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Heading into the 2014 campaign, many people thought the Arizona State Sun Devils would give Oregon, UCLA, USC and Stanford a run for their money in the conference title race — they are on pace to do just that. After a 5-1 start to the season and two straight victories over ranked Pac-12 opponents, the Sun Devils are sitting pretty near the top of the conference standings.
Coming off a tough blowout loss suffered at the hands of Oregon, the Washington Huskies are looking to rebound and take down one of the conference’s elite teams at home. Chris Petersen has done a solid job in his first season as the coach of the Huskies, but he still has a lot of work to do in order to contend for conference titles.
Arizona State’s quarterbacks situation looked grim just a few short weeks ago when campus superstar Taylor Kelly went down with a somewhat-serious injury, but since then, Mike Bercovici has developed into one of the best substitute quarterbacks in the nation and an adequate replacement for Kelly next season when he goes pro. While Kelly is expected to return this week to his starting position, Bercovici will be waiting in the wings, if need be. The junior quarterback passed for 1,322 yards and 10 touchdowns in Kelly’s absence, including a 488-yard game and a 510-yard game. Jaelen Strong doesn’t care who’s throwing him the ball as long as he keeps getting targets. Strong leads the team with 49 catches for 689 yards and six touchdowns while running back D.J. Foster is second on the team with 28 catches for 372 yards and two scores. Foster also leads all rushers with 612 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
While sophomore Cyler Miles has passed for over 200 yards just once this season, he has been as accurate as they come, completing 66 percent of his passes to go along with just one interception. Miles has also passed for 1,043 yards and 10 touchdowns while the Huskies’ aerial attack ranks just 106th in the country. Jaydon Mickens is the young quarterback’s favorite target as the two have connected 36 times for 323 yards and two scores. However, John Ross leads all receivers with 373 yards and four touchdowns on just 16 catches. DiAndre Campbell is the only other receiver with over 100 yards as he has snagged 14 passes for 155 yards and a score. Losing Bishop Sankey from the run offense hurts a bit, but freshman Lavon Coleman has a bright future ahead of him — he leads the team with 438 yards and a touchdown. Miles is third on the team with 124 yards rushing and three end zone appearances.
Defensively, the Huskies have struggled some this season. Washington ranks just 56th in points allowed this season, which is surprising because they have allowed more than 45 points twice this year, as well as ranking near the bottom of the nation in total yards allowed per contest. Arizona State ranks 78th in points allowed per game as well as a less-than-impressive 85th in the country in total yards allowed per game. The crowd at Husky Stadium will be ruthless and hungry for an upset.
Arizona State will travel to Washington to take on the Huskies at 10:45 p.m. EST on Saturday, Oct. 25. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN.
PREDICTION: Arizona State 35, Washington 28
Connor Muldowney is a columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Connormuldowney, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google. You can also reach him at [email protected].
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