Today was a big day for the Arizona State Sun Devils. They were beaten down from a previous weeks loss to Oregon State and the question going into this weeks game with Washington State was if they could respond and come out victorious. The answer was yes.
The Devils needed a win and to make a statement after that loss last week. At first, it appeared that the Cougars were the ones who were awake and the Sun Devils acting like they were still sleeping at home. The Devils came out sluggish and very uninspired. Their body language was very negative as well. They were not playing like an 8-2 team. Washington State was flying around on defense and making some plays on offense. The Cougars struck first and took a 7-0 lead. I was sitting there wondering if they were going to take that momentum and step on the gas pedal and get a bigger lead. I was kind of wrong.
The second quarter was full of scoring, however, the Cougars let the Devils back into the game during that quarter. Washington State had 21-7 lead and in span of a few minutes had given up that lead and the Cougs went into the locker room at half up 24-21. After seeing that first half, I was starting to wonder if the Sun Devils had it in them to come and win this game. At the same time I was wondering if the Cougars had it in them to continue onto a much needed win. I got my answer in the second half.
Now, I was not in the locker room at half time, but something was said to the defense of the Sun Devils because they came out simply started dominating Washington State. Washington State does not run the ball well, so if you can make your drops as linebackers and cover like defensive backs should then turnovers will happen and that is exactly what happened. Luke Falk, the quarterback for the Cougars threw 74 times, completing 45 passes for 601 yards, but had four interceptions and that cost Mike Leaches team in the end. Falk also lost a fumble and was sacked six times, so even though Falk threw for a ton of yards it was a long afternoon for the redshirt freshman quarterback.
I did come away liking the young quarterback from the Palouse. Mike Leach will have this young man for four years, so I see nothing, but improvement and big things for Falk. It'll be fun to watch his development over the next few years and see how many yards he throws for in his career.
The Sun Devils got their win and it sets up a huge game in Tucson against the Arizona Wildcats with possibly a lot on the line in terms of bowl position. I will be at the game next Friday and am anticipating a very chippy, hard fought game. I love November college football. Let's go Wildcats and Devils. Time to give the fans an epic Territorial Cup.
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