By Juan Roque for DieHardDevil.com

What was once a promising season has wandered off into the cold and dark desert night. Going into Saturday’s Duel in the Desert matchup against Arizona, there was no question it was a must win for Arizona State. After losing two straight games on the road, the Sun Devils were backed up against a wall. They had to take care of business by winning their last two games if they were to have any chance of winning the Pac-12 South and advancing to the title game. The talk all week was how ASU coach Dennis Erickson had to get the team back on track if he were to have any chance of keeping his job in 2012, much less earn an extension of his current contract. The loss to the Cougars was so disappointing that many fans were already in the process of writing the season off. The game against Arizona was an opportunity for the team and the staff to show they can overcome adversity, regroup and come out and beat what was, on paper once again, an inferior opponent. The Wildcats were 2-8 at the time and had one of the worst defenses in the country. When the game clock expired on Saturday night, nothing has improved from last week and things in Sun Devil nation are much worse. Facing an opponent that they were favored to beat by 10 1/2 points, the Sun Devils once again found a way to prove everyone wrong by dropping their third game in a row. There is no question Arizona State hit a new low on Saturday losing to their rival Arizona Wildcats 31-27 in front of 72,694 at sold out and blacked out Sun Devil Stadium.

Leading up to the game a lot seemed to be favoring ASU. They had incentive and motivation to take their own field, where they were undefeated in 2011, and dominate the Wildcats. As they have shown this season, Arizona is far from a quality team but none of that mattered Saturday. From the moment the teams ran onto Frank Kush Field it was obvious the game was going to be intense. It’s safe to say that Arizona was not in awe of ASU. The first sign of this was before the coin was even flipped. As ASU made their way out of the Tillman Tunnel in their customary fireworks introduction, the Wildcats stormed the field from their end at the exact same time. This blatant show of disrespect to the customary pre-game ritual where the home team comes out first, then the visiting team, was a clear sign that Arizona was looking to show up ASU on their home field. ASU looked as if they were unaffected by the blatant disrespect and played to their own fans from their side of the stadium. With the smoke from the fireworks lingering over the field both teams looked like they were ready for a street fight.

Arizona received the ball first and marched down the field, and with the help of two ASU penalties and another long pass play, scored first when Keola Antolin ran the ball in from one yard out. ASU received the kickoff and then the unthinkable happened. After being smart with the football all season Brock Osweiler threw into coverage and was intercepted by Shaquille Richardson. The Wildcats only needed five plays as Nick Foles found Kadeem Carey for an 11 yard touchdown reception. Halfway into the first quarter Arizona held a 14-0 advantage and the memories of the Oregon State, Utah and Illinois game came crashing into the minds of Sun Devil fans. In those first two drives, Arizona showed they were not going to back down and they were going to try and set the pace in the game. With ASU on its heels early, Brock Osweiler marched his team down in 12 plays and capped off the drive with a Cameron Marshall two yard touchdown run. Arizona responded and marched to the ASU 32, but a John Bonano field goal bounced off the left upright. The Sun Devils responded and scored the tying touchdown in 8 plays capped off by a Gerrel Robinson touchdown reception in the back left corner of the endzone. Momentum then swung in the Sun Devils’ favor when another missed field goal by Bonano gave ASU the ball back. After a huge 58 yard reception by Aaron Pflugrad, the Sun Devils scored on a beautiful 22 yard cameron Marshall draw play the middle. After trading punts, Arizona was able to march down to the ASU 24 with the help of a critical ASU penalty for roughing the passer. This time, Bonano connected and Arizona shrunk their deficit to 21-17.

In the second half, ASU was in great shape to pull ahead and finish the Wildcats, but the first drive ended in disaster. After a huge Mike Willie drop on the first play that would have been a touchdown, a holding penalty that negated a 22 yard completion and a sack of Osweiler, ASU was forced to punt. ASU’s defense then came up with a huge three and out which the Sun Devils were not able to capitalize on. Driving to the Arizona 5 yard line, ASU only managed an Alex Garoutte field goal and went up 24-17. Despite several opportunities, ASU only managed a field goal for the rest of the game and major defensive breakdowns helped Arizona pull ahead 31-27. ASU had two opportunities late in the game, but Brock Osweiler threw his second interception of the night with 3:15 left in the game and despite a valiant effort by the defense in getting the ball back, ASU was not able to score despite marching to the Arizona 15 yard line. Without question this was the most disappointing loss of the year.

