Dennis Erickson's Sun Devils riding a six-game losing streak

In 19 years and seven different college head-coaching stints, Dennis Erickson has earned a reputation for orchestrating rapid turnarounds. ¶ But this isn't quite what he had in mind at Arizona State.

A year after guiding ASU to a 10-3 record and winning his third Pac-10 Coach of the Year award, Erickson's Sun Devils are among the biggest disappointments in college football as they come to Husky Stadium on Saturday.

ASU is 2-6 overall, having lost six in a row after a 2-0 start, not only the longest losing streak of Erickson's college career but also tied for the longest in the history of the program.

"We didn't expect this to happen," Erickson said.

In fact, the expectations ASU had for this season were more reminiscent of what happened in Erickson's second year at some of his other stops, such as a 9-3 season at WSU in 1988 or 11-1 at Oregon State in 2000.

"We definitely thought we were a BCS contender this year," said sophomore cornerback Omar Bolden.

Instead, a shocking 23-20 overtime home loss to 26-point underdog UNLV on Sept. 13 — when the Sun Devils appeared to get caught looking ahead to an apparent showdown with Georgia the following week — sent the team off the rails.

ASU was beaten easily by Georgia, then lost to California (24-14), USC (28-0) and Oregon (54-20) before losing 27-25 at Oregon State on Saturday when it failed on a two-point play to tie in the final minute.

But while there was some progress in Corvallis, moral victories aren't what the team figured it would be getting this deep into the season.

"Sept. 6 is the last time we won a game," Erickson mused this week. "That's a long time. Golly, I don't remember that ever happening."

In fact, Erickson's previous worst streak was a five-gamer at Idaho in 2006, his lone season in his second stint in Moscow with what was a down program. The only other time he lost as many as four in a row in his college career was in 1987 in his first year at Washington State.

Washington offensive coordinator Tim Lappano was an assistant with Erickson at four of his college stops, and the two talk regularly.

"He's never been through anything like this," Lappano said of Erickson, who has had only three losing seasons in his college career. "I know that it weighs on him."

ASU was ranked as high as No. 15 in the country. But even then, some wondered about the aspect of the team that has become one of the biggest reasons for its failure — an inexperienced offensive line. After last season, ASU graduated offensive linemen who had combined for 127 career starts.

"We've just got a lot of young guys," Erickson said.

That has led to a running attack that is ninth in the Pac-10 at 85.9 yards per game and turned senior quarterback Rudy Carpenter into a man on the run much of the season. The Sun Devils' quarterbacks have been sacked 23 times.

"When you're struggling on the offensive line, it's hard to do a lot of different things," Erickson said.

ASU also benefited greatly in 2007 from a schedule that included eight home games (six of the first eight games were at home). The Sun Devils won all eight of those games before losing three of five when the schedule toughened.

The schedule wasn't as favorable this year — after the home loss to Georgia, ASU played four of five on the road.

The offensive ineptitude has put a lot of pressure on an ASU defense that Lappano says "is better than advertised." ASU is giving up an average of 26.6 points, but has allowed more than 28 only once — the 54-20 loss to Oregon.

Bolden said the team still thinks it can get to a bowl game by winning its last four, saying "our confidence is rattled, but we haven't lost it at all."

And the schedule now is a little easier for the Sun Devils — after UW, ASU welcomes Washington State and UCLA followed by a season-ending game at Arizona.

Asked this week about getting a chance to get healthy on some of the bottom teams in the conference, however, Erickson didn't try to spin his team's status.

"We happen to be in that category," Erickson said. "So when you're playing a guy in the same category as you are, you can't say very much. I'm sure they are looking at us and saying, 'Wow, we've got a chance to win this one.' So it's all relative."

NOTES

• From the "when it rains, it pours" department, UW defensive coordinator Ed Donatell revealed Wednesday that defensive tackle Cameron Elisara was injured during pregame warmups Saturday, the second straight week UW has lost a tackle during warmups — Senio Kelemete was injured the week before. Elisara started the game and played a little while before leaving with a neck injury. Donatell said the team could "do the same drill for 100 years and not see that." Elisara could be back this week, however.

• UW coach Tyrone Willingham, asked his reaction about the election of Barack Obama, said, "It is hard for anybody in this country not to have some type of reaction to it, and mine is it's a great day for America because now what is written in the Constitution now comes to life."

• Kicker Ryan Perkins, who has a year of eligibility remaining, has apparently decided to be honored as a senior at the final home game Nov. 15, meaning UW's next coach might be searching for a kicker.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com