Arizona State Blackout Planned To Open Tough Four-Game Stretch

Oct. 18, 2012; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Blackout game against the Oregon Ducks at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

A tip of the hat to @BDenny for bringing this to our attention: the Arizona State Sun Devils are planning to “Black Out Bucky” when the reigning Big Ten champion* Wisconsin Badgers visit Tempe on Sept. 14.

Wisconsin is the first opponent in a brutal four-game stretch for ASU. A trip to Stanford, a USC visit to Sun Devil Stadium and a neutral site game vs. Notre Dame follow.

“We approach this as a great opportunity,” head coach Todd Graham said at last month’s Pac-12 media day. “No doubt it’s challenging. No one faces a tougher four-game stretch.”

This veritable murderer’s row will reveal rather early if ASU is a legitimate Pac-12 contender. Opening strong against Wisconsin is crucial, and ASU marketing seeks to exploit the home field advantage to that end.

The most recent planned Arizona State blackout came last October when Oregon visited Tempe. The Ducks rolled, 43-21 — but not before UO fans painted ASU’s “A” outside Sun Devil Stadium green. Coincidentally, that loss opened a similarly challenging four-game period on a sour note. ASU dropped its next three to UCLA, Oregon State and USC.

That run effectively prevented the Sun Devils from challenging for the Pac-12 South championship, which a number of pundits expect them to do in Graham’s second year at the helm.

“We have on our wrists ‘Any Challenge’ and we don’t look at that with any regret,” Graham said. “It’s a great opportunity on our schedule. These guys have worked hard and we have the highest standards in the country I can tell you as far as work ethic in character and how you do things.”