Arizona State sits at 6-3, 4-2 in the conference heading into its second bye week of the season. At best, the Sun Devils could wrap the regular season at 9-3 and head to the Big 12 Championship. The Sun Devils will have to excel in all three facets of the game to do that.
1. Will Jeff Sims sustain the level of play that he showed at Iowa State?
Redshirt senior quarterback Jeff Sims won the AP National Player of the Week for his 405-yard performance at Iowa State. That will be hard to sustain, but that was the first time he practiced with the starters before starting in the week’s game, so he can repeat that level of performance.
2. Will the Sun Devils win out and have a chance at the Big 12 Championship game?
If Sims sustains a solid level of play, the Sun Devils have three winnable games versus West Virginia, at Colorado and versus Arizona. Then a handful of games would have to go the Sun Devils' way, which is not too far-fetched.
3. What bowl game will the Sun Devils head to?
If the Sun Devils win the Big 12 Championship, they will head to the College Football Playoff. If not, they will be going bowling. The bowl tie-ins that they have are with the old Pac-12 schools, rather than the current Big 12 schools. Arizona State sits 5th record-wise of those schools and would likely be the fourth team selected (Oregon would go to the CFP) and head to the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso.
4. How will Arizona State look after taking a week off?
Dillingham gave the team a week off from football activity this week. It could lead to rust or freshness or a little bit of both. The type and number of penalties the Sun Devils take could be a sign of that decision.
5. Will the Sun Devils avoid key injuries for the rest of the year?
At the moment, the Sun Devils are down their preseason top quarterback (Sam Leavitt), wide receiver (Jordyn Tyson), center (Ben Coleman), safety (Xavion Alford) and running back (Kyson Brown), among others. Leavitt and Coleman are out for the year. This is unpredictable, as injuries are out of control.
The regular season is 75% complete, but it feels like it just started.