ASU fans have seen this story before

Penalties, turnovers and missed opportunities.

W

hile that sentence sums up the 2010 ASU football season, it also describes Saturday’s 17-14 loss to Illinois.

After an emotional overtime win against Missouri, things seemed to be different in Tempe for the 2011 season; the Sun Devils looked like a team that had learned how to win.

But after this week three loss, fans are left questioning which game was a fluke and which represented the true nature of this team.

Are the 2011 Sun Devils the same team that overcame mistakes and found a way to win, as great teams often do, against the Tigers?

Or, are they the team that lost to Illinois and provided fans with an all too familiar reminder of 2010?

While fans may have their doubt, junior quarterback Brock Osweiler believes the loss to Illinois was not the true Sun Devil football team.

"I’m not concerned about that at all," Osweiler said when asked if Saturday’s loss was a sign of reverting to old habits. "I have a pretty strong gut feeling that we’re going to take care of those mistakes and clean them up."

I

t may be reassuring for some to hear confidence spewing from the quarterback, but the mistakes cannot be ignored.

ASU committed eight penalties for 91 yards.

They missed a 32-yard field goal.

They turned the ball over three times and only made three trips to the red zone.

In those three red zone trips, the Sun Devils only scored seven points.

"Obviously we left points on the board," Osweiler said. "Hopefully those mistakes don’t happen again. You’ve just got to move on and get better from it."

It is yet to be seen how the Sun Devils will bounce back from the heartbreaking loss, but there is no time to sulk as a very talented USC team makes their way to Tempe this week.

The unsuccessful road trip squashed ASU’s slim hopes for a national championship, but their goals of a Pac-12 South title and a Rose Bowl berth are all still very much alive.