Some times the greatest aspirations for a football team are done in by the simplest thing or things. In some cases it can simply come down to who you play and where you play them. Arizona State just might be in that predicament for this upcoming season.
The Devils have a competitive team to put on the field, but the schedule may not do them any favors. There out of conference schedule includes home dates with Weber State, New Mexico, and Notre Dame. While the first two games with Weber State and New Mexico don't exactly strike fear in fans and possibly players, the game with Notre Dame on November 8 may provide a window into if the Devils will have a winning season, a bowl trip, or sitting home during the holidays.
The area of the schedule that concerns me is the from September 25 when UCLA comes to town for a Thursday night game until a November 15 game with those pesky Oregon State Beavers up in Corvallis. In order, here is the brutal line of games. UCLA, at USC, Stanford (bye week to prepare for the Cardinal), at Washington, Utah, Notre Dame, and at Oregon State. The Pac-12 is a league in which they "eat their own", so this stretch of games for the Devils is going to be one that determines just how successful they will be. Really, the only game I see in this stretch of games that should be a slam dunk win is Utah, the Homecoming game. Sorry Utah, there is a reason why you were made the Homecoming game.
The Devils are fortunate about having their bye week to prepare for Stanford. They will be looking for a little bit of payback from the Pac-12 title game when they play the Cardinal. Next, going to Washington to play is never easy. Washington is and will be fighting for a bowl spot by then and will give the Devils all they can handle up in Seattle. Husky stadium is a very tough place to play and the weather may be starting to turn ugly in Seattle about that time of the year for the Devils.
The Devils get Utah next for Homecoming and should be able to ring up the Utes fairly easily for a comfortable win, BUT that's why you play the games right? You can't take anybody for granted because once you do that is when you get bit in the ass with an unexpected loss. The Sun Devils can not afford to do that this year. Next up after Utah is one of the legendary programs in all of the college football, Notre Dame. That'll be a telling game for the Devils because the crowd at Sun Devil stadium may be half Irish fans. The ASU defense will need to step up and stop a quarterback who has a year under his belt and might be looking forward to throwing against an inexperienced defense. Taylor Kelly will need to be at his best on November 8. Kelly will need to be at his best all year. No room for error with him. After that game here comes the Oregon State Beavers and the game is Corvallis. All bets are off with this game. The weather will be cold, quite possibly rainy, and just plain miserable for the Sun Devils.
Can the Devils have a winning a season? Absolutely. Can the Devils have a miserable season? Absolutely. Arizona State is going to have to be focused every week and ready to play on game day or this could end up being a very long season for the team and the fans. Buckle up Devil fans, it is going to be a heck of a ride.
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