ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (7-0) vs CAL GOLDEN BEARS (5-2)
Game Preview
Arizona State on Top
Dennis Erickson is a two time national championship winning coach at the University of Miami. He also has served two separate stints as a NFL head coach. However, most importantly for Arizona State (7-0, 4-0), the Sun Devils have not lost a game since Coach Erickson showed up on campus. In his first season as Arizona St. head coach, he has transformed the Sun Devils not only into a Pac-10 contender, but they also a national title contender. Arizona St. is ranked fourth in latest BCS rankings and they have really begun to catch the eye of people around the country.
Arizona St. will take on California (5-2, 2-2) this Saturday at 10 eastern. The Golden Bears should be highly motivated in this game. Cal is coming off back-to-back losses to Oregon State and UCLA. The Bears will have their season on the line this Saturday as they cannot afford a third loss in conference. It will be tough for California to win the Pac-10 even if they win the rest of its games. Arizona St., UCLA, Oregon, and USC have all played four conference games and with the former two having zero conference losses and the latter two having one conference loss. Cal does boast two wins against ranked teams, a 45-31 win over Tennessee at home and a 31-24 victory over Oregon on the road.
California lost its first game without starting quarterback Nate Longshore who missed the Oregon St. game with a sprained right ankle. Longshore did not have a great game in his returned last week against UCLA. He completed 22 of 34 pass attempts for 232 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. The final interception by the Bruins, iced the game as Alterraun Verner returned the pick for a touchdown and game UCLA the final win margin of 30-21. Ironically, Cal has been very good on the season in the turnover department, averaging one more takeaway then giveaway per game. Longshore will have to get back on track this week to stop the skid against Arizona St.
The Pac-10 is not normally known for its defense, but Coach Erickson has certainly brought a hard-nosed mentality to the Sun Devils. Arizona St. leads the Pac-10 and ranks fourth in the nation in scoring defense with 15 points allowed per game. It could be argued however, that the Sun Devils have not played a good team yet. Arizona St. has yet to beat a ranked team, but will have a chance in the next four weeks with games against California, Oregon, and USC . Oregon St. has been the only team to score more then 20 points on the Devils all season, when back on Sept. 22, the Beavers lost 44-32.
It will be interesting to see if Arizona St. can keep up its solid play as it enters the toughest part of the schedule. California should be due for a big win and it can't afford another loss. The Sun Devils will try and take one more step towards being involved in the national championship picture this Saturday at 10 PM eastern.
Denis Brown can be contacted at de.brown59@yahoo.com
