It's been a while...but I'm back.

Life and work got in the way again, so sorry about the silence from PFN this week. I promise that it will not happen again.

For the next two weeks at least. I'll be taking a well-deserved week away from Arizona that will take me through the UCLA game.

Either way, I feel like we didn't miss much anyway. I've just got a few simple observations from the 39-19 win over Washington.

-Washington is terrible, but for 2 1/2 quarters, they looked downright competent. That trick play from Ronnie Fouch was a gutsy call and I was impressed with the ease in which they pulled off the Homerun Throwback (There it is folks, your shameless Tennessee Titans reference).

-Nice to see some production out of the wide receivers, most notably Mike Jones. It's safe to say that our WR's have had their share of struggles and dropsies this season, but #1 looked like vintage MJ with his acrobatic catches, sharp routes and 146 yards.

-Hello, Keegan Herring! Not sure what it is about Husky Stadium, but it has brought out the best in Keegan in his two visits there; both times the Devils have played in Seattle with Herring on the field, he's broken a frenetic run to seal a victory for Arizona State. Granted, this game and the next one are against the Washington schools, but Herring looked like normal, healthy Herring on Saturday night.

-Defense stepped up again with a momentum changer. Troy Nolan followed through on his instincts in following the play and scooped up a fumble to take to the house for his second straight week with a touchdown return. His return to form has energized this defensive unit.

Thankfully for myself and anyone with a pair of eyes, thanks to the win, I will NOT have to run across the ASU campus in my Joe Boxers. And thank goodness for that, because that cold snap that rolled through would have most likely caused an unfortunate and likely hilarious (for others) situation.

However, since it is getting cold out and it is getting close to the holidays, I'm going to and I encourage ALL of you out there in Sun Devil Nation to take some time to think of those less fortuante at this time of year.

I'm sure that you read that as a part of my promise to Will Ferrell myself across campus that I would donate whatever clothing I shed to a local charity, and I'm still going to do that and I want all of you to consider doing so as well.

I've decided to make my donation to the Child Crisis Center of the East Valley and encourage you to do the same. Here's a list of locations to make your donation, and let us know at pitchforknation@gmail.com when you do so we can give you some love on this here blog.

Anyway, plenty coming up this week, including a look ahead to Washington State and the men's and women's basketball season openers.