A one-point loss to Stanford makes bowl eligibility that much harder for ASU
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how ASU still had a viable path to bowl eligibility even after a 2-4 start to the season.
That path started with a win over the last-place team in the Pac-12, Stanford. Sadly, the Sun Devils weren’t able to pull that off on Saturday and now face a significantly harder task if they have any hopes of becoming bowl eligible by season’s end.
Questionable decisions cost ASU a winnable game
There is really not much debate. Arizona State had the tools necessary to defeat what was one of the worst offenses in Power Five football.
The ASU defense actually did its job and didn’t allow the Cardinal to score a single offensive touchdown and secured stop after stop that the Sun Devil offense was incapable of capitalizing on. It is a huge mark on the offense when the defense can hold a team to five field goals and still walk away the loser at the end of the day.
Interim head coach Shaun Aguano is receiving a great deal of criticism for his decision to start Emory Jones at quarterback after Trenton Bourguet’s stellar performance in a shocking upset of then-#21 Washington in early October.
The Sun Devils were almost in a position to win after a ridiculous catch by WR Elihjah Badger, but the catch was ruled incomplete and Stanford took over on downs and kneeled out the game to secure a 15-14 victory.
Aguano going to take some well-deserved heat for starting Emory Jones over Bourguet
— Kyler Burd (@AZCard_BurdsEye) October 22, 2022
Getting to six wins might require another huge upset
Now at 2-5, ASU has only five more games to get to the requisite six wins to be eligible for a bowl game.
The upcoming schedule looks like this:
- Oct. 29 at Colorado
- Nov. 5 vs UCLA
- Nov. 12 at Washington St.
- Nov. 19 vs Oregon St.
- Nov. 25 at Arizona
With a victory over Stanford, the Sun Devils could have gotten to six wins with achievable victories over Colorado, Oregon St., and Arizona while expecting losses to Washington St. and a Top 10 squad in UCLA.
Unfortunately, that is no longer the case and an improbable victory over either Washington St. or UCLA will be needed.
After the offensive performance witnessed on Saturday that will be hard to count on.
