Arizona State and Washington State are examples of missed opportunities. Not long ago the football teams each had dreams of big bowl games, even a national championship for the Sun Devils.
What started with undefeated records has disappeared in mediocre play and injuries as both teams look to regain respectability with a match-up Saturday in Pullman, Wash. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
Four weeks ago, Arizona State was 3-1 and No. 14 in the Associated Press Poll. They played powerhouse and top-ranked USC close before losing and then came losses to Oregon and Stanford. Arizona State ended its three-game losing streak with a 44-20 win against Washington, despite the absence of starting quarterback Sam Keller and without any chance of a BCS bowl game.
“The hardest thing is when a team has very high expectations for themselves as does our fans,” Arizona State head coach Dirk Koetter said. “Then you lose three games in a row and some of our goals are out the window due to mathematics. The players do pay attention to the media and the chat room and it wears on them.”
Washington State started 3-0 before dropping its next five games. More troubling for the Cougars is that in each loss, except to USC, they had an opportunity to win.
Washington State held a 30-13 lead against Oregon State, was tied with Stanford in the third quarter, led UCLA by 21, and lost each time.
UCLA might have been the toughest to take. Washington State dominated through three quarters and had a 38-21 lead entering the fourth quarter. Cougar running back Jerome Harrison had a strong performance with 260 yards on 34 carries.
It was UCLA’s first win against Washington State since 1998. Now, Arizona State seeks its first win in Pullman, Wash., since 2000.
Looking positively at its next game, Washington State’s Harrison is averaging 163.8 yards rushing and with 12 touchdowns should have ample opportunity with an Arizona State defense that allowed 213 yards on the ground against Washington last week. Quarterback Alex Brink averages 255.2 yards passing and wide receiver Jason Hill matches the impact of Arizona State’s Derek Hagan.
Offense isn’t the problem for Washington State. The problem is the Cougars can’t maintain the lead when they have it. Washington State has to fix that; it must win against Arizona State, Oregon and Washington to become bowl eligible.
Arizona State will gain a glimpse into the future with redshirt freshman Rudy Carpenter starting. Regular starting quarterback Keller suffered an injured thumb and is out for the season.
In his first collegiate start, Carpenter set Arizona State’s pass-completion percentage record. He passed for 401 yards and three touchdowns. He completed 27 of 34 passes with no interceptions, but was sacked seven times.
“I was just trying to complete passes wherever I could,” Carpenter said. “I just wanted to get out here with a win. I didn’t care how well I played.”
Like injured Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens helping new starter Dennis Dixon, Carpenter is gaining insight from Keller.
“I don’t get a chance to play a lot so when I would come out on the field he would tell me what they were doing,” Carpenter said. “He was making sure I was calm and kept my head in the game and not worrying about other things that were going on.”
The process of Carpenter acclimating himself to wide receivers Matt Miller and Hagan has gone smoothly so far, according to the numbers. Miller caught all three touchdown passes against Washington. Hagan caught nine passes for 115 yards and Miller had five receptions for 139 yards.
When Arizona State had a bye week between the Oregon and Stanford games, Hagan said Carpenter took extra time to study the offense and make sure he knew everything.
He gained further experience when Koetter put Carpenter in during the second half against Stanford when Arizona State was trailing 45-7. Carpenter responded by completing 19 for 25 passes for 304 yards and three touchdowns.
Carpenter is helped by his athleticism and quality decision making – attributes that drew Koetter’s interest when recruiting the Southern California native.
“The thing that sold me was Rudy’s ability to scramble and throw on the run and his ability to make plays,” Koetter said.

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