ASU football coach Dirk Koetter made a major error Sunday in changing his mind on the Sun Devils' starting quarterback.
Not only is senior Sam Keller the superior quarterback over sophomore Rudy Carpenter, Keller is the face of the team.
What manager Ozzie Guillen is to the Chicago White Sox, Sam Keller is to the ASU football team.
Both are talented, supremely confident and never afraid to bite their tongues when dropping a tasty quote on the media.
Never mind Keller says things like, "They gave me too much time," such as he did in a postgame interview as an explanation for his standout performance in the 2004 Sun Bowl.
And while you're being forgetful, try to look past Keller's over-the-top celebrations that consist of pointing to the student section after tossing touchdown passes.
The bottom line is, Keller can play ball. He knows it, Koetter knows it and the LSU defense - that Keller torched for 461 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in a game last September - knows it all too well.
When Keller held the wheel to ASU's ship last season, he guided it through the storm of some of the top defenses on the schedule such as the Tigers, USC and Oregon.
Although he struggled in the second half against USC, the Trojans were the second best team in the nation last season. You can cut Keller some slack on that.
Carpenter did a lot of great things while guest starring in the quarterback role when Keller's season ended prematurely with a thumb injury. But you can't get too excited about what happened on the field under Carpenter's watch.
ASU's four wins during Carpenter's five-game reign as starter in 2005 were against the ultra-Charmin-soft defenses of Washington, Washington State, UA and Rutgers.
Despite the emotion surrounding his and Carpenter's position battle, Keller understands the big picture.
Like a veteran NFL quarterback trying to fight off the incoming No. 1 draft pick (See: Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart), Keller did everything he could to hold off the tough competition and keep a grip on his job.
Instead of being offended that his position was even up for grabs, Keller used it as an excuse to improve.
"That guy (Carpenter) is special," Keller said. "Because of him I got better."
The quarterback controversy reminds me of a similar situation the San Francisco 49ers faced in the early the '90s, when they had two capable starters in Joe Montana and Steve Young.
Young was clearly talented enough to play at a high level, much like Carpenter is now. However, Keller, like Montana, is the leader of the team and still has his best years ahead of him.
Benching Keller before his senior season is as good an idea as spending $10 to go see "Snakes on a Plane."
Carpenter is indeed the future of the program and will develop nicely with the young stars of the team like tailback Keegan Herring and wide receiver Mike Jones.
But just because he is the future does not make him the present. That would be Keller, the most polished quarterback in Tempe, the quarterback that has served longest in Koetter's complex offense and the best quarterback to see the field this season for the Sun Devils.
Reach the reporter at Edward.Price@asu.edu.
