WOW.
That is all I can say about last night's epic battle between the Sun Devils and the Huskies. I have never seen such a hard fought game between evenly matched teams.
ASU received a huge boost from the 53,219 fans in attendance (many of which were family members of ASU students, seeing as it is family weekend here in the desert).
A lot of great things happened last night for ASU fans. The playcalling received a shot in the arm, and the trickery was just what our stagnant offense needed to get back on track.
Kyle Williams, despite fumbling out the end zone later in the game, earns a gold star for his well placed touchdown bomb to TJ Simpson, who has quickly become a bigger part of this Sun Devil offense.
Who else deserves credit for their performances last night?
Dimitri Nance: I am not the only one who wrote off Dimitri Nance after his abysmal 2008 campaign. Since then, he has rebuilt his image and rejuvenated our faith in him. Nance appears quicker, and is showing better instincts. He was hyped to be the thunder in 2008, but this year he has actually delivered, running hard into the open holes and picking up 70 yards on 13 carries against Washington.
Cameron Marshall: Don't you love it when true freshman contribute to a big win? Marshall carried the ball 4 times, picking up 76 yards (the vast majority of which came on his 75 yard rush in the 3rd quarter that set up a Thomas Weber field goal to give us a 17-7 lead). The crowd went absolutely wild on this play.
Danny Sullivan: What?! Sullivan getting credit for something? It's true. He needed this win so badly. He threw for 263 yards and generally speaking, led the team on several lengthy drives. While I think it was great to get Samson Szakascy into the game on the option run, and I wish Brock Osweiler had received a few snaps, I think Sully competed admirably for the fightin' maroon and gold.
Lets not forget some Haterade...
The Referees: My Lord. For a few minutes there, I actually thought the fix was in. We were flagged on some rather ticky tack plays, and the crowd really let the refs have it. I have to ask, were the fans booing loudly on the TV broadcast? Because to be honest, I was too busy screaming obscenities to hear the decibel level.
And finally, just to point something out...
Vontaze Burfict is extremely talented, but he needs to check himself before he wrecks himself: He runs around like he is about to kill whoever gets in his way, and I love having him on our side. But at times last night, he was literally out of control. We cannot have him committing so many penalties. It makes us look bad and ruined several good defense stops. In time, he will be considered one of the best. For now, he needs to realize what is important- making plays before the whistle blows.
The Sun Devils are 4-2 and look primed to take on the Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto next weekend. After losing to UA last night, I believe we can take the Furd.