ASU Football: Time For the Duel in the Desert
By Mike Slifer
Today is the day that most college football fans in the State of Arizona have been waiting for. Its the Duel in the Desert, the battle between Arizona State and Arizona for the Territorial Cup. It’s a huge rivalry game- a rivalry that splits households for a week. (and maybe longer)
More than bragging rights are on the line this season. For the first time since 1986, both teams are ranked. Both teams are 9-2. Both teams are playing for a potential PAC-12 South Championship. A UCLA loss to Stanford makes the winner of the Duel in the Desert the South Champs. (interestingly enough, the UCLA/Stanford game is being played at the exact same time as the ASU/UA game).
So the pressure cooker is on for the players and coaches of both teams. Arizona will of course have the home field advantage. And even though there will be a healthy contingent of ASU fans in attendance, the crowd will be overwhelmingly pro-Wildcat. It will be a hostile environment for ASU. Unless the Sun Devils jump out to a healthy lead early, the ASU offense will not be able to hear themselves think when they are trying to run a play.
For ASU, leadership and experience are important to their chances of winning. The most important experienced leader for ASU is quarterback Taylor Kelly. Kelly has to play with confidence. And he’s got to exude that confidence to his teammates. And then he’s got to back it up by being efficient. The ASU offense doesn’t need Taylor Kelly to win the game. They need him to take care of the ball and move the chains.
The ASU offense cannot start sluggish as they have the last two weeks. Seeing ASU struggle early will only give Arizona confidence, and that confidence will be fed by a rabid crowd. Sometimes, that’s all it takes. A group of guys that believe in what they are doing can accomplish anything. On top of that, this Wildcat squad is a good football team. If they get up on ASU, they could bury the Sun Devils.
Unfortunately for ASU, even with their comeback shellacking of Washington State last week, they are trending downwards in performance. Truthfully, the defense played lights out against Stanford, Washington, Utah and in the first half of the Notre Dame game. Since then, the ASU defense has been vulnerable. They’ve been inconsistent with their blitzing and tackling and have given up big plays. (most of those big plays were to bad teams in Oregon State and Washington State).
One might argue that the ASU defense was good against Washington State last week–producing 3 interceptions and 6 sacks. Devils in Detail believes that is a function of averages. First of all, Washington State had a freshman quarterback starting his second game. Secondly, the Cougars dropped back to pass about 75 times. When a team drops back to pass that much, it’s almost statistically impossible to NOT get 5 sacks and a couple of picks.
The offense is struggling too. Quarterback Taylor Kelly is still not back to his original form. He showed flashes of it in the second half last week. But most of his scoring drives were on short fields created by the defense. Devils in Detail doesn’t believe that UofA is going to be that kind. Kelly will be required to drive the ball down the field.
Maybe Taylor Kelly will surprise us all and deliver his best performance of the season. Maybe the defense will be tough as nails like they were against Stanford and Utah. But Devils in Detail believes that the bookmakers in Vegas are correct in making the Wildcats a 4 point favorite. (although, you’d be an idiot to place a bet in a rivalry game)
So, Devils in Detail begrudgingly predicts that the Wildcats will beat the Sun Devils by a score of 28-24. But, buckle up because the reality is nobody knows what is going to happen. By the way, try not to miss any snaps while checking the UCLA/Stanford game on your smart phone.
Enjoy.