Our two aspiring football teams traveled to hostile stadiums over the weekend. Both struggled mightily with Southern inhospitality and inferior opponents.
One of them came home without the flesh wounds and scar tissue.
The Cardinals are 1-0 after surviving a tight game against the lowly Saints on Sunday in New Orleans. It wasn’t convincing. It wasn’t pretty. But after watching the Sun Devils cough up a victory in SEC country less than 24 hours earlier, it was more than enough.
It was a tough weekend to process for Valley football fans. ASU’s defeat in Starkville, Mississippi was crushing and atrocious. The Sun Devils were out of sorts early, thrown off by the din of cowbell inside a raucous stadium, and quarterback Sam Leavitt looked nothing like a Heisman Trophy candidate. While the Sun Devils rallied behind a robust running game in the second half, they self-destructed at the end for the second time in their past three games.
ASU’s defensive coordinator needs to learn the art of closing out high-profile games without compromising his scheme and leaving his players exposed. Head coach Kenny Dillingham also deserves his share of blame for agitating the opposing fan base into a state of delirium earlier in the week, no matter how innocuous his comments seemed early in the week. A friend of mine attended the game and said it was the loudest stadium event he had witnessed since AC/DC in 2008.
No one said it would be easy for ASU’s ballyhooed encore in 2025, and a non-conference road loss to an SEC team is nothing ASU can’t overcome. But they have a lot of work in front of them, and very little margin for error.
The Cardinals weren’t so dramatic, but they weren’t much better. They entered Sunday’s game as the biggest road favorite in the NFL. They played well at times. The defense allowed only 13 points. Trey Benson ripped off a 52-yard run. Cornerback Will Johnson shrugged off a rough preseason with an excellent debut. Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride posted strong performances.
But they still needed a dropped touchdown pass from the Saints’ Juwan Johnson in the closing seconds to prevail. And in what should be a make-or-break season, Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was just OK. He completed 21 passes for only 163 yards and was sacked five times. And forward we march.
In football, you don’t nitpick over close victories in hostile environments. It is bad form to complain about road victories, no matter how appalling, no matter how much they lack style points.
When a rough weekend of football concluded in Arizona, we had learned that lesson once again.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.
