Sunday Morning Hangover: ASU-USC
We’re not waiting for Sunday. Here are three things we think we think after ASU’s 28-0 loss to USC on Saturday afternoon. What did you take away from the game?
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1. Rudy Carpenter is One Tough Dude
Like the Devil Dome before him, Rudy Carpenter picked himself up off the turf on Saturday afternoon—time and time again. Despite the ankle sprain that held him out of practice all week, despite absorbing three sacks, despite ending up at the business end of three personal fouls, Carpenter kept fighting. It even looked like USC linebacker Rey Maualuga (pictured above) felt sorry for him when he helped him up off the ground after finally knocking him from the game in the third quarter.
2. It’s Time to Shelf the Danny Sullivan Lobby
Backup quarterback Danny Sullivan went 4-fot-17 for 28 yards and two interceptions in Carpenter’s absence. In his only other appearance this season, he was 1-for-7 for a single yard against NAU. Yes, he looked great slicing up Texas’ junior varsity in the Holiday Bowl. No, we will not qualify for a bowl game with Sullivan taking the majority of the snaps down the stretch.
3. Dimitri Nance’s Broken Hand is Killing Us
We obviously respect Dmitri Nance for continuing to go out there with a broken hand, but he clearly cannot be relied upon to hold onto the ball. In the last three games he’s lost three fumbles and put a fourth on the ground. We’re not sure what’s hindered the offense more this season—Nance’s broken hand, Keegan Herring’s bum hamstring or the fact that none of the backups are ready to earn carries ahead of them.
What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
Post three things you’re taking away from the game – or just blow off some steam – in the comments below.
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My biggest frustration? We’re boring. Not just today (a shut out’ll do that) but in general. We were boring against Cal, we were boring against UNLV. We have a boring football team.
Well, this may lighten the mood a bit. The Wildcat resurrection has been put on indefinite hold.
Stanford 24, Arizona 23
Carpenter shouldn’t have played…Sullivan is not a Pac-10 QB…5 for 24 for 49 yards? The defense played their tails off, in fact, so well that a division could arise in that locker room. Tobias Funke (love the reference) is right….offensively this is a boring football team–probably the most boring team in the country. Hope Rich Olson is renting, it’s gonna be a bitch to sell in this market….
I just simply cannot believe how remarkably inept our offense is. I’m becoming more and more thankful for the miracle that last year really was….
…But it’s also hard to wonder if such a big splash in ’07 doesn’t hurt the perception of Erickson and this football team. Aside from our senior quarterback, we’re playing a bunch of greener than green players on both sides of the ball. We’re in the middle of a rebuilding process, but you wouldn’t know it by all of the ship-jumpers and nay-saying being tossed around the last month.
Alright Matt… Sullivan sucks. I admit it. He couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. It’s now abundantly clear that Sullivan found lightning in a bottle in that Texas game. Either that or he sold his soul to Apollo for that one game (should ask for a refund now). I admit my mistake in stumping for Sullivan. Mea culpa.
The defense really help up their end of the bargain in this game. Maybe our young guys on D are finally starting to learn how to play. Hope so. I also noticed some unusual numbers on the field on D in this game. Did the coaches open up competition this week?
On a side note… Rudy looks like he’s been spending some time in the buffet line.