ASU vows to keep season from spiraling downhill

After a disappointing, perplexing loss, Arizona State players and coaches indicated that the result was due in part to inadequate preparation.

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That was the scenario with ASU’s stunning defeat against Nevada-Las Vegas last week, which cost the team its Associated Press ranking and lowered the national profile of today’s contest against No. 3 Georgia. Such Sun Devil second-guessing is a movie that fans have seen before.

From 2000-06, ASU had a losing streak of at least three games in every season but one. In 2005 and ’06, the players said that their practice habits and intensity were to blame for the skid.

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“It’s about pride as a football team and as a program, and pride as a player,” second-year ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. “We all get it when we don’t play very well. All I ask of them, all I’ve said, is come out and play as hard as you can, the best you can play, and whatever happens, happens. I know we’ll get that effort (today).”

Before going any further, this should be made clear: The Sun Devils are playing a Georgia team that is a legitimate national championship contender. Should ASU lose, that will not necessarily mean that it failed to prepare.

And with California, Southern California and Oregon following on the schedule, there are no guarantees, even if the Sun Devils win against Georgia.

This four-game stretch always was going to be a test of the Sun Devils’ will; last week’s loss simply intensified it.

“We have the character, and we’ll come back and play well,” quarterback Rudy Carpenter said. “I think that’s the most important thing, and that’s where our focus should be, playing well. There’s a difference between losing to a team you should beat because you didn’t play well and losing to a team that was just better than you.”

To Erickson, the first step in football redemption is accountability. The coach exemplified it in interviews after the UNLV game, saying that “the team wasn’t ready to play, and that’s on me.” He demanded the same from the players when they convened to watch tape on Sunday.

“The most important thing the coaches told us is to stick together and not point fingers,” linebacker Mike Nixon said. “When we watched the UNLV film, we all needed to be accountable for what we did right and what we did wrong. The only way we are going to get better and move forward is if everybody steps forward and says, ‘Hey, I had a hand in losing this game.’ I think we did a good job with that.”

Carpenter vowed that the Sun Devils would put “all of our aggression and anger” into practicing productively this week. Players and coaches were pleased with the intensity and execution in the three workouts.

“It was a good week of practice, and we have to take it out on the field and execute and do the things we need to do,” said Erickson, who has won two national titles as a coach. “We had the intensity and focus this week, and honestly, we’ve had it most of the year. We didn’t have it last week for whatever reason, but we have been a good practice team.”

Many of ASU’s veteran players feel that the current team is better equipped to bounce back from a bad defeat. Last year, the Sun Devils overcame such obstacles as early double-digit deficits against Colorado and Oregon State and had to adjust to a season-ending foot injury to star running back Ryan Torain.

“We tasted some adversity last year, even in the games we won,” Nixon said. “When you overcome stuff like that, you have an idea of what it takes to come back. I think we have good leadership. We’ve had our best practices since camp ended, I think.”

The circumstances that helped lead to last week’s loss are not new to the Sun Devils, and almost every team is haunted by them at one time or another.

What the Sun Devils can control, however, is how they respond.

“I think the guys that have been around and been through those losing streaks, they know what it’s like to have to get over those humps,” linebacker Gerald Munns said.

“We know what it takes now, what it takes to get through those tough times. You can tell by the intensity of practice, that’s not what we’re going to have. We’re not going to have a streak like that. We’re going to play our butts off.”