because of him, the Devils were able to dominate every aspect of the game…just like they should have been doing all season.  The offense finally did their job and the defense was able to hold up the entire way with less time on the field.  This is what Devils fans have been waiting to witness.  Our offense saved us…thanks to Brock Osweiler.

This guy is definitely looking like next year’s favorite.  But before we start looking ahead to the 2011 Sun Devils hope he is the QB to return the nation’s oldest rivalry trophy to ASU.  The Territorial Cup deserves to be back where it belongs…in Tempe.

Territorial Cup

They need this one.  The Arizona State Sun Devils’ season depends on this week’s game.  Yes…this week’s game versus #6 Stanford is a must-win for the team.  By when I say “must win” I am not overstating this one.  Without a win this Saturday evening, the Sun Devils guarantee themselves at least 6 losses putting them at most at even for the season.  Those kinds of numbers don’t earn you bowl games.

So after last week’s heartbreaking loss to USC, the Sun Devils must regain their composure and put together 60 minutes of quality football.  They’re facing a team poised for a BCS bowl game, and eager to prove they’re deserving of such a high ranking.  Many on the west coast consider them to be the best of the one loss teams but the dominance of the SEC has kept Stanford, and the rest of the Pac-10 in the shadows in the eyes of many in the country.

Therefore ASU must do all they can to get the win.  They must do what many haven’t seen outside of their game versus Washington State.  They must dominate on all sides of the ball, and control the clock throughout.  The Devils have played ranked teams well early in games, but the defense often wears down by the second half and the offense is unable to keep up.  They are a young team, so they must remember to push through on both sides, and avoid the huge mistakes on special teams that cost them last week’s game in Los Angeles.

We were so close.  Seems like ASU Sun Devils’ fans have been saying this every Sunday all season.  And the same holds true today after the 11th consecutive loss to the USC Trojans.

If you watched the second half of this game…the last few minutes notwithstanding…you would have walked away thinking ASU won the game.  But as per usual this season, the Sun Devils just couldn’t do the little necessary things to make the game all theirs.  First special teams was poor having a punt blocked and then taken back for 2 points.  Then we watched the Trojans score a touchdown and the Sun Devils miss their final chance to finally beat the USC Trojans.

ASU is quickly making their dream of a bowl game a distant, distant memory.  With their loss last night, they must now plow through the rest of their games to go 7-5 and hopefully appeal to someone’s bowl committee.  Guess we’ll all be praying for a miracle this last month.

It has been 11 years since the Arizona State Sun Devils have beat their So Cal rival, University of Southern California.  10 games of total dominance by the Trojans…and 10 games of futility from the Devils.  But this year, the Sun Devils hope to see something different.  This isn’t the same USC team that has beat them fo a decade straight.  This USC team doesn’t have the same game-changing offense and defense common at the Coliseum since the arrival of coach Pete Carroll.  When Carroll left, he seemed to take USC’s swagger with him (I’m sure the NCAA sanctions didn’t help either).

And ASU has no problem with that.  They’re hoping that with this game they can bring some swagger back to Tempe, where it’s been missing for a couple of seasons.  They want to emerge from this Saturday’s game proving that they are, and will continue to be, a true force in the Pac-10 or Pac-12 next season.  And after the trouncing they leveled against Washington State last weekend, they are hoping to bring the same energy on both sides of the ball to South Los Angeles.

To get them in the mood to execute on both sides of the ball in such hostile conditions as USC’s Memorial Coliseum, the Devils practiced this week with the USC Fight Song playing in the background.  They wanted to get used to the sound, get used to the noise, and prepare themselves to put up a good fight when they take their talents to South LA.

This Saturday marks the Arizona State Sun Devils’ Homecoming, in more ways than one.  Not only will thousands of ASU alum be flooding the streets of Tempe to visit their alma mater, but the game versus the Washington State Cougars is the return of the Sun Devils to their home stadium after 4 weeks and 3 games away.  The Sun Devils return with a mere 3-4 record (1-3 Pac-10).  The ups and downs of the road have seen the Devils at highs with a solid win over Washington, but falling flat against Cal.

The Sun Devils are hoping a little home cooking will go a long way in regards to comfort level on the field.  Though ASU has been solid even in their losses, last week’s loss to Cal Berkeley has been hard to shake.  But they must shake it in order to win 4 out of the 5 games left on their schedule to ensure a bowl bid.

The first thing the Sun Devils coaching staff has done is attempt to simplify the no-huddle offense for QB Steven Threet.  Head coach Dennis Erickson admits the offense is a lot to take on for QBs with little experience in it.  Threet has been off-and-on this season with the offense, having put up stellar number early but struggling to stay afloat in the last few weeks.  He is a mere 55.3 percent passing in the Pac-10 with 11 interceptions to 6 touchdowns.  Hopefully the tweaks made in the offense can help.

Because the defense, except for last week’s debacle, has done an amazing job at keeping teams within striking distance.  Defense is still ranked high in the Pac-10, and does a good job week in and week out of holding teams to below their season averages.  Sadly the ASU defense is going to have to continue with their job without linebacker Shelly Lyons who was lost Saturday due to a broken foot suffered in the game vs the Golden Bears.

Luckily for the Sun Devils, this Saturday’s game is against the Washington State Cougars, a team much further from the top than they are.  The Cougars boast at 1-7 record having lost all 5 of their Pac-10 games so far.

This is just the type of game the Devils need for Homecoming 2010.  A team reeling off losses left and right, and a chance to show their ability in front of their home crowd.  Let’s see if the Sun Devils can give themselves what they need.

This wasn’t what Arizona State needed.  After a convincing win versus Washington, a bye week, and an amazing week of practice in Tempe, this wasn’t what we expected from the Sun Devils.  And this definitely doesn’t help anyone to believe this ASU team will be any different from the last few years.

