The 2009 football season for the Arizona State Sun Devils came to a merciful end on Saturday with a 20-17 loss to the Arizona Wildcats.
We’ve come to expect the competitive games and strange plays that have punctuated this rivalry over the years. Saturday was no exception.
ASU lineman Lawrence Guy and Saia Falahola react to Alex Zendejas’ game-winning field goal in Arizona’s 20-17 win in Tempe on Saturday. (Photo: Matt York/AP)
It was the third game in the last five years of this rivalry that was decided by a field goal. And we saw another strange ending, in which the probable hero of the game, ASU receiver Kyle Williams, became the goat in a span of about one minute of game time, giving ASU their most painful loss in a season that was filled with pain and suffering.
ASU’s loss gives them a very disappointing 4-8 record on the season, and gives the Sun Devils back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1946-47. Arizona is 7-4, with a game against USC in Los Angeles next week.
Here’s six things that stood out from my vantage point on Saturday…
1
ASU fans have to feel good for Sully, and bad for KW – Danny Sullivan will go down in ASU football history as the most maligned quarterback since, well, since Rudy Carpenter. Sullivan was the target of boos by ASU fans pretty much from the time he stepped on the field for his first collegiate start against Idaho State in September. But Sullivan ended his Sun Devil career with his best performance. After replacing Samson Szakacsy midway through the second quarter, Sullivan completed 14 of 28 passes for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns. He engineered a 96-yard scoring drive to put ASU within 4 points early in the fourth quarter. With just over 2 minutes to go, Sullivan hit Williams on a 14-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. It was nice to see a player who’s been through the ringer in his only season of really playing end on a high personal note.
Wish I could say the same about Kyle Williams.
The senior from Chaparral High School played the game of his ASU career–at least for the first 58:57 of the game. After setting up ASU’s first points with a 53-yard punt return, Williams scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to tie the game. But with a little over a minute to play, Williams called for a fair catch on a Keenyn Crier punt, and muffed it. The ball was recovered by Arizona’s Mike Turner at the ASU 22-yard line, setting the stage for Alex Zendejas’ game-winning field goal as time expired.
I know it’s probably no consolation to Williams, but for most of the game on Saturday, he was the best player on the field, and ASU wouldn’t have been back in the game if not for his efforts. Furthermore, Williams was one of the few ASU offensive players who even showed up the last three weeks of the season–he scored ASU’s final five touchdowns of 2009.
It won’t be fair to a kid who had a very nice career if he’s remembered solely as the guy “who muffed the punt in ‘09″.
2
Same old story for the defense. By my count, the Arizona State defense played winning football in 10 of 12 games this season. Saturday was one of them. The Sun Devils allowed only 10 points by the Arizona offense, and held the Wildcats to 99 yards in the second half.
It would have been very easy for the Devil ‘d’ to give up based on the frustration of having to bail out a less-than-mediocre offense all season long. They didn’t. Major props to defensive coordinator Craig Bray for keeping his troops focused all season long.
3
I thought he was out for the season? When asked about the Sun Devils’ injury situation during his Monday press conference, head coach Dennis Erickson barely batted an eye before announcing that center Thomas Altieri had reinjured his knee during the loss to UCLA last week, and wouldn’t play vs. Arizona.
Not only did the senior play, but he started against the Wildcats, and played a pretty good game.
4
Bitten by the special teams. A missed field goal, a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown and a muffed punt that led to Arizona’s game-winning field goal. Not a good day for the Sun Devil special teams, and that’s an understatement.
5
U of A’s offense is no great shakes either. The Wildcats had 120 total yards in the first quarter, and only 145 the rest of the game. Outside of Keola Antolin’s 67-yard touchdown run, the ‘Cats ran for 50 yards, and their “dink and dunk” passing attack wasn’t much better. U of A quarterback Nick Foles completed 24 of 43 passes, but for only 148 yards–that’ a pathetic 3.44 yards per attempt. Of Foles’ 24 completions, 14 of them were for 5 yards or under, while only 4 of them went for more than 10 yards.
People marveled at Foles completion percentage of 70% for the season. But when the majority of completions come on bubble screens and middle screens, it’s easy to place an asterisk by those numbers.
6
Really? After Zendejas kicked the field goal that gave U of A the win, several Wildcats gathered to celebrate on ASU’s logo at the 50-yard line, which caused a skirmish. Reportedly ASU freshman linebacker Vontaze Burfict delivered a punch to the face of Arizona long snapper Ricky Wolder during the fracas.
Arizona State had 60 minutes on the football field to beat their opponent and ensure that they didn’t celebrate on their logo after the game. That didn’t happen. If Burfict’s alleged punch happened, it’s just another in a long line of mental lapses and judgment errors by the talented freshman, and another symbol of just how undisciplined this year’s Sun Devils were.
It will be interesting to see how this is dealt with. Let’s remember Oregon’s LeGarrette Blount was suspended for what turned out to be 8 games for the exact same offense. If it’s determined that Burfict did punch an Arizona player, he should absolutely be suspended for a good portion of the 2010 season.
When players get a little overzealous while celebrating, critics always say “act like you’ve been there before”. It goes for losing too. Frustration is not justification for cold-cocking an opponent who got the best of you–rivalry or not.
