There is plenty of pressure as No. 6 Arizona State coming in to Saturday’s late afternoon kickoff at No. 4 Oregon. A top-five opponent, a nationally covered game, the ever-hostile Autzen Stadium, and the best scoring offense in the conference await the Sun Devils when they travel to Eugene. If that wasn’t enough, there’s an amount of payback on the minds of junior quarterback Rudy Carpenter and the rest of the Arizona State team, though it’s obviously pushed to the background with so much else at stake.
“Oregon was another game for me last year where I struggled and didn’t play very well,” Carpenter said at a press conference Monday. “Oregon is now the biggest game of the year because we are two of the top teams in the Pac-10 and in the country. It is something we have to get used to as a team and I think we’ve responded well so far and all the games have been big for us.
“This is going to be our true test though.”
All eyes have been on Carpenter so far this season, and for good reason: Arizona State’s offense has put up big numbers and the junior has been responsible for much of it. Arizona State ranks second (behind only Oregon) in scoring offense and total offense, third in pass offense, and Carpenter himself is fifth in total offense in the conference.
However, only on Wednesday did Carpenter start to throw in practice after swelling in the thumb on his throwing hand kept him out the first two days. Carpenter suffered a sprain during last weekend’s 31-20 victory over Cal.
“He threw pretty good,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson told the Arizona Republic Wednesday. “We kept him out of blitz and things like that and had him in skeleton (drills) and team. I thought he threw real well.”
The junior actually didn’t think it hurt his game much last weekend. “I think it actually got a little bit better,” Carpenter said. “I don’t know what it is, but it seems like this year I need something to happen, whether it’s an interception or a fumble or an injury to calm down and start playing better.”
The Sun Devils may not be able to afford an interception or bad mistake by Carpenter to allow their quarterback to find his rhythm into the game. Considering the total yards put up by Oregon so far this season – 4,195 total, 524.4 per game – and that the Ducks lead the conference in total first downs, they won’t need to create many opportunities to score.
However, Arizona State has given up the second-most first downs this season. Dennis Erickson will surely have his defense focused on trying to shut down the powerful Oregon running attack. Erickson does think his defense is playing well, though.
“We’re playing great team defense,” Erickson said to the press Monday. “It’s simple and we’re running to the football. We have confidence in what we’re doing. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to get blocked and that people can’t knock us off the football, but if we make a mistake, we know where that mistake is at, and they don’t have to guess.”
Erickson will have his hands full with the Ducks’ powerful ground attack, though he has nothing but praise for this week’s opponents.
“Dennis Dixon is fast, he’s shifty and he’s a little bit different than (Washington quarterback) Jake (Locker),” Erickson said. “He’s got a guy by the name of Jonathan Stewart that makes a huge difference. That guy is as good of a running back as there is in college football.”
Considering the many different offensive statistics that put both teams close to the top of the conference, expect a shootout on Saturday.
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