Arizona State Sun Devils Football: Could Erickson's Seat Be Any Hotter?

After the Sun Devils embarrassing 50-17 loss to Cal, the Dennis Erickson critics were louder than ever.

After leading the Sun Devils to a bowl in his first season at ASU, Erickson is two losses away from going three straight years with a bowl appearance.

Erickson was obviously disappointed with Saturday’s result and told The State Press that the loss was unexpected and shocking.

“It came out of nowhere,” Erickson said. “I am very surprised that it happened.”

While Erickson may claim that he is surprised, there is no possible way he is truly shocked.

Turnovers and penalties cost the Sun Devils the game once again, Erickson may claim to be surprised, but ASU fans certainly are not.

Although he does lead the Pac-10 in passing yards, Steven Threet almost leads the country in interceptions with 13. Threet threw two interceptions against Cal, and could have thrown more if he didn’t leave at halftime with a concussion.

Since he arrived in Tempe, Erickson’s teams have constantly been among the most penalized teams in the nation and Saturday’s nine penalties for 72 yards certainly didn’t help.

When the referees are constantly throwing the flag because your team has no self-control and your quarterback has thrown the third-most interceptions in the FBS, how can a three-turnover, nine-penalty performance surprise anyone?

Sun Devils fans have a right to be upset. Not only has this team struggled and fallen short of expectations, but ASU had a bye week last week. That means that the Sun Devils had two full weeks to prepare for what was a struggling Cal team.

With an extra week of practice and bowl hopes slowly slipping away the Sun Devils came out flat and made the Golden Bears look like one of the best teams in the country.

It is apparent that Erickson can’t motivate this team or get them to win and it is time to give someone else an opportunity.

Erickson was brought to ASU to revitalize the Sun Devil football program. His first season was great, but ever since then it has all been downhill.

The critics are loud and will want Erickson gone if the Sun Devils finish the year with anything short of a bowl birth; actually they may want him gone regardless.

If Erickson wants to have even a tiny sense of job security he needs to reach a bowl which will be much easier said than done.

To reach a bowl, the Sun Devils need to win four of their remaining five games. Three of the final five games are against ranked teams (USC (AP), Arizona and Stanford). As if that didn’t make it difficult enough, the Sun Devils have not defeated a ranked team since 2007.