ASU not concerned about history in Berkeley
Sep 25, 2012, 8:56 PM | Updated: 10:05 pm
To accurately sum up the last time the Arizona State Sun Devils won a game in Berkeley against the Cal Golden Bears, we can summon the lyrics of the band Staind.
“It’s been awhile…”
A while for the Sun Devils is 15 years. ASU’s last win over Cal at Memorial Stadium came on November 8, 1997 — a win led by the likes of Ryan Kealy and J.R. Redmond.
The Sun Devils are 0-5 in the East Bay since that game, and have lost by an average score of 35-15.
Despite that bleak track record, the Sun Devils aren’t concerned. Coming off a convincing conference-opening win over Utah last Saturday, Todd Graham’s team is confident they can grab a win at Cal.
“I don’t even think about that,” Graham said at his weekly press conference Monday. “I guess when you’re involved in coaching a football team you realize that what you did last year really doesn’t have anything to do with what you’re doing this year.”
Defensive tackle Will Sutton agrees with his head coach. “It’s just another game and we’ve just got to go out there and prepare like any other game. We’ve got to focus, get into film study — we’ve got to do whatever it takes to help us win this game.”
Senior linebacker Brandon Magee has seen his team fall in Berkeley twice since he’s been a Sun Devil. In his freshman year (although he didn’t play), ASU lost 24-14. During his junior season in 2010, the Golden Bears embarrassed the Devils 50-17, despite Magee leading the team with 13 tackles and a quarterback sack.
Magee also says the history doesn’t matter.
“I’m not worried about that,” he said. “New coach, new era, new everything. We’re going out there to show them what we can do this season, and we just want to win. That’s all we’re worried about is getting a win.”
