A lot has changed since ASU, UW last faced off in Tempe
Oct 13, 2017, 8:45 AM | Updated: 11:30 am
Arizona State's Kweishi Brown, right, signals an incomplete pass after he striped the ball from Washington's Jaydon Mickens, left, during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
In 2015, Arizona State and Washington both had the same 4-5 record going into their mediocre mid-November matchup.
At least it seemed mediocre at the time. With hindsight, it was an important game for both teams.
The Sun Devils entered that Saturday with a three-game losing streak, their longest slide at the time since Todd Graham’s first season in Tempe in 2012.
ASU bounced back from a 17-0 deficit to beat the Huskies, 27-17. It showed the Sun Devils had some resiliency, it showed they still had some fight in them, which some doubted after a lackluster loss the week before at Washington State.
Arizona State took the momentum and knocked off its rival from Tucson the following week.
Although the Sun Devils lost their last two games in 2015, they were tough losses no one can be ashamed of, with a two-point drop at California and a one-point loss to West Virginia in the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl. ASU got off to a hot start the next year and won its first four games, five of its first six.
Now the Sun Devils are trying to find their identity, winning just two out of their last 11 games.
The Huskies, meanwhile, took a big jump on their long term success that night.
UW has gone 21-2 since that day, spending 23 straight weeks in the AP Top 25 — and 22 of those as a top-ten team. They’re 6-0 and ranked fifth in the nation entering Saturday’s showdown in Tempe.
So yes, that mid-November game wasn’t eye-popping, but a deeper look shows it might have kickstarted the Huskies’ dominance.
ASU and UW will kick off at 7:45 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station and televised on ESPN.