Grading the game

Quarterback
It’s hard to not lay part of this loss on Brock Osweiler. The interception he threw at the start of the game was a head scratcher as there was no open receiver in the area. To his credit, Osweiler still managed the game well but was asked to do too much due to ASU not having any running game present. There were several drops by receivers, but some of his throws were not accurate either. On the night he was 36-63 for 487 yards and a touchdown. His completion percentage of 55% was below his season average of 64.8% and the two turnovers came at the worst times in the game. He’s a much better quarterback than what he showed on Saturday night.
Grade: C

Running Backs
It’s hard to grade this group when they have no blocking. Cameron Marshall had a thrilling 22 yard touchdown run in the second quarter but the rest of the game he was hit in the backfield often and met at the line of scrimmage. On the night, Marshall ran 16 times for 52 yards, two touchdowns, but lost 8 yards due to Arizona blitzes and averaged 2.8 yards per carry. Kyle Middlebrooks had two carries for 18 yards and Jamal Miles carried twice for six yards. Miles again was a factor out of the backfield in the passing game, catching nine passes for 54 yards. It’s tough to assign this group a grade due to the rushing average but this group is not to blame for that.
Grade: C

Receivers
Gerell Robinson continues to impress and lead by example catching eleven passes for 199 yards and a touchdown. He also eclipsed the 1,000 yard receiving mark for the season, the first ASU receiver to accomplish that feat since Derek Hagan. Aaron Pflugrad caught three passes for 77 yards. Rising star Rashad Ross had four grabs for 77 yards as well. Mike Willie had a huge drop that could have been a touchdown and dropped a potential touchdown to end the game. On the night he had three catches for 16 yards. Kevin Ozier caught two passes for 29 yards one being a 22 yard catch that ended in a fumble at the Arizona 33 that cost ASU a possible score.
Grade: B-

Offensive Line
For the second week in a row the unit did not move anyone off the ball. Run blocking has become this unit’s Achilles Heel. Arizona held the line of scrimmage for the entire game and would not allow ASU’s backs to get into the second level. The biggest run play of the night came on a draw play that the Wildcats over pursued on. They can pass block only giving up one sack but a team can’t make its living throwing the ball. Arizona was a team that was giving up 179 yards rushing per game. When your offensive coordinator is calling 63 pass plays in a close game, you have an idea why.
Grade: D+

Defense
Rather than go position by position it’s better to grade this group as a whole. Missed tackles, blown assignments, blown coverages, no pressure on Foles and giving up 494 yards of total offense is not winning football. Managing one sack against a team that had given up 20 in ten games is not winning football. Giving up 31 points to a team that was being beat by an average of 41-27 the three games prior and averaging 29 points per game is not winning football. Allowing a team to march down the field after the opening kickoff and scoring on their first possession is not winning football. Being penalized six times for discipline issues like roughing the passer, offsides, personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct is not winning football. Not forcing any turnovers despite being 4th in the country with a +14 margin and playing against a team that was averaging 1.9 per game is not winning football. The defense is in full blown meltdown mode. Not one area was good Saturday. All three phases of the defense were beaten physically and mentally. In three losses they shoulder most of the blame.
Grade: F

Special Teams
Jamal Miles fumbled a kickoff that ASU was luckily able to recover. Miles had a decent return game running back three kickoffs for 76 yards and had a nice 44 yard punt return. Kyle Middlebrooks returned two kickoffs for 61 yards. Vontaze Burfict again was offsides on a PAT. Josh Hubner continues his consistency with a 48.3 per punt average with two kicks inside the 20 yard line. After back to back weeks where he missed an important kick, Alex Garoutte made both of his tries from 22 and 27 yards which he is expected to make.
Grade: B

Coaching
Once again there were no adjustments to what the Wildcats were doing on offense. Foles moved his team at will and was hardly ever pressured by what is arguably a very talented front seven. Simply put, Craig Bray is not putting his unit in a position to make plays and when they were in position they broke down fundamentally. Noel Mazzone has become too predictable with his swing passes and has yet to find a way to run the ball despite having a great back in Cameron Marshall. Dennis Erickson did not have his team focused as was evident by the WIldcats fast start and 14-0 lead. You can’t blame it all on the players.
Grade: F

Summary
The unthinkable nightmare scenario unfolded on Saturday night at Sun Devil Stadium. A must win game against the in state rival was lost in gut wrenching fashion, furthering the passionate discussions about the future of Dennis Erickson and the Sun Devil football program. At the end of the season, the head coach will be evaluated, important decisions will be made and the process will take care of itself. But for now, believe it or not, ASU still has something to play for against Cal this Friday. If ASU beats Cal, UCLA loses to USC and Utah beats Colorado, the Sun Devils will unexpectedly find themselves in the Pac-12 championship game. The unpredictable question isn’t whether UCLA will lose and Utah will win, as both those results are very likely. The bigger and more surprising question is whether or not ASU has the character, focus and discipline to beat Cal at home on Friday night. Let’s hope that the 22 seniors, who play their last game in Sun Devil Stadium, step up and leave Frank Kush Field on a positive note with a victory.