At home on Saturday night, Arizona State lost to Eastern Michigan — the first Pac-12 team to ever lose to a MAC program. The Eagles pulled off the stunner in rather dominating fashion. They ran for over 300 yards on the Sun Devils, often controlling the line of scrimmage as tailback Samson Evans ran through and over would-be tacklers.

The loss was Arizona State’s second straight, dropping the Sun Devils to 1-2 on the season.

After the game, Arizona State president Michael Crow didn’t exactly offer a show of support for the program’s head coach, Herm Edwards.

“They showed up to play, and we didn’t. That’s basically the outcome,” Crow said, according to The Arizona Republic. “Like anything, when you’re in combat, you support your officers. And we’re in combat. But we’ll have to decide where we’re going from here and decide what the issues are and see where we’re headed.”

https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1571512613930160128?s=20&t=zXmGSsE9iQSgbiX7u6x8vA

Edwards was hired by ASU ahead of the 2018 season. He went 7-6 his first year, then 8-5 in each of his next two full seasons in charge. The Sun Devils went 2-2 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

The 2020 campaign is where all this consternation stems from. Arizona State is currently being investigated by the NCAA for numerous recruiting violations alleged to have occurred during the extended dead period brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those allegations have led to the departure of five assistant coaches, including both coordinators prior to the start of the 2022 season. Recruiting has suffered — the 2022 high school class ranked last in the Pac-12 and the 2023 class has just six verbal commits — and interest has waned.

Arizona State welcomes No. 13 Utah to Tempe next Saturday. It’ll then travel to USC on Oct. 1 for a matchup with the seventh-ranked Trojans. A week later, ASU comes home to host No. 18 Washington.