Renz
An Army of One
Cal was obviously way overrated. They looked like crap. If ASU beats Oregon, then I'll be a believer.
Cal @ ASU
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Cal was obviously way overrated. They looked like crap. If ASU beats Oregon, then I'll be a believer.
Well sure they did, until the 2nd half when our team woke up. Cal was a couple plays away from being undefeated coming into Tempe and one of those big mistakes came from a back-up freshman QB. Don't forget, they did beat Oregon this year. Cal is still a very good team, easily top 4 in the Pac-10. They will finish this season strong. This win was pretty impressive. To be considered a contender for the championship, sure they'd have to beat Oregon, but with last night's win they solidified their spot in the top 10.
I think one thing people are forgeting about here is that a big piece of the BCS poll are the Harris poll and the USA today poll. Everyone will stand pat in the USA today poll (probably) and ASU will move up one spot in the Harris poll beacuse they were behind USC in that poll. Also UO strentgh of schedule goes down some more because now they lost to a 3 loss team too. I think ASU will still be #4 in the BCS (I HOPE).
devilalum
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howlincoyote2k1
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By the First Law of Sports, we're in big trouble.
Renz
An Army of One
Cal has lost three games in a row. What else do you need to know?
If you want to convince yourself that Cal is a Top 25 team, then be my guest. They won't be ranked after today.
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Very impressed with asu, Erickson did a nice scouting job Cal's defense has folded in the 2nd half all season against the run so he kept pounding it and started to get big plays and that opened it up for Carpenter.
Longshore clearly shouldn't be starting he's playing on one leg and can't plant. That game was essentially over when Jackson was wide open for a TD and Nate badly underthrew him for a pick. ASU just rolled from that point on.
Cal is in freefall right now they should start Riley and get Longshore healthy, not much they can do on defense they're just not very good outside of their LB's.
Congrats to ASU they really took it to Cal in the 2nd half.
Longshore clearly shouldn't be starting he's playing on one leg and can't plant. That game was essentially over when Jackson was wide open for a TD and Nate badly underthrew him for a pick. ASU just rolled from that point on.
Cal is in freefall right now they should start Riley and get Longshore healthy, not much they can do on defense they're just not very good outside of their LB's.
Congrats to ASU they really took it to Cal in the 2nd half.
But will be at the end of the year. They beat Oregon, was it at Autzen too? The loudest place in the Pac-10. Cal also beat a ranked Tennessee team early in the season. They lost one of those games because of an incredibly stupid mistake by a freshman back-up. They were upset by a good UCLA team, but hey...USC lost to Stanford, a much worse team, so does that mean they are no good either? Cal played very well for most of the game last night, but ASU just outplayed them and made some big defensive plays to stop them.
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ASUCHRIS
ONE HEART BEAT!!!
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Shocking, coming from a U of A fan. It seems the only way this team will get props is if it goes undefeated. Another excellent performance against a talented Cal team. Holding the Cal offense scoreless in the second half was unbelievable, and with the exception of Carpenter's brain fart, almost flawless football. Grinding it out at the end was a thing of beauty, and something Koetter never would have done. I like our chances with anyone, although beating the Ducks in Autsen is a tall order.
MaoTosiFanClub
The problem
Agreed on all points except when you said UCLA is good. It wouldn't shock me to see them end up 6-6 this year.
Well I think they are pretty good...just inconsistent. They've been outplayed by very weak opponents, but also have had some impressive victories. Maybe it's the coaching, but they should be 7-1 right now if they would've played at their level against Utah and Notre Dame. I'll be worried about ASU's game against them in a couple weeks. I think they may upset one of the last three teams they play.
devilalum
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I totally agree. That is why Oregon's loss to Cal is even more significant.
az1965
Love Games!
Great win!!!
Now is the next BIG test, winning on the road against the Ducks!
GO SUN DEVILS!
Now is the next BIG test, winning on the road against the Ducks!
GO SUN DEVILS!
MaoTosiFanClub
The problem
What constitutes an impressive victory? Home W's against a reeling Cal squad with a one-legged QB and BYU? There's a reason Dorrell is getting canned and if Arizona beats them Saturday in Tucson I'd be willing to bet they end up 5-7.
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Cal today is not a top 25 team but I do disagree with your they were obviously overrated comment. #2 yeah too high their defense even with the DL healthy isn't that good. But the 3 losses are all basically because Longshore got hurt and they couldn't score as much.
The first game Riley turned it on in the 2nd half but made the colossal mistake. The next 2 they played Longshore when he wasn't healthy and he threw what 5 picks? You just arent' going to win games when your QB is playing on one leg throwing ducks when he's got a guy wide open.
