I am who I am

The stage is set for a fantastic Thanksgiving Day battle between the No. 8 (BCS) ASU Sun Devils and the No. 11 USC Trojans that likely holds a BCS bowl game for the winner. The teams sit in second and third place respectively in the Pac-10; whichever wins the rest of their games this season will probably get an invite to the granddaddy of them all: The Rose Bowl. Keep in mind that for this to happen for either team, they’d have to win their rivalry game, which doesn’t always happen, no matter how talented a team is.

When the season began, I never thought this game would have the importance it has now. USC was primed to make a run at the national championship behind 10 returning starters on defense and a Heisman candidate. ASU was breaking in a new head coach following a disappointing previous season and was picked to finish fourth in the Pac-10. Now, 12 weeks into the season, both teams are in positions I could have never imagined.

This will be a tough game… competitive, but also difficult for me personally. It’s the first time in five seasons that I haven’t been completely sure that the Trojans would win.

Though I’ve been a Sun Devil since enrolling at ASU in the fall of 2003, I’ve spent most of my life watching USC football. Growing up in California, if you watch college football you’re either a Trojan fan or a Bruin fan. And I sure as hell am not a dirty Bruin. My step father grew up watching USC football because his father watches USC football (he graduated from the school back in the day); I grew up watching it in a similar situation.

No matter who wins on Thursday — I’ll be a bit happy and a bit sad.

Devils vs. Ducks – “Live” blog

So I figured I could take a different approach with this blog and post “live” updates on the game with comments.  Instead of constantly trying to update this blog page, I figured I could just jot down notes while watching the game and post the full page at a later time.

First Quarter

13:54 – Oregon’s first drive is perfect – four plays, 76 yards and a touchdown. The opening play was a 43-yard pass… hopefully the ASU secondary wakes up soon.

8:33 – ASU moves the ball with ease, but fails to get it into the endzone. A touchdown would obviously be preferred, but just moving the ball this easily is certainly reassuring. The Devils will have to stop this from becoming a shootout if they hope to win.

4:18 – Oregon scores a second touchdown off of a screen to Stewart. ASU will have to slow down this offense if they want to be in it in the second half.

1:45 – Devils are forced to punt as Rudy bobbles the snap – credit that to his hand injury.

Second Quarter

14:46 – Dixon throws for a first down after scrambling for a first down. As of now, the Devils have no answer for him.

14:36 – ESPN has handled coverage poorly – the game was off the air for a couple of minutes and I missed Oregon’s last score. The Devils are now down 21-3.

ASU needs to slow this game down – a prolonged drive by the offense will tire out the defense in later quarters, and will keep Oregon’s offense off the field.

11:57 – Rudy runs and dives for the first down, and gets hammered in the process. Sometimes the best way to get your team fired up is to show some balls.

11:49 – Rudy Carpenter is a wacky, emotional guy (as Petros Papadakis has noted several times on FSN). After being forced to burn a timeout because he left his playlist on the sideline, Rudy throws a 26-yard touchdown pass to Mike Jones.

11:04 – ASU forces Oregon to a three-and-out.

4:59 – Rudy has been sacked twice and will have to give the ball back to Oregon. The Sun Devils have some huge problems with their punting game; Oregon will get the ball back around midfield. This will be a huge stand for the defense if they can hold the Ducks to a field goal.

3:27 – On 3rd-and-1, Dixon flubs the handoff to Stewart and the Devils recover the ball near the 50.

2:04 – On 2nd-and-26, an Oregon defender throws Dimitri Nance to the ground after he was already out of bounds. First down for the Devils.

0:03 – Poor clock management as the Devils try to run the ball without any times out, wasting precious time. Weber misses a 32-yard field goal; it’s his first miss of the season. This could end up hurting the Devils in the second half – you need to capitalize off of turnovers.

Halftime
Oregon -21, ASU -13

Prediction: I think the Devils have a good chance to win this one. It’s been well documented that they’re a second half team, holding four of their eight opponents scoreless in the second half, and outscored them 153-29.

While ASU is ranked higher in the BCS, they come into the game as underdogs. Both Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso of College Game Day picked the Ducks to win, as did every analyst from Yahoo! and Rivals.com.

Third Quarter

12:01 – Carpenter and the offense move the ball downfield but the drive stalls at around the 35. Weber makes the field goal to bring them within five.

Stewart gets a good return on the kickoff, putting the Ducks at midfield.

10:40 – Devils hold Oregon to a three-and-out again, but the Ducks special teams pin ASU inside the five-yard line.

9:25 – ASU is unable to get out of their own endzone, but have their best punt of the day.

8:40 – Jonathan Stewart runs for a 33-yard touchdown. The Devils need to lock this offense down if they’re going to make it back. The defense better come out like they have something to prove the next time Oregon has the ball.

6:23 – 4th-and-1 and the Devils are going for it… and Nance doesn’t get it. Oregon will have the ball at their 46.

1:32 – Oregon is rolling on offense. The defense is looking tired because the offense can’t seem to put a drive together.

0:00 – Oregon has scored on the last play of the third quarter, putting them up by 19 points. This will be a tall order for the Devils to come back.

Going into the fourth quarter, Carpenter will need to get the team downfield with his arm. He’s been sacked 5 times so far.

Fourth Quarter

13:34 – Nothing going on offense.

13:13 - Dixon rushes for 11-yards, but is hurt on the play. Brady Leaf comes in for the Ducks. The Devils need to take advantage of this opportunity.

9:13 - An extended drive gets ASU to Oregon’s 15, but Carpenter throws a pick in the endzone. Barring the amazing, this could be it.

3:45 - Oregon sacks Rudy for the seventh time on 2nd-and-10. Rudy throws a 42-yard pass to Thompson, but he fumbles on the end of the play. Oregon recovers.

2:13 - Brady Leaf runs for a first down, likely sealing the win.

0:08 - Rudy is sacked for the eighth time to end the game. Oregon fans rush the field for the second week in a row. Final score: Oregon 35, ASU 23.

Recap

ASU was unable to move the ball when it mattered most in the red zone. The Devils outgained Oregon 489-402, but turnovers in the redzone and having to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns is really what did the team in. While Weber missed only one field goal, it was probably one of the most important. The team failed to score going into halftime – had they scored, they would have been within 2 points of Oregon early in the third quarter.

The season is certainly far from over, but we’d need some crazy things to happen to make it to the Rose Bowl. In a season like this, anything is possible.