Junior quarterback Sam Keller answered plenty of questions with his breakout performance against LSU last Saturday. He threw for 461 yards in the game, with four touchdowns and no interceptions against the highly rated Tiger defense.
But there will be one more question when Northwestern visits the Sun Devils on Saturday: Is there any way he can top that performance?
"Yeah, yeah I can," Keller said. "There were a few throws in there where I could have hit somebody else wide open.
"There's always things you can do better. Especially in an offense like this -- if you're perfect, you're going to score 80 points."
While 80 points would be overkill, ASU will need to put the ball in the end zone against the Wildcats.
With senior quarterback Brett Basanez at the helm, Northwestern is ranked seventh nationally in total offense. The Sun Devils are fourth, so a shootout is on the horizon.
Northwestern plays a spread offense that ASU coach Dirk Koetter is impressed with. The formation splits four wide receivers out and stretches the defense.
"I like what Northwestern does, I like that scheme of offense," Koetter said. "I've got a lot of years invested in what we do, but if I was ever going to bag it and swap, I'd probably swap for what they do."
The Wildcats also boast an impressive freshman tailback in Tyrell Sutton. Sutton ran for more than 200 yards last week against Northern Illinois.
Although they don't use the same formations, the Sun Devils and Wildcats both have the same basic premise of spreading the field and throwing the ball a lot.
And since he sees it every day in practice, junior safety Zach Catanese is more than ready for it.
"They do a lot of similar stuff," Catanese said. "It's just going to be a lot like practice. Northwestern has a high-powered offense and so does our offense, so practicing against them definitely helps."
Coming off of an emotional loss to LSU, ASU is going to come out spirited. And although they will be favored, the Sun Devils have no interest in looking past the Wildcats.
"We can't sleep on them," Keller said. "They're going to bring it, and they're not coming out here to make us feel better for losing against LSU. They're going to try to smoke us."
Northwestern must deal with the loss of senior wide receiver Mark Philmore. Philmore is ninth all-time in receiving yards for the Wildcats, but has taken a sabbatical from the football team for personal reasons. Senior Jonathan Fields will take his place.
ASU will attempt to duplicate its success against Northwestern from last season. The Sun Devils traveled to Evanston and came away with a 30-21 victory. The loss was the Wildcats' only one of the year at home.
But, ASU might have to do it shorthanded this year. On offense, tight end Zach Miller, wide receiver Terry Richardson, offensive lineman Zach Krula and tailback Rudy Burgess all missed practice time this week.
Miller's foot is in a boot, so it seems unlikely that he will play.
ASU also might not have some players ready on the defensive side of the ball. Kyle Caldwell did not play against LSU, and his status is still uncertain. Senior defensive tackle DeWayne Hollyfield will also learn today if an academic problem has been resolved, clearing the way for him to return.
Reach the reporter at kyle.odegard@asu.edu.
