Sun Devils’ high expectations for year have gone to Hades
Believe it or not, the lone vote that didn’t go to USC or California to finish first in this year’s Pac-10 poll back in August went to Arizona State.
Since then, the Sun Devils have embarked on a season that most would call memorable, even if it’s not for all of the right reasons.
Washington State’s opponent this week started the year 3-0 before sliding to 3-3. They burst out again to 5-3, only to get thumped by Oregon State 44-10 last week.
At 5-4, it’s no surprise that Arizona State has some foes scratching their heads.
“They’ve been very inconsistent,” said WSU coach Bill Doba. “I mean, like last week. They look like world beaters one time and they struggle the next time.”
For the Sun Devils, though, a look ahead seems clearer than a look back.
“We’ve had some adversity, like every team has,” Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter said. “We’ve got four possibilities. We’re either going to be 5-7, 6-6, 7-5 or 8-4. But ultimately, you’re judged on the final score on Saturday.”
Still, for a team that harbored long-shot hopes of becoming a Pac-10 champion this year, even knowing that 5-7 is a possibility in November comes as a disappointment.
The Sun Devils had the misfortune of running into Cal, Oregon and USC in their first three conference games, spoiling a perfect non-conference run and sending the season into roller-coaster mode.
“Any time you have high expectations for yourself and your team and you miss the mark, you have a few bad games, that messes with you mentally,” defensive tackle Jordan Hill said. “We’ve still got a quarter of our games left looking at the season. Yeah, obviously we’re not going to end up at the Rose Bowl or the Holiday Bowl or the BCS, but we can still have a good, productive year.
“You’ve got to take a step back and regroup and see what you can still achieve.”
As bizarre as this Arizona State season has been – even the preseason was odd with Koetter first choosing Sam Keller at quarterback, switching to Rudy Carpenter a day later and watching Keller transfer shortly thereafter – the two teams meeting this weekend in Tempe find themselves in remarkably similar territory.
Although the Cougars are one win ahead of the Sun Devils, both seem to be viewing this game as hugely important to their bowl hopes. Both are coming into the game hobbled by an inordinate number of injuries.
“I think when you get to this point of the season every year, you think it’s the worst you’ve ever seen,” Koetter said of the medical woes. “You can only worry about what you control, and no player or coach controls injuries. It does seem like both teams are a little bit banged up right now.”
Doba said earlier this week that an assistant coach had jokingly suggested this would be a JV game between the two with so many starters watching from the sideline. Regardless, everyone involved acknowledges that this game could be a turning point for both teams.
“Any time you get starters hurt and have backups coming in, it can be tough to get all those guys on the same page,” Hill said. “They’ve been a lot like us in having key injuries throughout the season and having to piece it together, just trudge along and do the best you can.”