From start to finish the Sun Devils were FLAT in every since of the word.  Steven Threet couldn’t get much done, as he was often flat on his back due to the porous offensive line.  And the defense couldn’t do much other than complete numerous penalties racking up around 100 yards.

This isn’t the same ASU team we had become accustomed to seeing in the early part of the season.  Even though they had some losses mainly due to lack of discipline and penalties on defense, the offense had been firing on all cylinders with few mistakes.  However Threet has more than doubled his interceptions in the last few games.

The Devils now have five games to get it together….and can only lose one of those five to make it to bowl eligibility.  And with Washington State, USC, Stanford, UCLA, and Arizona left…things are definitely going to be interesting in the last half of the season.

With six games to go, and a bowl berth on the line, ASU must play the last half of the season with a renewed sense of purpose.  And it all begins this Saturday vs. the Cal Bears.  Currently sitting at 3-3, the Arizona State Sun Devils must win more than half of their games to ensure themselves a bowl game over the holiday season.  And if they play a full game the way they did versus Washington two weeks ago, then they can more than accomplish that with the games left on their schedule.  But Saturday’s game most definitely is the key.

Though Cal is not one of the elite teams in the Pac-10 this football season, anyone in the Pac-10 can beat anyone else any given Saturday, especially when one of those teams has a tendency to commit unnecessary penalties or give away the ball during pivotal moments of the game.  And sadly in ASU’s three losses, all of which they very well could have won, this mismanagement of the game has cost the Sun Devils big time.  However the team states that is all behind them now.

Coach Dennis Erickson states, “We got a new six-game season; we just have to be better.  And we can be.”

And if the Devils play as they have in portions of the losses, and the entire Washington game, this team has the capability to beat almost anyone.  Including a Cal team looking to continue on the path of rebuilding, and add a notch to their belt.  The Sun Devils high-powered offense needs commit as few mistakes as possible and score points in the red zone…something that has evaded them recently.  In addition, the defense must get back to the caliber of defense that held Oregon to 162 yards short of their season average, and LaMichael James to less than 100 rushing yards.  They must make sure to leave the penalties behind them and move forward as a whole unit committed to creating turnovers.

This ASU team is a real contender.  Hopefully this is the time they start playing like it.

Finally a solid win from the Devils.  ASU fans have been waiting for that for weeks, and if they caught the game, they were not disappointed.  This was the game I had been waiting to see from ASU against the last few opponents.  They got out of their own way by minimizing turnovers and penalties, and not surprisingly they were able to salvage their season, and bowl hopes, in the process.

Though they gave up a couple of touchdowns, including one late in the game to get the Huskies back in the game, the defense got it together in the penalty department.  They made sure the Huskies didn’t get too close by being the highly ranked defense they had been all of last season and most of this season.

Steven Threet and the offense did their duty by scoring early and often, and minimizing turnovers, which had plagued them in this season’s three losses.

ASU never trailed in the first half and stretched its halftime lead to 21-7 by going 65 yards in 42 seconds for a touchdown with 19 seconds left.

After stopping Locker on a fourth-and-5 run at the ASU 35, the Sun Devils raced down the field in five plays to build a two-touchdown lead.

Threet, 13-of-22 for 209 yards in the first half, found little-used wide receiver A.J. Pickens for consecutive completions of 18 and 13 yards in the late drive. He hit a leaping Mike Willie, working against cornerback Desmond Trufant, for a 20-yard score.

Threet and Willie combined on a 40-yard completion to start a late first-quarter drive that ended with a Threet 1-yard keeper for a 14-7 lead. That possession also included the junior quarterback moving players on an apparent check at the line of scrimmage then locating tailback Deantre Lewis over the middle for 23 yards.

ASU linebacker Vontaze Burfict did not play in the first quarter for disciplinary reasons, with Gerald Munns starting in his place. Burfict entered with 13:18 left in the second quarter.

The Sun Devils had just two penalties for 16 yards in the first half and were 3-of-3 scoring in the red zone, major improvements in areas where they rank near the bottom in the nation. There were no first-half turnovers on either side in a steady, sometimes hard, rain.

This was the win the Sun Devils needed.  And thankfully, they got it.

Arizona State is looking like a team on the verge.  On the verge of skyrocketing, or on the verge of imploding.  They have all the tools necessary to become a top-tier team but their confidence and lack of self-discipline seems to be getting in the way of them taking things to the next level.  This week versus the Washington Huskies they once again have the chance to prove themselves worthy.  Though Washington is a mid-level Pac-10 team, ASU has come very close to beating the elite in the conference.  A few missteps here and there have them at 2-3 instead of 5-0 or 4-1.

The Sun Devils have the opportunity to force their will upon the Huskies as Washington’s defense is questionable at best.  With a top-10 passing game, ASU and Steven Threet have a chance to drive the ball down the field on numerous occasions and look like the team that started out 2-0.  And with an even more questionable and porous run defense, the Devils run game could finally have the breakout game many fans, and coaches, have been longing for all season.

Washington as well, is on the verge.  Coming into this season, QB Jake Locker was a Heisman hopeful, and possible top pick in the 2011 draft.  However the team as a whole has not played up to its potential, and Locker hasn’t shown nearly as much as was thought in the preseason.  Though they snuck in a win versus USC last weekend, this isn’t the team most people thought they would be.  And a lot of that has to do with their poor play on defense.

Lucky for the Devils they have this game to get back on track, and then with they bye week, an opportunity to put the pieces of the puzzle together and come back for the second half of the season firing on all cylinders.

My prediction: ASU 30- Washington 27.  Let’s Go Sun Devils!!