I guess I disagree with you on ASU outclassing us with the obvious exception of Skattebo. We were Beau Freyler making a bad decision on a 4th and 1 (no one watching on TV or in the stadium was expecting ASU to take a deep shot so I don’t really blame him all that much) and a brutal missed PI away from that first half looking extremely different.
Sorry, but no. We had shown ZERO ability to stop them before the Freyler play. FG, TD. Leavitt was giving us fits with his ability to throw and run. The only thing those plays do is keep it closer... it was Kansas. Where its either 45-36 or as it was, That was a awful matchup for our defense in the state of the game that it was.
You're also assuming in your scenario we score on both of those drives. Whose to say, hypothetically, we don't miss a FG cause we have a holding penalty after the 4th down stop or we fumble or throw a pick 6, like at Utah following the PI?
This idea that 1-2 calls magically causes everything else to go well for the rest of the game is fun as a fan, granted, but not rooted in reality. We had scored on them before like we might have done with the PI call, they went right down the field and answered. We stopped them in the 2nd half, we went 3 and out , they went right down the field and scored. Not to mention in that scenario, if 2 calls go our way, whose to say a couple things they probably would say could have helped them don't always go differently? Maybe one of those batted passes gets picked off in the first half? The what if game is fun but very rarely in my experiences is it ever valid when one team is very clearly on that given day just ahead of you at the races, which is what they were and credit to them. I don't think they are that much better if we played them 10 times, I think we probably win four times out of 10, and if we were healthy, its a push. But on that given day, yeah, at no point watching that game did I believe the outcome would be different because no matter what happens there's one thing you have to remember... 4th down stop and we score, its a 1 score game. PI call, its a tie game...
and Mr. Skattebo is coming back onto the field. We, like 99% of the teams they played, had zero answers for that dude. That's why I say those 2 plays don't entirely matter. Cause we didn't have the personnel available on Saturday to make it matter when he's lurking on the SL. That's what makes players like that special.
Against Texas Tech where it ends up being a 1 point game? Yes. A blown call or 1-2 mistakes make a difference. But where as one team shows you multiple, multiple times you have no answers defensively - I'm sorry, but not.
They beat our a**. I don't see either play as game changing. The ONLY scenario where I see the outcome being different is the 3 and out after the stop. We at least manage to run out the clock, get to half, and then get the ball back without a turnover, its a one score game and our defense is off the field for 5-10 minutes of game time, closer to 30-40 minutes of real time. In that scenario,
MAYBE we can derail the train. And that's a big maybe. But that's the only scenario because of the rest it allows the defense and breaking of rhythm potentially of their offense. Otherwise, no, those calls maybe make the scoreboard closer, but I have zero belief even if we scored on either to tie the game that they don't go right back down and score again. They'd done that exact thing on their 1st and 2nd drive and most of their drives.
that's a bad matchup. I tried saying it was a bad take on the pre-game podcast regarding the matchup and Leavitt in particular. That was the one team in the Big 12 that I think, IMO, is a truly awful matchup this year. Because they are what K-State wishes it was. A good defensive team with a QB who can throw it deep accurately who can also run with a powerful ground game.
