Devils try to pick up pieces before facing Georgia

The Arizona State football team has dropped out of The Associated Press Top 25, and ESPN’s “College GameDay,” as expected, made a detour to another game.

Erickson: UNLV blocker came right up the gut

However, such media matters are meaningless to coach Dennis Erickson, whose top priority is picking up the pieces of a Sun Devil squad that on Sunday was still staggering from an upset loss in overtime against Nevada-Las Vegas. The task is daunting, as third-ranked Georgia visits Tempe on Saturday in what was supposed to be a battle of two top-15 teams.

“The bottom line is we are a good football team, and we have to find a way to get back to where we were,” Erickson said. “We made a lot of mental mistakes, which created physical problems for us. We have nine football games left, and we have a long season ahead of us. We’re not nearly where we need to be. That’s obvious.

“But we have to improve. The next game is against one of the best teams in the country. We have to practice like we’re playing one of the best teams in the country.”

With the Georgia-ASU matchup losing some luster, “GameDay” opted to broadcast from the campus of Auburn, where the Tigers host defending national champion Louisiana State.

Although ASU dropped out of the AP poll, it is 24th in the USA Today (coaches) rankings.

“I’m not sure we should have been (ranked) anyway,” Erickson said. “You have to earn your way into the polls, and we haven’t done that.”

As the Sun Devils (2-1) await the Bulldogs (3-0), Erickson must do something he has never had to do at ASU: help the team rebound after it failed to win a game it was supposed to.

Georgia coach Mark Richt, a former Florida State assistant who coached against Erickson while he was at Miami (Fla.), said he expects the Sun Devils to be prepared.

“He’s been an innovative coach who understands how to use his personnel well,” Richt said. “When you have won as many games as he has, you know how to rebound after a loss. I expect to see a greater sense of urgency from Arizona State, maybe more than if they had won. I wish they had won, then maybe they would be flying a little too high, instead of a having a chip on their shoulder.”

Last year, Stanford’s defense threw the kitchen sink at ASU, blitzing frequently, and the tactic was copied by Sun Devil opponents for the rest of the season. Now, Erickson will likely have to counter a defensive tactic that was successful and is documented on film.

With quarterback Rudy Carpenter throwing for 733 yards in ASU’s first two games, UNLV sat back in a two-deep zone and dared the Sun Devils to beat them with the run.

Kyle Williams had three catches for 115 yards, but Chris McGaha, Michael Jones and Kerry Taylor combined for just 56 yards on five receptions. ASU rushed for a respectable 131 yards, but had few difference-making gains, and run calls late in regulation and in overtime were booed by some in the Sun Devil Stadium crowd.

“I’m my own worst critic, believe me,” Erickson said. “If you had do-overs, I’d have a lot of them. I thought we ran the ball well. They just played a defense that made it tougher to throw.”

Things could get worse before they get better, as ASU is in its toughest schedule stretch of the season.

Most observers expected that gauntlet to start with Georgia, not a UNLV team that had lost 23 of its previous 25 games on the road.

“It’s a pretty bitter pill to swallow for us and our fans,” Erickson said. “We have to go on to the next game. We have to rally back. That’s what it’s all about. We have to bounce back.”

Devil of a night

Think Arizona State’s overtime loss against Nevada-Las Vegas on Saturday was bad? Since 1980, here are five others that were a nightmare for Sun Devil fans to sit through:

Sept. 8, 1984: Oklahoma State 45, ASU 3 —
Coach Darryl Rogers was dumbfounded that some preseason publications had his squad at No. 1. In the season opener, ASU made those prognosticators look like fools, as an Oklahoma State squad led by future All-Pro defensive end Leslie O’Neal handed the Sun Devils their most lopsided loss since a 42-0 setback against Hardin-Simmons in 1947.

Oct. 6, 1984: California 19, ASU 14 — Things did not get much better as ’84 progressed, as the Sun Devils were gracious enough to hand a Golden Bears team that would finish 2-9 their only Pac-10 victory. ASU wound up 5-6, and after the season, Rogers bolted to become coach of the NFL’s Detroit Lions.

Nov. 12, 1988: Southern California 50, ASU O — In a game broadcast on ABC, legendary announcer Keith Jackson said that Sun Devil punter Mike Schuh “can really air-mail it.” That was the nicest thing said on the air about ASU that day, as the second-ranked Trojans amassed 691 yards. The Sun Devils did not run a play on USC’s side of the field until 10 minutes remained in the game.

Sept. 18, 1999: New Mexico State 35, ASU 7 — Sun Devil fans are still wondering how in the world this happened. New Mexico State, 0-14 against ranked teams since 1979, piled up 565 yards against No. 22 ASU. The Sun Devils never recovered, losing two of their next three games en route to a 6-6 finish.

Sept. 30, 2006: Oregon 48, ASU 13 — For all intents and purposes, this loss sealed the fate of former coach Dirk Koetter. After the Sun Devils slept-walked through a conference game it had to win, players questioned the team’s preparation and desire. Quarterback Rudy Carpenter completed just six passes for 33 yards.