Instant Analysis: Arizona State - California

Saturday was a very educational experience for two teams who entered 2006 with hopes of knocking off USC in the Pac-10. California learned from an early-season debacle in Tennessee; Arizona State learned how much Dirk Koetter mucked up his quarterback situation back in August.

In a game that was going to have a profound effect on the trajectory of their seasons, the Golden Bears and Sun Devils took sharply opposite terms. Jeff Tedford's team decided to right the ship, while Koetter's Sun Devils took an embarrassing nosedive that doesn't bode well for the rest of the year.

The drama of this affair was short-lived, the substance of the matter easy to identify. After allowing a first-drive touchdown to the Devils, Cal--desperate to avoid the slumped shoulders and bad body language that cost the Bears three weeks before in Knoxville--awakened and drastically ratcheted up its level of intensity on both sides of the ball. In roughly 20 minutes of clock time, the Berkeley boys--with up-front power and playmaking speed on the edges--rolled up 35 points to gain a commanding advantage. And when ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter--given a horrible play call by Koetter--threw a pick-six to Cal's Daymeion Hughes just before halftime, the issue was resolved with force and finality.

This win is huge for Cal because it simultaneously wipes away the awful memory of the loss to Tennessee while solidly reaffirming the Bears' place as the main threat to USC in the Pac-10. After seeing Nate Longshore hit downfield pass plays in support of a defense that roughed up the Devils with pronounced aggression, Jeff Tedford has to think that his team has reacquired something of the swagger it possessed in 2004. This victory won't define the Bears' season, but it sets up the rest of their season, which--if successful through November 11--will enable Nov. 18's date with USC to be as significant as the Golden Bears hope it will be. Winning this game didn't make Cal's season, but a loss would have broken it. After failing one big test in Knoxville, Cal passed this crucial conference crucible.

But in a game of such significance, it's hard to think the Devils won't be badly broken by this lopsided loss. The quarterback soap opera from August put an enormous amount of pressure on the whole program. Dirk Koetter had to live with the enormity of his decision, but also the larger way in which he handled his team. Carpenter--who played horribly against Cal in what was a big statement game for his individual career--had the pressure of knowing he ousted Sam Keller in what was a very personal battle that wound up halving ASU's amount of quality signal callers. And the whole ASU team was under pressure because it rallied--and strongly at that--to Carpenter's side in the wake of Koetter's initial decision to name Keller as the starter, 48 hours before reversing field. After seeing Carpenter fall flat on his face in the first true money situation of his collegiate career, the Devils have no soul right now. Everything they banked on before the season started has been proven worthy of zero confidence and trust. It will be a very long Autumn in Tempe, and if ASU manages to win even eight games, it will be surprising.

The California Golden Bears hope to make themselves against USC in two months' time, but the Arizona State Sun Devils were definitely broken on Saturday afternoon in Strawberry Canyon. That's a severe season-long penalty for one bad afternoon in September.