With seven games remaining in the 2017 regular season, ASU football sits at 2-3 going into their toughest stretch of the season. How many of those seven games can ASU actually win?
This upcoming weekend, Arizona State is hosting No. 5 Washington. It should be no surprise to fans that the Sun Devils are extreme underdogs and are expected to get blown out.
While the game might offer a surprise or two, and finish closer than most expect, it should still end up as another tick in the loss column for ASU.
After Washington, the Sun Devils are on the road in Utah. The Utes are a team that is notorious for playing smash-mouth football and also a team that will grind you down.
While this is still true, this Utah team does have some weaknesses. An offense that is lackluster is paired with a defense that isn’t as deadly as past seasons. This game should be a close one and there should be no outcome that surprises fans of Arizona State. But, for the sake of the argument, lets chalk this game up to a loss.
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The Sun Devils will be returning back to Tempe to take on USC. This game will be another game that fans should expect to be a loss. Luckily for fans this is the last game that Arizona State is extreme underdogs.
USC is a fitting way to end a tough stretch as ASU hasn’t performed well against USC under Todd Graham. An expected loss that many fans see coming should out ASU in a must-win situation for the remainder of the season. The must-win situation conveniently comes when the schedule gets substantially easier.
The first game of November will see the Sun Devils hosting the Colorado Buffaloes. The Buffaloes are not the same team from last year and they offer another winnable game for Arizona State.
With ASU’s offense looking like it is as explosive as ever, and the defense looking like they are slowly but surely improving, by the time Colorado comes to Tempe this game could be ASU’s to lose.
UCLA is the first opponent Arizona State will face where the Sun Devils could actually be favored. They will be facing a team that has looked lost most of the season and, outside of Josh Rosen, has looked like a sub-par team.
Look for ASU to continue their streak of solid performances against UCLA, and look for ASU to get a much-needed victory to regain confidence from fans after a brutal stretch of Washington, Utah, and USC in October.
To finish off the season, Arizona State is on the road against Oregon State and home against Arizona – two winnable games. Both of these teams are clearly the worst team in their respective divisions.
Oregon State will be an easy win as they are trying to figure out a clear direction for the program. Arizona is in a similar boat to the Beavers as they also are trying to figure out the direction of their program. The difference is that the Wildcats and Sun Devils are rivals and if there is one thing about college football that is true, it is that anything can happen in rivalry games.
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ASU’s final record should see them get to 6-6 and make a bowl game. Most likely this will be enough for Graham to stick around another season, but only time will tell. With seven games remaining, Arizona State still has some breathing room, but that room is slowly shrinking.