At 11 am Eastern Standard Time, news broke in the world of NCAA Football 13. Soon to be junior QB Shooter Sillings had made the decision to return to ASU for his third season of eligibility. This news comes off the heels of Shooter’s historic comeback win against rival Arizona. His return comes as a shock to some after he’s lead the Sun Devils to a 7-16 record in his time as a starter but his veteran presence should benefit the Sun Devil squad as they set their sights on a bowl game this season.
Team Captain
Shooter wasted no time getting into his junior year. He was named a team captain before week one against New Mexico and there was a positive vibe in the air. That vibe didn’t last long as the Sun Devils played one of their worst games in recent history losing a close one to UNM 21-27.
Week two brought the Buffalo Bulls to town and shooter felt like he had something to prove after the tragic week one defeat. Shooter came out of the gate hot and set career marks for passing yards, passing touchdowns, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns in a single game. Throwing for over 500 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for over 160 more and two more scores. It was a blowout win in Tempe, the kind needed to pick up Shooters confidence. 58-15 final in the valley.
Conference Play
Conference play is usually where Shooter’s struggles really come to light. The conference opener was on the road at Colorado. Reports came in saying that Shooter wouldn’t be able to handle the elevation and early on those reports appeared to be true. In true Shooter fashion, he got out of the gate sluggish. Also in true Shooter fashion, he had the ball in his hands to lead a game-winning drive. He was able to will the Sun Devils to a 27-26 win in the conference opener and get ASU above .500 for the first time since the third game of his freshman season.
Then came the juggernaut that is the Stanford Cardinal. There isn’t much to say here other than it was an absolute beat down. Play by play and color commentator Bryce Hopwood was said to have left the booth early. He drove back to Wisconsin after the first three possessions of the game. Final score 27-52 out in Pao Alto.
That brings Shooter to 2-2 on the season. Not a bad place to be all things considered. A tough stretch is ahead with road games at UCONN and at USC before returning home for Washington. Is this going to be the year of the Sun Devil? Stay tuned to find out.
In the meantime follow along @twitch_35 and @StudentUSports
