Last Saturday’s 44-18 defeat to the No. 5 Washington Huskies marked the fifth-consecutive loss of the Arizona State Sun Devils. That was also the fourth time in the five-game stretch that they’ve given up 40 or more points to the opposition.
The Sun Devils are getting by this season behind sophomore quarterback Manny Wilkins’ play. Wilkins had 227 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 20-of-32 passing against Washington, and that’s actually all that you could ask of him against the Huskies’ fantastic defense. Then again, that was only the third multi-touchdown game for Wilkins, who has nine passing TDs and eight interceptions for the season.
Arizona State’s run game, which is averaging just 132.5 rushing yards per contest, felt most of Washington’s wrath last week. The team combined for a pathetic 15 rushing yards on 27 carries that entire game.
What the Sun Devils can look forward to, though, is another meeting against the Wildcats this Friday. They’ve won four of the last six games against their Grand Canyon State rivals (SU/ATS), and they’ve been a much-better program this year at that in general. Which leads us to…
Faring much worse this season than the Sun Devils are the Arizona Wildcats, who have now lost eight-straight games after being manhandled by the mediocre Oregon State Beavers last Saturday, 42-17.
All of Arizona’s losses during that stretch were against Pac-12 opponents. Four of those defeats came at home (which resulted to a similarly disappointing 1-3 record against the spread) and by an average point differential of minus-22.5 at that.
Simply put, nobody on the team is any good under center; quarterbacks Brandon Dawkins and Anu Solomon went a collective 16-of-28 for just 188 passing yards against the Beavers. Dawkins was the only one between him and Solomon to find the end zone in that game, but he also threw a bad pick.
And while the Wildcats’ defense is just as abhorrent as the Sun Devils’ – both Ds are giving up more than 38 points per contest – Arizona’s offense is really as bad as it sounds. The team ranks 115th in the nation with just about 22 points scored per game given the clear turmoil in the QB position as we speak, and that gives a significant edge to Arizona State indeed leading up to Friday’s night-capping season finale between the two embattled schools.
Writer’s Prediction
The Sun Devils (-3) end their lost season on a high, 28-21.
