Brad Cesmat
Two mediocre football teams met on the football field in Lubbock, Texas Saturday night. Neither Arizona State or Texas Tech looked very good. The Red Raiders fumbled a ball on the inch line, wiping out a score. Tech had 4 defensive penalties on ONE scoring drive for the Sun Devils. ASU had a punt blocked, a short missed field goal, and more than a few missed tackles that led to big gains and scores. This game was like watching pigs kiss. The Red Raiders would get the lipstick at the end of the night, winning 52-45, dropping Arizona State to 1-2 on the season.Todd Grahams team has allowed a combined 113 points in 3 weeks to 3 teams that WERE NOT ranked in the Top 25.
However, I will give the coach some credit, Arizona State kept on playing through mistakes and injuries Saturday night. It would’ve been very easy for ASU to roll over, but that didn’t happen. They were in position to escape with a road win. Pretty or not.
Wilkins to Harry, Wilkins to Harry.
REAL. DEAL. N'KEAL. @footballasu has TIED the game. #ASUvsTTU
(? @foxsports) pic.twitter.com/AeyHrDWHSO
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) September 17, 2017
That was the call of the night when ASU had the ball.The quarterback found the former Chandler wide receiver again and again(13 catches, 148 yards and a TD). I thought the offensive line was better than last week(couldn’t have been much worse), but again the competition on Saturday night wasn’t nearly as a strong as what’s coming down the road towards Graham.
The defense, without Koron Crump(injured early) was not good for about the first two and a half quarters. Outside of the winning touchdown drive late, there was big improvement. Look, we all know what’s going on here. Graham is coaching for his job and the team isn’t winning. As they say, “close” doesn’t count except in horseshoes and hand grenades. Next week Oregon comes to the Valley. Show us something…
