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The ASU football team was going to lose to Nebraska last month no matter who started behind center.

The Sun Devils were going to bludgeon Eastern Washington regardless of who was throwing the passes.

But at some point during ASU's 46-13 win over Central Florida, head coach Dirk Koetter realized if he wanted to lead a young team loaded with potential to a winning record, he had to put sophomore Andrew Walter in at quarterback.

Forget about 2003 or 2004. This team has the talent to win now, as long as it isn't held back by a quarterback that isn't ready to start.

Maybe the best thing that could have happened to the Sun Devils this year was to fall behind against both Central Florida and San Diego State.

Had ASU hung with those teams with redshirt freshman Chad Christensen at quarterback, Koetter may not have switched to Walter. After all, Christensen is Koetter's project, the guy who will lead the Sun Devils to success over the next three years.

But falling behind against those teams necessitated a move to the stronger, more experienced Walter, and the team has responded.

The Sun Devils trailed San Diego State by 22 points when Walter entered in the second quarter. Walter threw back-to-back touchdown passes to junior wide receiver Shaun McDonald to get ASU back in the game, and the Aztecs were unable to recover.

Now is the time to start Walter.

He may be the king of comebacks right now, but Stanford (or any other Pac-10 team) will not turn the ball over five times, like San Diego State and Central Florida did. The Sun Devils will have to play sharp for four quarters, rather than waiting for Walter to come in somewhere around halftime.

ASU has a bye this week before hosting Stanford on Sept. 28. The time off should give Walter ample opportunity to recover from the knee strain that kept him from starting in San Diego.

"The bye week is going to be huge," Walter said. "They needed me (Saturday). I thought I might as well give it a chance."

Reach the reporter at hhshawk97@yahoo.com.


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