TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson has lost six games in a row.
He hasn’t lost his sense of humor.
Erickson had a quick reply when a school publicist opened Erickson’s weekly campus news conference on Monday by asking if reporters had any “questions for Dennis.”
“Answers for Dennis?” Erickson said. “Please give me some answers. Help.”
The schedule may provide the only answer the Sun Devils (2-6, 1-4 Pac-10) need as they try to avoid setting a school record for consecutive losses.
Next up is a trip to Washington, where the winless Huskies (0-8, 0-5) await. Then comes a visit from equally woeful Washington State, which has yet to beat a major-college opponent.
The Huskies and Cougars are two of the worst teams in Pac-10 history. Last week, Washington and Washington State lost to USC and Stanford, respectively, by a combined 114-0.
. But quarterback Rudy Carpenter said he’s not concerned about his teammates overlooking Washington this week.
“We obviously have a good opportunity to play a team and try to get back in the win column,” Carpenter said. “I hope guys aren’t overconfident. They don’t have a reason to be overconfident if they are. Our team has lost six straight games.”
It’s not the scenario many may have envisioned when Arizona State opened the season ranked 15th in The Associated Press poll. But two wins might help ease the sting of a seemingly endless losing streak the Sun Devils embarked on with a 23-20 overtime loss to UNLV back on Sept. 13.
Arizona State’s six-game skid – the losses have come to UNLV, then-No. 3 Georgia, California, then-No. 8 USC, Oregon and Oregon State – ties the school record set in 1929.
By kickoff on Saturday in Seattle, Arizona State will have gone 61 days without a victory. The Huskies are approaching the one-year anniversary of their last victory – a 37-23 win over California last Nov. 17.
“If you were going to take the game and look at it, two teams that are just dying to get a win,” Erickson said. “I don’t think it’s on national TV.”
The Sun Devils came tantalizingly close to a victory last weekend, losing to Oregon State 27-25 in Corvallis. Arizona State botched the potential tying two-point conversion with 21 seconds to go.
ormance in its last two losses, to USC by 28 points and Oregon by 34.
The loss to Oregon State extended a familiar and frustrating trend. The Sun Devils’ inept offense made five trips into the red zone but came away with only 18 points, on a touchdown and four field goals.
Arizona State ranks 65th in national red zone offense, with 23 scores (12 touchdowns and 11 field goals) in 28 trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
The Sun Devils figure to improve against the Huskies, who rank 99th in red zone defense. Washington has allowed 28 touchdowns and six field goals on 38 opponent trips to the red zone.
Carpenter said the Sun Devils have mostly stopped themselves, either with foolish penalties or an inability to run the ball effectively.
“I think it’s just a mixture of everything on offense that’s been going on all year,” he said. “It’s frustrating because we know that we leave a lot of points out there every week.”
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