With Riley this game is probably closer but I think ASU still wins because of the way they ran the ball.
I will say if Longshore had never got hurt there's no way Cal loses to OSU or UCLA.
It's just how things go, if Carpenter had got hurt ASU wouldn't be unbeaten, it's a lot harder to replace a QB in college than a RB.
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UCLA has the same problem Cal does, QB injury. IN UCLA's case they lost both Olson and Cowan for awhile and were playing a walkon.
UCLA is a reasonably good team with a completely unpredictable nature which I think reflects on their coach. Utah beat the hell out of them no excuses there but ND won because of UCLA's QB play and that was a walkon playing QB.
LVCARDFREAK
In the league 20 years!
My first look at ASU this weekend. Thoroughly unimpressed with the Oline or defense in the first half. Carpenter looked scared, and was not very good at spotting open guys...
however, that all seemed to change in the second half. I was impressed at how thoroughly they dominated Cal and Carpenter looked like a different QB. Defense stepped up big time as well.
My concerns are that they came out weak (which from reading this forum seems to be their M.O) but against a good team they could have really dug themselves a big hole (Cal had to settle for 2 fgs in the first if I remember correctly)
My problem is that Cal is not very good so I cant tell if ASU is very good. Are they #4 in the country? Umm, no, I dont think so, but they deserve it as much as anyone else in this bizarre season.
Beat Oregon (who I was impressed with yesterday) and I will jump on the wagon.
however, that all seemed to change in the second half. I was impressed at how thoroughly they dominated Cal and Carpenter looked like a different QB. Defense stepped up big time as well.
My concerns are that they came out weak (which from reading this forum seems to be their M.O) but against a good team they could have really dug themselves a big hole (Cal had to settle for 2 fgs in the first if I remember correctly)
My problem is that Cal is not very good so I cant tell if ASU is very good. Are they #4 in the country? Umm, no, I dont think so, but they deserve it as much as anyone else in this bizarre season.
Beat Oregon (who I was impressed with yesterday) and I will jump on the wagon.
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That's how it is all year long with every team. You have to prove yourself every week. It's not easy to do. And, once a team loses, the follow-up "we're depressed" loss is definitely a hazard. (See Kentucky, South Florida this week, Michigan's loss to Oregon, USC barely beating UofA, etc,) It's not that they were a "fraud". Once a team loses, they are DIFFERENT. They have adversity to deal with, and that tests teams in a way they were not tested before. Plus, their opponents now have tape on stuff that gave them trouble.
ASU has done all they could do up to this point --- beat everyone on the schedule. That's impressive enough for me.
LVCARDFREAK
In the league 20 years!
Fair enough, except there are plenty of 1-loss teams who turned around and beat teams the following week. You are stating the exceptions, not the rule. A good team can lose. But a good team bounces back from that, figures out what they did wrong, and continues to win.
Cal is just not a very good team.
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They're not a very good defensive team. The offense is good, would be better if Longshore were healthy but it's still good. But the defense sucks.
To be honest in hindsight I have no idea how they beat Oregon, the Ducks are a great running team with a great running QB and Cal played them missing 2 starters on their DL. If Cal played West Virginia they'd give up 400 yards rushing right now, in hindsight it's surprising the Ducks didn't run all over them.
LVCARDFREAK
In the league 20 years!
You're right. I have watched them a few times this year and felt like they were a few plays away from getting beat by Tennesse and Oregon. They do put up some points, and Jackson is a hell of a WR. I have to say in the 2 games I watched him I am not nearly as down on Longshore as youi might be. He seems poised and throws a nice ball. Was there something specific he is having problems with due to injury?
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He was throwing a lot of balls short, he must be having trouble planting his feet right or something.
BTW, hats off to the crowd on Saturday night. We got to the north parking lot at about 3:00, and it was a zoo. Largest tailgating event I've ever seen at an ASU game. Actually, made our Cardinals tailgating look like a Pop Warner get together.
Words can't describe the craziness in that lot leading up to gametime.
Words can't describe the craziness in that lot leading up to gametime.
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He can't step into his throws so it's all arm and he's been pretty wild. My issue with Nate has always been his long balls, very few teams in the country have the speed at WR CAl does but Longshore is just not very good at throwing the deep ball he's constantly missing wide open guys with bad overthrows. now he's hurt it's been underthrows. Riley is much more raw but I was really impressed with his arm against OSU, I have a feeling he might wind up a better QB than Longshore.
