I thought I'd give my two cents as someone who was there to provide some context to this game. I'm not certain those who were sitting in their easy chairs back in the Valley really saw everything that was going on in this game.
Do we need a lot of work still? Undoubtedly. However don't poo-poo this win as something we shouldn't come away with pleased. In the past I think this would've been a game we lost, but THIS year's team didn't give up! We did it by playing steady defense in the second and fourth and our offense clicked just enough late in the game to come back.
The best part in how we came back in this one IMHO was that it wasn't in any flashy way. We didn't have the huge pick six, we didn't have the seventy yard rush up the middle breaking tackles....we played steady and consistent and UTSA couldn't keep up with us.
I'm also happy this was Manny's first exposure to a road game rather than the Coliseum, Autzen, or Husky Stadium. I think this experience will be invaluable to him.
This was the first real road test for our young team and while they didn't pass it with flying colors....they did pass it. Plenty to learn, plenty to take away, and plenty to still be proud of. Now we regroup, get ready for Cal and then get ready to go 4-0.
One last thing to takeaway.....remember the rats barely escaped with a win here two years ago and went on to win the South Division.
- Not sure if it showed up on TV, but the Alamodome crowd was HOSTILE. The place was very loud and rocking. The San Antonio fans showed up ready to make some noise and make this a miserable place for the Sun Devils to play. While the crowd was small, the noise was reminiscent of a Power 5 stadium.
- The Road Runners came out fired up. You could tell this was the game they had circled on their calendar.
- The Sun Devils WEREN'T fired up and it took a while for our fans to even get in the game. Towards the end of the game we were very fired up however and made our presence known. I think our guys fed off that to some extent.
- Things looked very bleak from our section when we were down 28-12 late in the third quarter. UTSA fans were making slashing gestures towards us like they thought they had it in the bag and at that point they looked to be right.
- Officiating was horrible. Yes I know that shouldn't dictate the game but....the officiating did suck for whatever that was worth.
Do we need a lot of work still? Undoubtedly. However don't poo-poo this win as something we shouldn't come away with pleased. In the past I think this would've been a game we lost, but THIS year's team didn't give up! We did it by playing steady defense in the second and fourth and our offense clicked just enough late in the game to come back.
The best part in how we came back in this one IMHO was that it wasn't in any flashy way. We didn't have the huge pick six, we didn't have the seventy yard rush up the middle breaking tackles....we played steady and consistent and UTSA couldn't keep up with us.
I'm also happy this was Manny's first exposure to a road game rather than the Coliseum, Autzen, or Husky Stadium. I think this experience will be invaluable to him.
This was the first real road test for our young team and while they didn't pass it with flying colors....they did pass it. Plenty to learn, plenty to take away, and plenty to still be proud of. Now we regroup, get ready for Cal and then get ready to go 4-0.
One last thing to takeaway.....remember the rats barely escaped with a win here two years ago and went on to win the South Division.
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