Go Blawgs

The Huskies have certainly cornered the market this year on exciting finishes.  The Sun Devils beat the Dawgs 24-17 with a touchdown pass with five seconds remaining.  This ending was not so much a heartbreaker as it was a punch to the gut.  Coach Sark said it was “a complete coaching error”.  First, the most visible error, the defense inexplicably let two Devils get behind them so Danny Sullivan is able to go over the top…wide open, no Husky even in the frame on your TV screen.  Perhaps more important was the questionable clock management on the prior offensive series.  Offensive in more than one way, mind you.  The Huskies had all three timeouts available and the coach seemed unsure of which strategy he was going to pursue.  With the first two downs he utilized the run with Chris Polk.  On third and one he chose to have Jake go long to James Johnson where the pass went incomplete into double coverage.  The coach has made it clear that his philosophy is to keep the ball in the Husky’s possession and determine the end of the game.  He seemed to be caught in no mans land.  If you want to hold on to the ball you need to get the first down…first, before testing the Sun Devils deep.  This blunder left the time on the clock for the Devils to hit their fateful pass.  Confusion cost us twice down the stretch.  Our coaching staff is new, young and got exploited.  There are going to be some growing pains, but I expect that  they will learn and correct these breakdowns.

The game was a tough hard fought contest that was similar in some aspects to the Wildcat game.  The Huskies trailed for most of the game and were outplayed, but still found a way to stay in the game.  In my previous Arizona State post I gave my keys to winning the game, if you look back you will note that the Dawgs grade out positively in only one.  The Husky receivers had a great game and limited the number of drops that previously had plagued them.  Devin Aquilar had season highs with seven catches for 154 yards.

The first half of the game saw the Dennis Erickson led Sun Devils play typical Denise ball.  Linebacker Vontaze Burfict was flagged for three personal fouls.  At one point Erickson looked like he was going to bump the referee.  He was held back by his assistants.  What was more disappointing, the Huskies seemed to be drawn into the same type of mentality ending up with 124 penalty yards.  One play ending with 30 yards of Husky penalty.  There was yet another Husky sideline penalty…it’s getting ridiculous!  The camera crew at one point late in the game shot the scene of Nick Holt getting in the face of one of his players.  When Holt noticed he was on candid camera he promptly gave a Holt death stare and yelled a few obscenities toward the cameraman…nice job coach, winning over the hearts and minds I see.  That is NOT Husky football and must corrected immediately.

The Huskies have proven themselves to be resilient.  Coach Sark stated last night on “The Coaches Show” on KJR, “yesterday was the best day of practice so far this year”.  We will need to peak at this precise moment in time – 12:30pm at Husky Stadium to beat the Phil Knight Ducks.  This is the reason we pay the coaches the big bucks…win this game!  Play hard, be aggressive, and most importantly play SMART.

GO DAWGS!!!  Beat the Ducks!

Filed under: Alan, Arizona State, Authors, Uncategorized