COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Sun Devils Enjoy the Sweep Through L.A. : Arizona State Heads Home With Wins Over UCLA, USC Under Its Belt

Arizona State Coach John Cooper was pausing for a commercial break in his postgame radio show, so he took the opportunity to ask a question of the gathered reporters.

“Any upsets in the Pac-10 today?” he asked. “Everything pretty much status quo?”

Assured that everything was status quo, he nodded his approval.

That was as much excitement as he was willing to show after beating USC, 29-20, Saturday at the Coliseum.

He was not about to count his roses before they bloom. He wasn’t even going to breathe a sigh of relief.

And he certainly wasn’t going to be suckered into saying that his Sun Devils looked like a sure bet to be in Pasadena on New Year’s Day.

But that is the way it looks at this point. Arizona State is the only team in the conference without a Pac-10 loss. The Sun Devils are 3-0-1 in the conference, having been tied by Washington State.

More encouraging, though, is the schedule. After playing three straight conference games on the road, including their first-ever victory over UCLA, the Sun Devils will be at home for four straight games.

Only three conference games remain on their schedule--Washington and California at Sun Devil Stadium and a final game at Arizona.

The other two games are at home against Utah and Wichita State.

If things remain status quo, Arizona State should be playing in its first Rose Bowl game since entering the conference in 1978.

So why isn’t Cooper jumping for joy?

Because there’s still a lot of football to be played, said the coach who has been on the brink so many times.

Year after year, the Rose Bowl contender is decided on the last day of the conference season, and year after year, some twist of fate bedevils the Sun Devils.

Last season, USC upset UCLA in the afternoon, clearing the way for ASU to win the conference if only it could at least tie Arizona. The Sun Devils lost, and UCLA played in the Rose Bowl.

Too, Arizona State has a way of letting up after a big victory like the one over USC.

All things considered, it’s really not surprising that the most hopeful thing Cooper would say was, “This was a real key ballgame for us. We can control our own destiny now . . .

“I think at this point it’s a seven-team race. I don’t think USC is out of it. UCLA is getting better. Stanford’s a good football team.”

His players also seemed to understand the precarious position they are in. There were no cries of, “Rose Bowl,” in the locker room this time.

Jeff Gallimore, a senior tight end from Oxnard who caught the final touchdown pass for the Sun Devils, has been through the ups and downs too many times to think a lead means much.

“We have enough seniors on the team who know how this can go,” Gallimore said. “I feel positive right now, but not because of the record or the schedule. I feel positive because of the unity factor. We are one cohesive unit now, and that’s something we haven’t had before--not even when we were winning big in ’82.

“I also feel good about this offense. Maybe I see more in it than a lot of people see, but I think we have the potential to be much better.

“I’m not too worried about overconfidence, either. I think the Washington State game helped us guard against overconfidence. After that tie, everyone was saying, ‘What happened? How did that happen?’ Now we know that it can.

“I was impressed with the way we came out against Oregon after our victory over UCLA. We didn’t have a letdown then. I don’t think we’ll have one now.”

Darryl Harris, a junior from Pomona who led the Sun Devils in rushing Saturday with 73 yards, echoed that thinking. Harris said: “I have a positive attitude about our team now, but I think it’s confidence--not overconfidence. It’s going to be nice to get back home, but we don’t want to say that it’s looking real good for us.

“We still have to get after it a little bit.”

Cooper kept stressing that room-for-improvement point. He said his team can be much better.

He wasn’t belittling his team’s victory over USC. Not a bit. He acknowledged that in beating the Trojans, his team had beaten a very good team and that it had been a good, solid game. “I like the fact that they didn’t beat themselves with turnovers. We beat them, and it was a very satisfying victory . . . “But a good team continues to get better. We must get better. We’ll get that through to the team in practice Tuesday.”

Cooper has said, all along, that the road to the Rose Bowl winds through Los Angeles. Having beaten UCLA and USC in L.A., he surely must admit that the Sun Devils are well on their way?

With a smile, he admitted only: “We’ve been to Bruin land and Trojan land and done well. Now we’ve got to do the job in Devil land and Wildcat land.”