| 14 October 2011
This is Dennis Erickson's best team since 2007, when they won ten games and cracked the Top Ten for a while. Oregon beat them that year, but it cost them Dennis Dixon's knee. The ending of that game was the beginning of sadness for the Ducks, a dream laying in ruins by a twist in the turf.
Football seasons don't always follow the form chart, or become the neat row of dominations and crafted x's and o's we'd like them to be. A lot could go wrong tomorrow. The Sun Devils are good. They're 18th in the country, 5-1, with their only loss to #16 Illinois in Champaign. They clubbed USC by three touchdowns, and their tailback Cameron Marshall busted loose for 141 yards on the Trojans.
Against Missouri, former Duck Aaron Pflugrad caught eight passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. The Sun Devils won 37-30 in overtime, the kind of game they lost last year. With senior leadership and a tough, nasty, swarming defense, this is a much better team. When the year started, Dennis Erickson was on most of the Hot Seat lists, and by now he could run for governor. If he beats the Ducks, they'll start writing him in for president.
Last year Oregon traveled to Tempe in their conference opener and escaped with a 42-31 win after trailing 24-14 in the second quarter. ASU had a great defensive game plan in that game. They held LaMichael James, who'll watch this one wearing a visor, to 28 carries for 94 yards. Oregon's offense managed just 125 yards for the game, their lowest total of the year. But Oregon pounced on seven ASU turnover, four interceptions of Steven Threet and three fumbles, and that kept the Ducks from losing. They got two defensive scores, a pick six by John Boyett and a fumble return by Boseko Lokombo.
The Ducks would love to get defensive fireworks like that in this game, but they can't depend on them. Brock Osweiler, the 6-8 quarterback, has been cooly efficient most of this year, accounting for 2/3 of the ASU offense. He's thrown 13 tds and six interceptions, and has a pro-caliber arm. Nick Aliotti's defense absolutely has to get some pressure on him, and they need to force some turnovers and get this potent attack off the field, which is scoring 35 points a game on the way to a 3-0 record in conference.
On defense, Vontaze Burfict gets most of the headlines, but the leading tacklers are linebacker Colin Parker and safety Eddie Elder. The Sun Devils have swarmed for 18 turnovers this season. Through five games, Oregon has just four. ASU has 16 quarterback sacks, the Ducks, 11.
Even this early, the Sun Devils are the likely champions in the PAC-12 South. If the Webfoots want to meet them in December, they need this game, and winning gives them a much better chance of hosting the first PAC-12 championship.
There's one other big thing at stake in this game. Chip Kelly and his staff are entertaining one of the most impressive group of recruits to visit on a game week ever at Autzen Stadium. The list includes wide receiver D.J. Foster of Arizona, who's deciding between Oregon and his home state Sun Devils. A big Oregon win and an electric atmosphere might sway Foster, as well as premier defensive tackle Ellis McCarthy, Texas linebacker Byrce Cotrell, safeties Reggie Daniels and Shaq Thompson, and a Washington Husky commit, defensive end Jeremy Castro from California.
