The State of ASU football in November 2009 is in disarray.

Sure, we know that we’re playing a ton of young players – for the second year in a row – and that Dennis Erickson has only been here for three seasons. That recruiting is generally better than it’s been and that we’re landing some players, like Vontaze Burfict, that this school hasn’t before. That Dennis Erickson is not a loser, and that he’s won everywhere he’s coached. Except for the pros, of course.

In short, we know that things won’t always be this way. Or at least, that’s what we’re told, and what we tell ourselves.

But it’s not clear that a better future is ensured. A few thoughts:

There is no way we will win with Rich Olsen

Since arriving on campus, offensive coordinator Rich Olsen has been downright offensive. Known for its proliferation under Dirk Koetter, ASU’s offensive has simply gotten worse and worse under Erickson’s tenure. I think we generally have better players than we did five years ago. Unfortunately, we just don’t have better coaches. Rich Olsen tops the list of duds.

The scheme the team is able to run continues to decline, and Erickson’s to the point that he needed to run down to Texas for a refresher course on being an offensive coordinator. Then he told Olsen go sit in the booth and pretend to do something. Of course, Erickson calling the plays hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire either, but then again, that’s not supposed to be his job. Olsen is simply dead weight.

Erickson needs to right this ship and fast – and the clear and obvious path towards that is firing Olsen and finding a young and innovative young coach to replace him. Or at least one that can recruit.

Dimitri Nance

I’ve never been much of a fan of Dimitri Nance, but I think he’s made some serious strides this year. He dances in the hole much less than he used, and his vision has been a pleasant surprise. At times, he can run very hard and pick up those extra yards. He’s done a fabulous job of blocking for a running back. But finally, he just has some balance troubles. He often goes down when there was only minor contact, and often mindboggingly easily. It’d be great if he could turn on some afterburners, too, as the tv looks like it’s on slo-mo while Nance is running the ball.

Penalties, penalties, penalties

It’s sickening how many penalties we get each game. You can’t beat the other team if you’re always beating yourselves. This needs to stop. Period.

Developing the younger players

The most annoying thing about this season is that we’re only half-heartedly playing the younger guys. Sure, we’re taking our lumps with their inexperience, but the problem is that the players we have been playing don’t seem to be getting any better. The only two players on the team that seem to have gotten better since Erickson has arrived are Trevor Hankins and Mike Nixon. Nance and others have made some minor strides, but it’s clear that few of them are developing in line with their potential. Some other coaches in the conference (I’m looking at you, Mike Riley and Jim Harbaugh) routinely get more from their players. Our coaching staff seems to get far far less.

The coaching hot seat?

So is Dennis Erickson on the coaching hot seat? No.

But fans are getting very concerned, and while Lisa Love may not be considering a change, she definitely knows that fans aren’t happy. Ticket sales are way down, there’s little excitement around the program and the boos rain freely down in the first quarter of home games.

To survive and prosper, Erickson needs to make some serious changes. And before a third straight disappointing season begins.

It was one of the most baffling plays to win a game. Embattled quarterback Danny Sullivan, who was booed by the home crowd during the video introductions, connected with flu-stricken but wide open Chris McGaha for a 50-yard touchdown to take the lead with only :05 seconds left to play.

What a night of elation Danny Sullivan must have had. It’s not redemption, at least not in the eyes of the fans, but it sure must have felt good to celebrate with the stadium and hear the “Dan-Ny, Sulli-Van” chant from the student section.

Other notes:

• Chris McGaha is the only person I want making that catch. The ball hung up there for days, long enough for fans to imagine Chris tripping on the goalline or some other calamity before returning to reality – this is Chris McGaha. He makes the impossible catch look routine. Touchdown.
• Vontaze Burfict is a beast, but an uncontrolled beast. Mike Nixon needs to mentor him on being a leader on the field. Burfict’s penalties really hurt the team. His post-play rowdiness and antics get old quickly. And his cheap shot against Locker was, dare I say it, classless.
• The Devils allowed an inferior team to hang around, even when they clearly seemed to be dominating. This team lacks a killer instinct. Nonetheless, a win is a win.
• The referees continue to amaze. Several horrendous calls out there, including a defensive pass interference call that was beyond ridiculous.
• Dennis Erickson is the king of quotes after a game like this.

To say it was a frustrating, disappointing and ultimately futile night is a substantial understatement. The first half was one of the most tragic of recent memory, the officiating downright mind-boggling, and the quarterback play saddening.

