After starting the season 2-2 in non-conference play, things have started to get ugly in Tempe ever since the Devils lost to UNLV.  The Pac-10 season has hit Arizona State like a bad winter, and they've yet to find a win, although they've played three of the better teams in the conference.

Again, let's take a look at some postgame excepts from House of Sparky to get an idea of how things are going in Tempe.

California 24, ASU 14

Ugh, what a disappointment. With a chance to turn the season around...wait, let me rephrase that - with a must-win game to turn this season around, ASU went into Berkeley and did not just lose - but embarassed themselves. A terrible performance with the worst part being that anyone watching the game saw tons of opportunities that the Devils just let slip away. I like the way the team was coached today, despite the loss, I really think the problem was the players and their lack of execution.

Lets start with a few positives.

 

• uhh.....
  
• Hmm...
  
• WAIT!
  
• No.. that was a negative...
  
• ok, ok.. fine

USC 28, Arizona State 0

Rudy got his ass beat.


Danny Sullivan DESPERATELY needs to work on his timing


The Pass defense - the rush and secondary - looked fantastic against a very good USC team.


the Rush defense was ok, hard to contain McKnight.


Mike Jones sucks.


Keegan Herring is a wuss, but our running game is not the same without him.


Nance played decently.


Our offense needs to be retooled.

However, one commenter had an entirely different thought:

As a number "9" post-game thought, it was pretty apparent that at least on the offensive side of the ball, the Sun Devils were not very well coached. Dennis Erickson has yet to come up with a game plan that is flexible and adapts to the defense his team is facing. I would also note, that one ESPN commentator after the game, opined that this ASU team isn’t as "talented" as other ASU teams of the past. I don’t know if that’s the case — but they sure don’t seem to be very well prepared.

Oregon 54, Arizona State 20

The good news is that our secondary is respected and Oregon did not have a ton of success throwing the ball. You know why, though? Because they did not have to. Swing passes and play action fakes were the name of the game, and the Duck offense executed in ways ASU could never imagine doing.

I don't want to go slapping Oregon on the back too much, however. I feel like the Sun Devil offense was as inept as ever, and they only scored the first touchdown because of a great effort by Morris Wooten to get the ball to the one-yard line on a spirited interception.

I already berated the offense enough last night, though. We all know we're failing miserably. One can only hope that recruitment isn't being hurt by these poor showings. At least it wasn't on TV... But I know that there was a presence of potential recruits watching this game, and they could not have been even the least bit impressed.

And that brings us up to date. 

If anything, the Sun Devils will be embarrassed and angry on Saturday. Or maybe they won't- maybe they've already thrown it in for this season, at 2-5 overall.

It appears the Sun Devils have hit rock bottom- there's no way these guys should be able to beat the Beavers right now, theoretically. Could they possibly play worse than they did against Cal? USC? Oregon?

Will we receive the wrath of their anger, or add fuel to the fire?