Steven Threet threw four interceptions and had a hand in a lost fumble when one of his passes was ruled a lateral and therefore, a fumble that the Oregon Ducks recovered and returned for a touchdown last Saturday night.
One of Threet's interceptions was also a pick-six, returned for a touchdown.
The Arizona State quarterback seems unflappable and appeared to have put all the mistakes behind him on Monday when he spoke to the press. Still, ASU coach Dennis Erickson said he'll talk to Threet and tell him to stay confident leading up to ASU-Oregon State game this Saturday in Corvallis, Ore.
"I don't have any loss of confidence in Steven Threet at all," Erickson said. "He had a bad game. He made some mental mistakes. There's no questions about it. That's what comes with that position. What we do offensively, every time the football is snapped, for the most part, he's got to make a decision. That puts a lot on a quarterback."
Erickson said Threet made some bad decisions on where to throw the ball. The last two picks, Erickson reasoned, were a matter of Threet trying to make a play late in the Devils' loss to the Ducks.
"You take the good with the bad, and you've just got to learn and get better and he will," Erickson said. "He wants to be the best he can be."
Threet could be without his left tackle, Dan Knapp, who is questionable to play this weekend because of injury. Should that be the case, Erickson said right guard Evan Finkenberg will move to left tackle and Andrew Sampson, a 6-foot-3, 300-pound sophomore will slide in at right guard. The Sun Devils will also give some playing time to junior Aderious Simmons at right tackle.
The Sun Devils coaches are also mulling the possibility of starting Deantre Lewis at tailback over Cameron Marshall. Lewis gained 192 total yards against Oregon.
Threet acknowledged he has to make better throws and correct mistakes, but that after Saturday, he'd moved on.
"You come in Sunday and you watch the film and you've got to learn from it," Threet said. "You can't let it affect preparation for the next game."
"It's frustrating to play two very good teams (Wisconsin, Oregon) and be that close, play well offensively but not get points when we should," Threet added. "But at the same time it's exciting because we are very close. We correct these mistakes and we can be there."
To get there, ASU has to start with beating the Beavers on the road. Oregon State is 1-2 and lost to a pair of ranked teams, TCU and Boise State, on the road.
"That's a tough non-league schedule and they had a chance to win both football games," Erickson said. "So they're a quality football team. They've got a lot of experience coming back. Anytime you have the Rodgers brothers, they seem like they've been there for a hundred years. I don't know when they're going to graduate. Soon I hope. They're so talented and they make so many plays that they're just exceptional football players."
Those brothers would be senior wide receiver James and junior tailback Jacquizz. They are the main targets for the Beavers on offense.
"Their quarterback, Ryan Katz, is a guy that we tried to recruit. Very talented and huge arm," Erickson said. "Like Steven, he's just learning. On defense they don't change their scheme much. They've got ends that can come up the football field."
Close is OK but not good enough for ASU, which won't play a game at home until Oct. 30 against Washington State.
"We've got to find a way to win a game, that's the bottom line," Erickson said. "We're playing pretty decent. I'm happy where we're at, other than we had a chance to win two football games and we didn't. I like the attitude. I like where they're at. I like their mindset when I met with them Sunday about where they're at and where they can go. We've got to be road warriors for the next month."