Samson Szakacsy Forced Into Duty During Lopsided Loss To Oregon

Well, last night's game was quite tough to stomach. Going into halftime down 31-7, the Sun Devils were down to their 3rd string QB, Samson Szakacsy, after Brock Osweiler went down with a left forearm injury in the 2nd quarter.

Something strange happened after halftime, though. Szakacsy came out and used his legs and his arm to bring the Devils back into striking range. Down 31-21, ASU looked alive. About as alive as this team can look with the vanilla, uninspired playcalling coming from the sidelines.

Coach Erickson's lack of ideas on offense is truly mindblowing. How many times can you run the ball to the right with Dimitri Nance? Is it really that unusual to run the ball towards the other team's endzone?

Where was Cameron Marshall? He did not play until the game was already over.

It wasn't ALL bad, however. Samson Szakacsy played well given the circumstances, and it is nice to get him playing time in a loud environment such as Autzen Stadium. He ended up going 13/22 with a TD pass, and he also ran for 9 yards on 5 attempts.

Nance was given 26 carries, while Marshall only garnered three. At this point in the season, what justification can be given for this? Nance has proven that he is only a marginal Pac-10 player, and it is important to get your young players as much experience as you can.

Without a commitment to the future, you can see Dennis Erickson's "play it safe" mentality shining through. He's going through the motions with this football team, cashing his check every week and denying the fans an opportunity to even get a glimpse of the future potential of this squad.

Give us more, Coach Erickson. You are making far too much money to be mailing it in.