Week 14: Arizona at Arizona State

Entering the 81st Duel in the Desert, everyone is seeing things that don’t make much sense, usually a symptom of stumbling around this dusty Arizona climate too long without water.

Or in this case, it’s the Wildcats from Tucson, with their six losses, proclaiming themselves the upbeat team, and the hosting Sun Devils, just twice beaten, admitting to being the disappointed program. That’s what happens when one side overcomes a disastrous beginning and settles in with three consecutive victories, and the other flirts with a league championship the previous week only to lose the much-hyped showdown game at home.

Attitude, more than talent, size or reputation, should be the determining factor in this match-up at Sun Devils Stadium, with both teams trying to improve their bowl chances at the expense of the other.

Arizona hasn’t been to a bowl in eight years, which is plenty of incentive to get up for this one.

“It’s in our hands,” Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama said.

The Sun Devils have many more possibilities: They can advance to the Rose Bowl with a win over the Wildcats and a UCLA victory over USC, and are lobbying for a Fiesta Bowl appearance should they win and the Trojans also win this weekend. Arizona State has been asked more than once to show resilience this season, which has involved overcoming early deficits or bouncing back from a huge letdown.

“Our focus is totally on this and whatever happens, happens,” Sun Devils coach Dennis Erickson said.

His chief task is to pick up his team again after its dispiriting 44-24 Thanksgiving loss to USC.

The Sun Devils have a quarterback, Rudy Carpenter, who gets things done when given time. He’s completed 208 of 325 passes for 2,768 yards and 21 touchdowns. The down side is he’s been sacked 49 times for a negative 332 yards, with his offensive line unable to afford consistent protection.

If he’s forced to hurry his throws, Arizona’s Antoine Cason surely will benefit. The senior cornerback is a game-breaker, boasting five interceptions for 164 yards and two touchdowns. There might not be a better cover man in the country.

“He’s going to be, I assume, a No. 1 pick,” Erickson said of Cason’s NFL potential.

At mid-week, Carpenter and Cason already were going at it in a competitive way, though the quarterback was trying to low key things. Repeated were radio comments Carpenter made last summer, when he said jokingly on air, “I might not have a lot of TD passes this year, but I’ll probably have five or six against U of A.”

Cason, made aware of the halfhearted boast, responded, “I like to hear that from him.”

Arizona will counter at quarterback with Tuitama, who has settled into the Wildcats’ new spread offense and posted huge numbers. He’s completed a whopping 299 of 472 attempts for 3,411 yards and 26 scores.

Arizona State, however, has a secondary that could cause him some grief. Safety Troy Nolan, similar to Cason, has five interceptions for 129 yards and two touchdowns, plus he has two other teammates have scored on pass thefts as well.

Outside of the records, these teams pencil out similarly in firepower. Yet Arizona seems to have a lot more at stake and more momentum. The Wildcats, who lead the series 44-35-1, should win in an upset.

Arizona by 3