ASU plays numbers game
PULLMAN – Everyone who had Arizona State as the Pac-10’s first bowl-eligible school before the season began, please take one step forward.
Not so fast. Anyone who figured two months ago the Sun Devils would win their first seven games is either lying or actually looked at ASU’s schedule.
Even head coach Dennis Erickson, he of the quick turnaround in more ways than one, didn’t think ASU would be at this point so quickly. Although he is also one of those who understands the schedule has played a big role.
“We have no illusions (about how good we are),” Erickson said on Tuesday’s Pac-10 conference call. “A lot of this (7-0) start has to do with our schedule. We know how tough the next five games are.”
The Sun Devils’ first seven opponents are a combined 19-27. The next four (Cal, Oregon, UCLA and USC) following this week’s bye are 19-4. ASU has played one team that has been ranked at any time this year. Five weeks from now they will have played five that have been ranked.
Still, 7-0 is 7-0, and there has to be a reason. Erickson knows of a big one.
“We’re playing a lot better on defense than we expected when we started fall camp,” he said, and the numbers bear him out.
Last season the Sun Devils finished fifth in total defense (327.8 yards a game) but seventh in scoring defense (25.1 points a game). This year ASU sits atop the Pac-10 in scoring defense (15 points a game) and is second in total defense (304.3 yards a game).
“I’ll tell you what, I love their defense,” WSU coach Bill Doba said. “I think their defense plays well.”
Part of the ability to keep opponents out of the end zone can be attributed to a ball-hawking group that has forced a Pac-10-high 17 turnovers.
Turner stands by coach
Maybe it’s something in the pine tree pollen.
Bill Doba isn’t the only college football coach in Washington on the hot seat, as the Huskies’ 0-3 Pac-10 start seems to be bringing the critics out of the rain in Seattle.
One person who is solidly in coach Tyrone Willingham’s corner is UW athletic director Todd Turner.
“What people need to understand is that this is a very, very difficult rebuilding job,” Turner told the Seattle Times. “Maybe as difficult as any in the country for a number of reasons.”
Turner was referring to the problems surrounding the program since the Rick Neuheisel era, which ended in a messy firing.
Willingham has two years left after this season on a five-year contract he signed when hired in late 2004.
“I think we will fully abide by the contract, no question about that,” Turner told the Times.
Around the conference
When asked if he felt more comfortable coaching in college then he did at the professional level, Erickson laughed and said, “That’s pretty obvious.” The former WSU coach is 155-65-1 at the college level and was 40-56 in six NFL seasons. … Stanford’s Tavita Pritchard was hailed as the next coming of John Elway after leading Stanford past USC two weeks ago. But Pritchard may have been a one-hit wonder after the Cardinal were stunned by unranked Texas Christian 38-36 at home last week. “There were plenty of opportunities to win this football game and that’s disheartening,” Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh told the San Francisco Chronicle after the game. Pritchard tried to drive Stanford to a game-winning touchdown as time ran out and got as close as the TCU 18, but the Cardinal failed to convert a fourth-and-8. … Arizona’s best player against USC last Saturday was punter Keenyn Crier. The redshirt freshman had an 83-yard punt as part of seven kicks that traveled a total of 336 yards in the 20-13 loss. Three of them were downed within the USC 5-yard line. … Oregon State has won two consecutive games, including the 31-28 upset of No. 2 Cal and still OSU coach Jim Riley thinks “it’s a good time for the bye.” At least that’s what he told the Corvallis Gazette-Times. “We can assess where we are and work on getting better. … We’ll take good advantage of the time, and keep momentum going.”