At his weekly press conference last Monday, the Arizona State coach tried to rationalize why his team was 4-1 while North Carolina was just 1-3 going into its game later in the week.
"When you see these guys on Saturday, you'll see that these guys look like an NFL team," Koetter said of the Tar Heels. "They are a great looking football team. The reason they are 1-3 right now is because they are minus-eight in turnovers on the season. We are plus-nine.
"That is the whole difference. It is the biggest indicator in wins and losses in college football."
In fact, the Sun Devils entered last weekend with the 10th best turnover margin in the nation, even though it only ranked them fourth in the Pac-10.
Turnovers, it seemed, would play a large part in the game between UNC and ASU. Considering that quarterback Darian Durant had made some bad decisions this year and already had thrown five interceptions -- and that the Sun Devils' secondary already had picked off nine passes -- one could predict a few turnovers out of Durant.
And sure, he threw two interceptions. But the Sun Devils' quarterback, Andrew Walter, threw two of his own, and ASU fumbled the ball away three other times in UNC's 38-35 win at Sun Devil Stadium.
Perhaps most troubling for Arizona State was the timing of Walter's interceptions. The first came when beleaguered UNC cornerback Michael Waddell jumped in front of Shaun McDonald at the goal line to prevent a Sun Devils touchdown with 9:11 to go in the game.
The second came on ASU's last drive, when Walter threw to the right flat and Kevin Knight took the ball away from Skyler Fulton to seal the deal.
"We knew the quarterback would throw the ball," UNC coach John Bunting said. "We made enough plays on defense, and we obviously made enough plays on offense."
