Losing to UA is not a good feeling for any ASU fan and as Sun Devil Nation walks away from the regular season with a bitter taste thanks to a 42-35 Wildcat victory, many heads will hang low with disappointment.
At one point this season, the Sun Devils were a legitimate contender for the College Football Playoff.
Punching in at No. 6 in the rankings after an electrifying victory over then-No. 10 Notre Dame, ASU was in a situation where winning out and upsetting Oregon in the Pac-12 title game would punch its ticket to the playoff.
Any yet, after a 9-1 start, the Sun Devils lost two of three to close out the season and will now likely be relegated to a second-tier bowl game.
Last year’s season ended in similar fashion. Although the team won its final seven games, it was promptly trounced by Stanford in the Pac-12 title game and came out flat in a 37-23 Holiday Bowl loss to Texas Tech.
Some fear that after a let down to close out the regular season, ASU’s bowl game will be an afterthought that ends in a loss just like last year.
But even though dreams of a playoff berth were never fulfilled and a Pac-12 South title was denied to them by hated UA, the Sun Devils and their fans have every reason to be proud of the 2014 season.
This was supposed to be a bridge year. The team had lost many of its defensive stars and faced a long road ahead of building its new starters into a competent unit.
Before the season, few predicted that ASU would compete for the division title, let alone the playoff. UCLA was the nation’s sleeper team from the Pac-12 South, not ASU.
Instead, the Sun Devils battled through a steep learning curve from their defensive unit and a three-game stretch without its starting quarterback to win nine games.
Along the way, there were some great moments (the Jael-Mary comes to mind) and some quality wins. The team recovered from last year’s title game letdown by beating Stanford, got similar revenge against Notre Dame with another sound victory and edged out an overtime victory against a tough Utah team.
At the end of the day, the season did end in a loss and after a shocking upset to Oregon State, the team truly never looked the same.
In the Territorial Cup game in Tucson, Todd Graham actually had to pull his starting quarterback, a move which delighted fans despite the fact that redshirt senior Taylor Kelly has set numerous school records while redshirt junior Mike Bercovici had just three starts to his name.
Such frustration leaves a well-deserved black smudge on the 2014 ledger. It’s tough to overlook the struggles of the season’s final three weeks, especially when put in the context of ASU’s magical ride to the top.
But that ride should be what fans remember, not the fall. The team wildly exceeded expectations thanks to an all-around effort by the players and coaches. Next year, with stars like junior running back D.J. Foster, redshirt junior Jordan Simone and of course, the beloved Bercovici back in action, the team will be talented and dangerous once again.
For now, it’s important not to overlook the bowl game’s importance and to take the good with the bad in a season Sun Devil fans should be proud of.
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