Sunday Morning Hangover: ASU-UNLV
Here are three things we think we think after ASU’s 23-20 loss to UNLV last night. What did you take away from the game?
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1. ASU Still Can’t Defend Against the Spread
Like seemingly half of college football these days, UNLV ran the new shotgun spread offense last night and the Sun Devils didn’t have an answer. The Rebels didn’t do much offensively in the first half, but they ran all over ASU in the second. Maybe linebacker Gerald Munns would have made a difference. Maybe not. Georgia broke out the shotgun spread for a handful of plays against South Carolina, and Knowshon Moreno is a slightly better back than Frank Summers. We’re just saying.
2. Omar Bolden Doesn’t Seem to be Progressing
We love Omar Bolden if for no other reason than the video of him pulling the old ballcap switcheroo and clowning USC on signing day. But he doesn’t look like he got any better in the offseason. In fact, he looks like he got worse. Three games is not much of a sample size, but his pass interference calls last week handed Stanford a touchdown and he was beat man-to-man on several occasions – including once in the end zone – last night.
3. Pasadena is Still Exactly 381 Miles Away
A loss to UNLV doesn’t really mean anything, unless you really thought we had a chance to play for the national championship. The goal every year is to win the Pac-10 and play in the Rose Bowl. Neither goal is any more distant now than it was 48 hours ago. And always remember that it could be worse. We could have lost to New Mexico last night and woke up this morning in Tucson.
What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
We want to know what you learned from the game. Post three things you’re taking away from last night in the comments below. And remember to drop your game photos on the Facebook page today.
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Three things that I learned…
1. Never underestimate another football team.
2. Every game is the highest priority to someone.
3. Underdogs with determination, perseverance, and heart WIN games.
1. the lackluster NAU had more to show of the character of this team than the Stanford game
2. Mike Jones and Chris McGaha dropped off the face of the planet in this game
3. 7-5 is a better possibility than going to Pasadena
1. ASU is in for a long day against Georgia if the Offense can’t put together a good game. If UNLV holds us to 20 pts and makes our O look horrible, imagine what an SEC D will do.
2. UNLV is a much better team than people think. They are (2-1) and realistically could go 6-6 or 7-5 and get into a bowl this year.
3. Pasadena? Naw its looking more like a trip to SF and the Emerald Bowl.
As soon as the game went to overtime, I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. UNLV had all the momentum… it would have been a damn miracle if we had pulled that game out.
Let’s talk about this secondary again. Last week they were overaggressive and played too handsy. Maybe those PI calls got in their heads… or maybe they thought they didn’t need to play aggressively because UNLV wasn’t supposed to be any good. All I know is that there were way too many times that receivers caught the ball with 5 yards or more between themselves and the DB. My fear has now been realized.
The offense played with no urgency at all. They played like they thought they had enough points. Nance and DeWitty looked a step slower than they usually do. The WR’s couldn’t get separation consistently and Rudy was off-target. Everyone looked like they were half-asleep.
This just reminds me of the same ol’ ASU. We’re playing to the level of our competition again. ASU is notorious for this. BLOW OUT the teams you’re supposed to. Damn this team kills me sometimes…
The play calling was very VANILLA!!! I hope DE has something up his sleeve for Georgia. Something tells me he will.