Arizona State Debacle

by CAJason80 on Aug 21, 2006 9:15 AM PDT

From the 'keeping your friends close and your enemies closer' department, there's been quite a lot of noise coming out of Tempe this weekend. On Friday, Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter named senior Sam Keller the starting quarterback. Then, uh, some things changed. Following a bit of soul searching on Saturday, Koetter changed his mind and named sophmore Rudy Carpenter the starter.

From ESPN:

"It's simple. I made a mistake on the quarterback situation and I'm changing my mind," Koetter said after Sunday's workout. "We're going to start Rudy Carpenter. I've excused Sam Keller from practice to consider his options."

Koetter said he couldn't sleep on Friday after naming Keller the starter. He said he then sought out advice from his athletic director, coaching staff, senior players and "unity group" on Saturday.

Obviously, this throws a whole load of monkey wrenches into Arizona State's offseason planning. I don't think Koetter could have handled this situation any more poorly. It'll be interesting to see how ASU performs this year, especially given the fact that many pundits were naming ASU as the darkhorse in the Pac-10.

That said, this provides an excellent opportunity for UCLA to capitalize should ASU stumble out of the gate. Our showdown with ASU isn't until two weeks before the USC game, but should ASU struggle this year, that stretch in November wouldn't be nearly as daunting as it looks right now.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Ouch!

This will probably hurt ASU's quarterback recruiting. Koetter should have stuck with Keller and only used Carpenter if Keller didn't perform up to expectation. I wouldn't be surprised if Carpenter underperforms, Keller becomes starter midway through the season, and Carpenter transfers out of ASU at end of season, leaving ASU with no QB for next season after starting this season with two studs.

by bruinzete on Aug 21, 2006 9:50 AM PDT reply actions

ASU

I have never really been impressed with their program. We beat them handily last year. And if not for Kerr's stupid bend-don't-break D, should have beaten them at Tempe couple of years ago as well. This is a game a good UCLA team should be able to win on the road.

by Nestor on Aug 21, 2006 10:20 AM PDT reply actions

Keller to enroll at Nebraska....

Just as a follow-up to this, it just rolled off the wires that Keller is all set to announce that he's transferring to Nebraska.

by CAJason80 on Aug 22, 2006 11:04 AM PDT reply actions

Good choice

Keller made the best out of a seriously bad situation. In fact, I think he moved to greener pasture. Who wouldn't want to play for a coach with NFL connections? Good luck to Keller. ASU is going to crash and burn and UCLA is going to put on the finishing touch in November.

GO BRUINS!!!

by bruinzete on Aug 22, 2006 1:53 PM PDT up reply actions