The ASU football team (2-1) isn’t interested in moral victories.

Despite taking now-No. 18 Georgia down to the wire in the Bulldogs’ hostile home stadium on Saturday, Sun Devil coach Dennis Erickson, still stung by the heartbreaking 20-17 last-second defeat, said just playing well wasn’t what his team expected out of itself when it kicked off between the hedges in Athens.

“We lost, and that’s the bottom line as far as I’m concerned,” Erickson said during his weekly press conference on Monday. “We had a chance to win that football game, and we weren’t going down there with the idea to do anything but win that football game. We didn’t do it at the end when we had the opportunity.”

Erickson’s disappointment in falling short against the Bulldogs shouldn’t be confused for frustration about the way his team played, though. He said he’s just ready to move forward.

“I thought our guys played extremely hard,” the coach said. “As far as I’m concerned, that game is behind us. We learned something from it, but it makes no difference now.”

Luckily for the Sun Devils, a chance to douse the frustration is five days away when ASU opens up its Pac-10 schedule on Saturday against Oregon State (2-2, 0-1 Pac-10) at Sun Devil Stadium.

The Beavers are coming off a 37-32 loss to UA at home on Saturday and have lost 17 straight games to ASU in Tempe.

Given the unpredictability of the conference early in the season — which featured another set of surprising outcomes over the weekend — the Sun Devils head into the league schedule confident they can make noise in the Pac-10.

“It’s going to set up for an exciting nine weeks,” senior quarterback Danny Sullivan said. “Usually you get about three teams that really have a legit chance to win the Pac-10. You’re looking at it now and every team is a player. Any team can go out and win the Pac-10 right now. It’s going to set up for some good competition.”

Last season, ASU opened up Pac-10 play with a 41-17 dismantling of Stanford, but after two devastating losses to UNLV and Georgia, the Sun Devils began the bulk of their conference schedule on a downslide.

The team has a more positive mindset this season heading into what figures to be a wide-open field.

“I think our level of confidence going into the Pac-10 is way better,” Sullivan said. “It’s just a matter of getting myself ready to go.”

Line banged up

In addition to losing the game to UGA, ASU took some hits to its offensive line, which could shake up the complexion of the unit come Saturday.

Sophomore guard Matt Hustad (knee), junior guard Jon Hargis (shoulder) and senior center Thomas Altieri (knee) were all injured in Saturday’s game.

Though Altieri and Hargis, whose shoulder popped out of place several times during the game, returned to action against UGA, Erickson said both are questionable heading into the tilt with the Beavers.

Hustad, who has battled with injuries since arriving at ASU, will not play against OSU.

Sophomore guard Zach Schlink has yet to play this year due to injury and will not be ready for Saturday’s contest, Erickson said.

Sophomore offensive lineman Garth Gerhart (toe) has a chance to play Saturday, Erickson said.

With all the injuries up front, the Sun Devils will likely have to rely on reserves Mike Marcisz (sophomore) and Patrick Jamison (redshirt freshman) to pick up the slack.

“They have to step up and play,” Erickson said of the reserves. “That’s the way this game is. If someone gets hurt, you’ve got to step up and play. It seems to happen more for us in that position than other positions.”

Love from Lefty

One of ASU’s most famous alums was patrolling the Sun Devil sideline during Saturday’s game in Georgia.

Golfer Phil Mickelson, who was competing in the PGA Tour Championship in nearby Atlanta, was close to the action and did everything he could to cheer on his alma mater.

“It was so funny, I came off the field after throwing the touchdown pass, and he came over and high-fived me,” Sullivan said. “It was crazy because I didn’t even know he was there.”

Perhaps Mickelson was inspired by the interaction with his former school. The PGA star returned to Atlanta on Sunday and posted a final-round 65 to win the event by three strokes over Tiger Woods.

Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu.