ASU Football: Moving on After UA
By Mike Slifer
Now that the party is over, ASU needs to move on from the hangover. Of course, we are speaking figuratively. But the season is complete. The Duel in the Desert for the Territorial Cup was five days ago. There is still work to be done and there is still something to play for.
The challenge now for the coaching staff and the players is to get over the continual thoughts of “what could have been” or what “we almost accomplished”. Yes, ASU was seven points away from being the PAC-12 South Champs and preparing to play Oregon this Friday. Yes, combine that loss with the unfathomable loss in Corvalis, and you are talking about a team that could be in the College Football Playoffs.
Three weeks ago, ASU was in the national conversation. They were ranked #6 in the inaugural playoff standings. Had they won out, they would surely be in the top 4. (with Oregon) But the two losses (on a combined 15 points) sank those hopes. And the loss to Arizona places them third in the South. Contemplating that has got to sting. The coaches are quietly second-guessing every move they made in those two games. The players are constantly seeing missed opportunities re-playing in their minds.
Right now, the experts’ best guess is that ASU will play in either the Holiday Bowl or the Alamo Bowl. For a 9-3 team, those are decent bowls, but not nearly the level of hype that was attainable just a week ago. And that is the danger. The Sun Devils have lost two of their last three and morale is low. Depending on who their opponent is in the bowl game, that mentality could be disastrous.
Recall last year, when ASU was riding high, only to be knocked out by Stanford in the PAC-12 championship game. They subsequently looked very disinterested, even disappointed to be playing Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl. It showed. The Sun Devils got schooled by an average Red Raiders team.
If this program has turned the corner, if coach Todd Graham truly has indoctrinated his players with a winning mentality, it needs to show during this bowl game. It starts with practice and film study. The players need to be “hungry” in their desire to win, not simply go through the motions. They need to find whatever motivation is out there; the last game for Taylor Kelly, the last game for the seniors, Pro-scouts in attendance, a national audience…..whatever it is, this ASU team needs to be motivated to compete and win.
A victory in a bowl game would give the Sun Devils 10 wins on the season. That’s an accomplishment. Moreover, it helps with recruiting and gives tremendous momentum heading into next year. Bowl games are that important.
The truth is that heading into the season, knowing that ASU had to replace 9 starters on defense (including Will Sutton and Carl Bradford), Marion Grice and two offensive linemen, if someone had told you that ASU would finish 9-3 and win a bowl game, you probably would have been happy with that. That kind of season would have exceeded expectations.
ASU has to find the joy of playing again. The joy of competing without expectations, without disappointment, without pressure. Just the joy of playing the game. Devils in Detail believes that if they can do that, they’ll win. And probably win big, which would put a nice bow on a good season.
So, as usual, it falls on the leadership of this team to pace the practices, the workouts and the film sessions. The leadership of coach Graham and the leadership within the player ranks must give no slack. The standard should be excellence in every practice, every play, every rep. That’s how you recover from a hangover.