Only weeks remain before the season opener and ASU still does not have a starting quarterback. Meanwhile, the head coach is said to be on the hot seat.
Did someone forget that this story was played out once before in Tempe just a few years ago and it didn't end well?
Apparently no one here in town bothered to mention this to Dennis Erickson.
It was just four years ago when the famous Dirk Koetter couldn't decide on a quarterback/tried in failing fashion to sell playing both/decided/redecided/one QB may have threatened to transfer/players may have supported one guy more/one QB may have been doing bad things/then that guy transferred instead of being the original starter/the team stunk/coach then gets fired incident.
This year, oddly enough, some of the same elements have returned. Much like in 2006, when neither Sam Keller nor Rudy Carpenter distinguished himself above the other in practice, none of the current ASU quarterbacks are making a solid case who should be the guy.
Since the spring, it has been pretty even between junior, and former Michigan transfer, Stephen Threet and sophomore Brock Osweiler. First it was Threet who seemed to have an edge, then Osweiler, then none, then Osweiler, and now? No one really knows, not even the coaches, it seems.
Junior Samson Szakacsy was out of the mix due to injury, then in the mix, and seems to be (maybe, perhaps) out of the mix again.
If you add in the fact that the media and many of the fans have Erickson on the watch list for coaches to be fired because of two absolutely abysmal seasons, and it seems to be the 2010 remix for the 2006 original.
Obviously there are differences, such as the fact that in the 2006 version, both Keller and Carpenter had shown that they could be consistently successful on the field. Neither Threet nor Osweiler have done that yet in game play.
Also, as of right now, there have not been whispers of questionable off the field behavior (like Keller), nor have there been supposed threats of transferring.
Another factor not present is the possibly better player who decided to leave (Max Hall) and go to school elsewhere. ASU fans still wonder what could have been had Koetter stayed with Keller, and had Hall taken over after that, rather than the three rocky years with Carpenter (who was doubted and hated by many even when he led ASU to the Holiday Bowl in 2007).
Let's all hope that this time things turn out differently. Ideally, Erickson will make a decision soon and not recant two days later like Koetter did. Ideally that guy will be, at the very least, a consistent upgrade over Danny Sullivan and lead the Sun Devils to at least seven wins and a bowl, thus keeping Erickson in town and avoided another coaching change after a quarterback controversy.
Some movies are worth remaking and some reruns are worth watching. This one, as we all know, would not be one of them.