(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
It’d be easy for ASU fans to press the panic button after a 48-17 blowout loss to USC on Saturday. The Sun Devils allowed 607 total yards and their offense was devoid of any kind of rhythm.
That doesn’t mean it’s time for a coaching change, or a quarterback change, or a change in how ASU approaches the final four games of its season. The sky isn’t falling, but a loss to the Trojans does bring the Sun Devils (4-4) back down to Earth.
What fans need to recognize is that the hard part is over. The last five games were the toughest stretch for any power-five team in the country. Somehow, the Sun Devils emerged 3-2. Wins over Oregon, Washington and Utah were not expected by any stretch of the imagination, so ASU should be celebrating its achievement rather than hanging its head.
Todd Graham acknowledged that USC might have been the best opponent ASU has played so far.
“They came in here ready to play tonight and kicked our tail,” Graham said in his postgame press conference. “Outcoached us, outplayed us and obviously it was a difficult loss.”
Graham and his players took full ownership of the blowout loss, which was undoubtedly ASU’s worst defeat of the season. Quarterback Manny Wilkins, who was 17-of-29 for 259 yards, continually blamed himself for the offensive struggles.
“Gotta play better at quarterback,” Wilkins said. “Gotta make some better decisions and gotta put us in better positions to score points.”
Was this an uninspired, poor performance by the Sun Devils? Absolutely. Should the stark contrast between the previous two weeks and the USC game concern fans? No question. But it’s important to step back and rethink expectations for this ASU team.
They were never going to be contenders in the Pac-12 South, despite a two-game stretch where their defense played at an elite level. They are who we thought they were, as former Cardinals coach Dennis Green once famously said.
The Sun Devils are a middle-of-the-road Pac-12 team scraping for bowl eligibility. That was apparent when they lost at home to San Diego State, when they went down big at the half against Texas Tech and when they were walloped by USC on Saturday. Wildly inconsistent teams don’t make it to conference championship games. That’s not how college football works.
“We did a poor job preparing our guys,” Graham admitted. “We played poorly.”
Going forward, ASU has a home game against Colorado before going on the road to face UCLA and Oregon State. After that, it’s the Territorial Cup in Tempe. Splitting those final four games and reaching bowl eligibility should be the expectation for Sun Devil fans. Anything better is a pleasant surprise; anything worse is cause for concern.
Don’t reach for that panic button just yet. Watch this team with tempered expectations. Patience is a virtue when your program has experienced the kind of turnover in coaching staff and personnel that ASU has in the last three seasons, so direct your outrage somewhere other than Graham and a bunch of college kids.
