The ASU football team hung by a frail thread in 2009, with five of its 12 games decided by seven points or less.

Senior receiver and returner Kyle Williams’ costly muffed punt epitomized not only the slim margin ASU attempted to live on each week, but also seemingly represented consistent self-damaging reflexes that often left the team with little hope of victory.

ASU lost four of five games decided by a score or less. Glaring miscues played a significant role in each of the losses.

In Saturday’s 20-17 heartbreaking loss to UA (7-4, 5-3 Pac-10) it was a new set of mistakes.

After taking the opening drive 56 yards on six plays, the Sun Devils (4-8, 2-7) stalled at the Wildcat 14-yard line. A false start on junior Thomas Weber’s first field-goal attempt moved the team back to the 19-yard line.

The 2007 Lou Groza award winner missed wide left after the penalty.

Later in the game, junior punter Trevor Hankins, whose muffed punt inside ASU’s re zone earlier in the year against Oregon State helped create an insurmountable deficit, had his punt blocked in the second quarter, leading to the Wildcats’ second and final touchdown.

Williams’ first brilliant touchdown catch in the fourth quarter put ASU within five points, but his unsportsmanlike penalty for taking his helmet off on the field in celebration put the Sun Devils out of two-point attempt range.

Senior quarterback Danny Sullivan revealed in his postgame press conference that the team would have gone for two had they been in range—potentially putting the team within three points.

“It’s basically a season where nothing went our way,” Sullivan said. “You look at so many close games this year, four games of five points or less. It’s not fair.”

While ASU can lament about not getting breaks, it did win a game against Washington on the last play when UW broke its coverage.

Erickson said he’d never experienced anything like it in his coaching career.

“This is by far the worst as far as [losing close games],” he said. “Bottom line is the games that we lost, we didn’t make plays at the end.”

Those on the bright side may say that ASU could just as easily have won two of the close games it lost and qualified for a bowl, which given the transitions that occurred with the offensive system, quarterback and offensive line, would have been an overwhelming success.

However, one could also say it was not so much the plays the Sun Devils didn’t make as it was the negative plays they did.
Penalties.

“They continued to happen, and it’s something I will have to get straightened out,” Erickson said.

The veteran coach had to answer questions about penalties from the first game of the season.

The Sun Devils finished 120th out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in penalty yardage and tied for last in overall penalties.

In all but two games, a win against lowly conference foe Washington State early in the year and a loss last week to UCLA, the Sun Devils had at least eight penalties.

On Saturday, ASU racked up 10 more yellow-flags, the fourth time the Sun Devils compiled double-digit laundry.

“I have to sit down next week and look at where we are at and steps we have to do to get better,” Erickson said. “We can’t stay where we are. We have to get better.”

Reach the reporter at nick.ruland@asu.edu