SEATTLE — So, just how good are these Arizona State Sun Devils?
They’re 6-0, they’re the 14th-ranked team in the country, but are they really one of the nation’s elite? That’s something the Huskies, and to some extent the Sun Devils, both hope to answer in the desert Saturday night.
Just as an argument can be made that Washington is better than its 2-3 record given that those three losses came to teams with a combined 14-3 record, it also can be argued that Arizona State might not be as good as its perfect record indicates. ASU’s opponents sport a modest 16-18 record and four of its six games have been at home.
“We’ve been fortunate with our schedule and how it’s been set up having a lot of games at home,” Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson said when asked about his team’s unblemished record.
The Huskies, however, are taking Arizona State very seriously.
“Maybe they haven’t played the same caliber of teams, but right now they’re at the top of the conference, which is where we want to be,” UW tight end Michael Gottlieb said. “I mean, 6-0 is 6-0, no matter who you play. You can’t do better than that. We definitely respect them as an opponent.”
That respect seems to be mutual. While the Huskies are on a three-game losing streak, Arizona State knows that all three losses were to good teams, and that the Huskies were, at least for a while, in all three games.
“Their record doesn’t do them any justice,” Sun Devils linebacker Robert James said. “They’re a good team and they should have won a couple of those games. They’re a great team and we’re not underestimating them at all.”
James is a big part of the reason the Sun Devils rank first in the conference in scoring defense, second in pass defense, and third in total defense and rushing defense. His 59 tackles and 39 solo tackles both lead the Pac-10. The 5-foot-11, 229-pound James, who Erickson called his team’s midseason MVP, also has 7.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and three interceptions.
“You’ve got to have an idea where this guy is,” Washington offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said. “This guy is a good football player.”
James is the closest thing to a star on the Arizona State defense, which prides itself more in solid team play than on spectacular individual efforts.
“I don’t know that we have a great, great player at all,” Erickson said. “I think we’ve got a lot of guys that are pretty good that play well together, and they run to the football. We’ve kept it very simple, we’re not a real complicated defense, and that’s the best thing right now.”
Not really complicated also sums up Arizona State’s offense. The Sun Devils are good, but not spectacular. They rank fifth in the conference in total offense, third in passing offense, sixth in rushing offense and fourth in scoring offense.
“In terms of what they do with personnel groups and formations and all that, it’s maybe the simplest team we’ve seen, but the most efficient,” Huskies defensive coordinator Kent Baer said. “You don’t have to do a whole lot to be good, because what they do, they do great. They’re very efficient, they’re very well coached. They only line up in a handful of formations, they’re not trying to fool you, they don’t run any trick plays, they’re just very good at what they do.”
One way the Huskies hope to help themselves this weekend is by getting to quarterback Rudy Carpenter, who is second in the conference in pass efficiency. Carpenter is averaging 250.5 passing yards per game and has 14 touchdowns with six interceptions, but he isn’t very mobile. Arizona State has allowed a Pac-10 worst 22 sacks this season, including seven to Washington State last week.
The Sun Devils’ offense also features tailback Ryan Torain, who averages 104 yards per game, and a group of receivers that Washington defensive backs coach J.D. Williams called the best Washington has faced so far.
“Their offense, if you’re not careful, can put a lot of points on you, and that puts a lot of pressure on the other team to play mistake free, and it’s hard to play mistake-free football,” Washington coach Tyrone Willingham said.
Regardless of how the two teams have arrived where they are this weekend, the Sun Devils are tied for first place in the Pac-10 while the Huskies sit near the bottom, hopping to start the climb up.
“I’d love to be 6-0, I don’t know if it necessarily matters who you play,” Willingham said. “Developing confidence is one of the things that’s important, and I think they have that — have that kind of confidence going into their ballgames from this point forward. Your team develops a confidence. There’s nothing like winning. Playing good teams and losing? I don’t think that’s any fun.”
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington Sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog
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