The Devils’ Best Interest – Week 9, Tempe, AZ – In order for the Sun Devils to reach the Pac-12 Championship game with a chance at a Rose Bowl bid, all they need to do is beat 3 more teams on the schedule: Utah, Ucla and Arizona. Bottom line, ASU controls their own destiny if they take care of business in the south.

          Simply put, ASU’s upcoming games with Pac-12 North teams, Washington State and Oregon State, don’t have an impact on it’s primary goal. That being said, we always want the Devils to finish with as many Wins as possible for many reasons that affect the overall program moving forward including upper-tier Bowl games, national rankings, recruiting and more.

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          Week 9 was a successful one for the Sun Devils while they didn’t even have to take the field. Resting up for Thursday’s match-up with Washington State in Pullman, the idle Sun Devils took over sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 South. Additionally, ASU jumped back into the national rankings at #25 and can thank Stanford and Minnesota for knocking off the no. 24 and 25 teams.

          Let’s review the results from Saturday’s 5 Pac-12 games.

#3 Oregon (5-0) 42 – #12 UCLA 14 (2-2)

This was the biggest game in the conference and nationally.

In a game that was tied at 14 at halftime, Oregon showed why they are a top contender for a national championship by pounding Ucla in the second half and coming away with a convincing victory.

Actually, if it were not for some miscues by the Ducks early on, the game would have never been as close, but the Bruins fought hard and kept it competitive for twp quarters. 

#6 Stanford 20 (5-1) – #25 Oregon State 12 (4-1)

This game was sloppy. It reminded me a lot of an SEC game since there wasn’t a tremendous amount of points scored.

Stanford squandered some early opportunities, and the Beavers played tough at home. The Cardinal defense kept quarterback Sean Mannion uneasy and off-balance all night. Oregon State could only manage 12 points at home, and didn’t resemble a ranked team with their offense.

This game was good for ASU since the Beavers dropped from the rankings and allowed the Devils to slip in.

USC 19 (2-2) – Utah 3 (1-4)

Once again the Utes proved that they are not a very good road team. Earlier in the month they knocked off Stanford at home for one of the biggest upsets of the year. 

Last week they lost in Tucson to the Wildcats, and this week they could only put up 3 points against an average USC team. Utah is tough at home, which will be challenging for the Devils when they travel to Salt Lake City in two weeks. That game is a must win for ASU on their road to the south title.

For now, Utah seems to be eliminated from the Pac-12 South race.

Washington 41 (2-3) – CAL 17 (0-5)

This game went pretty much as expected. The Huskies snapped their three game losing streak as they took an early 17-0 first quarter lead on the Bears and never let up. 

After being held to 22 yards (1.7 avg) against ASU last week, Bishop Sankey ran for 241 yards (8.9 avg) and 2 scores on Cal.

Let’s face it, Cal is just not very good. The Bears have only one win and haven’t really been competitive in any of their conference games. 

Arizona 44 (2-2) – Colorado 20 (0-4)

This game was encouraging for a while as Colorado was giving Arizona all they could handle.

In the second quarter, the score was actually tied at 20 before the Wildcats ran away with it. The Wildcats are one win away from bowl eligibility and get to play Cal next. Although they seem to be on a roll, they still have to face Ucla, Oregon and ASU.

Around the Nation

          Looking at other schools that ASU has played, it appears that the Devils are ranked about where they should be. Depending on which poll you look at, Wisconsin and Notre Dame are pretty close to ASU, as all three teams are generally ranked between 23 and 26. This confirms what we have seen on the field. 

          The good news is that ASU still controls its own destiny to become the Pac-12 South champions.

          Things are getting more intersting this weekend. On Friday, we’ll provide the next installment of the Devils Best Interest going into the weekend. Until then, #WininPullman.

ASU vs WSU
Thursday, 7:30 PM – ESPN

Cover photo by Steve Kelly