Danny Sullivan has worked hard. He’s does all that he can. But it’s just not enough. Sullivan simply doesn’t have the accuracy necessary to make this offense go, and the defense can’t be expected to carry the team game in and game out. He doesn’t make costly mistakes, but he also doesn’t make the plays that you need him to. The quarterback position is clearly the weakest link on the team and unless we can play small out-of-conference schools like Louisiana-Monroe every week, Erickson’s going to have back-to-back losing seasons. He needs to give Brock Osweiller a shot – and at least get him some experience for the future.

Nonetheless Erickson manages to land a highly touted five star JC defensive end, Bruce Irvin. Irvin switched his commitment from Tennessee to ASU during the weekend – the only piece of good news to come out of the weekend.

After the Georgia game, I was cautiously optimistic that we might be able to exceed my 5-7 prediction for the season, but after the performance on Saturday, I’m just hoping we can attain that low bar.

Another lower tier opponent, another win.

There wasn’t much drama in this one. ASU’s Omar Bolden returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and there wasn’t any looking back. That’s probably a good thing, because it wasn’t much closer to halftime that the Devils had actually put the game out of reach.

It wasn’t as clear of a victory as Idaho State had been, but ASU did what it needed to in what could have been a dangerous trap game. Danny Sullivan looked much crisper, the running game – especially Dimitri Nance – was effective, and the defense continued to show that they can be something special.

Nonetheless, the stands were pretty empty and there’s still very little buzz about the Sun Devils this year. I’m still predicting a season ending record around .500, but given the two victories and a first-ever roadtrip to Georgia on the horizon, you’d expect a bit more from fans.

Hell, they should be showing up just to see true freshman phenom Vontaze Burfict step onto the field. He’s been stellar – better than advertised, actually, which is pretty amazing feat given the hype that surrounded his signing.

Dennis Erickson seems to be doing fine calling plays, with what’s seemed like a slow rollout of the playbook. Chris McGaha is back to making his circus catches. It’s hard to tell given the competition level thus far, but the offensive line hasn’t been overly offensive, an improvement over the previous two years.

That being said, the pass rush needs to improve. With such a heralded defense, and plenty of depth in the line, you’d expect ASU to have been setting sack records against the likes of ISU and UML. The pass protection still needs to improve. And while Sully has done a great job of managing the game – throwing the ball away and failing to turn the ball – he still has some growing to do. I’d especially like to see him connect on the deep ball with one of the talented receivers.

All in all, it’s about what you’d expect from an ASU team that’s likely to finish in the middle of the pack.

1. The Defense will lead the team. It’s painfully obvious that the offense is not the strength of the 2009 team. The defense will clearly carry the team – something we’re not used to seeing from an ASU team. However, for all of the ways that Erickson has failed to field a really competitive offense (at least since Ryan Torain went down), he’s done a stellar job of upgrading the defense. This is the fastest defense we’ve seen from ASU in quite a while.

2. Danny Sullivan and Dimitri Nance shouldn’t be the starters. Both have been in the program long enough to get the nod if talent levels are the same. However, at least on the field tonight, neither were tops in their respective positions. Nance had a difficult time finding the hole but looked better than he actually was given the competition. The other backs wowed on several plays; they’re the future and we need them to play.

Also assisted by a lesser opponent, Sullivan ended the night with somewhat respectable numbers, despite looking much worse in person. He seemed either quickly flustered in the pocket or slow to react to oncoming pressure. He zipped the balls when a bit more touch was necessary, making several attempted catches much harder than they needed to be. Brock, on the other hand, seemed very composed in the pocket and completed several passes in spite of pressure that would have resulted in a sack with Sullivan. His touchdown pass was a top-quality pass, anticipating the hole and lofting it perfectly in between two-deep coverage. He is clearly the future and it would be best for Sun Devil football to get him as many reps this season as possible.

3. Mike Nixon is still a stud. He’s smart – football smart, and very mature. He’s not the fastest, not the strongest, not the largest, but he just makes plays after plays. He has that Tillman/Archuleta quality of just being in the right place and doing the right thing at the right time.

4. Vontaze Burflict is the real deal. First play from scrimmage, he lays a big hit on the quarterback. Second play, he recovers a fumble. Let the hitting begin, this guys going to be catching the eyes of lots of people. He is a stud.

5. There’s a lot to be tightened up. And it all starts with the pregame, which the stadium crew flubbed. The kick return coverage seemed effective, but at times, dangerously close to losing the returner to a long long gain. Receivers dropped countless passes. Hell, even Weber missed a short FG attempt. In order to win some PAC10 games, we’ll need to tighten things up.