Happy ASU Kickoff day!!

[sundevilscott]

This is like Christmas Day for us!! Hope to see you all out at the game!!

 

[HooverDam]

I haven't been this excited going into a season since Ericksons 1st year and that worked out pretty OK, so lets hope for another 10 in year.

I'll be watching the game in a bar here in Boston with the New England Alumni Chapter, it should be fun.

For those going to the game, please drink lots of water, stay in the shade, etc., its going to be brutal out there, 107 at game time---which has to be a ASU/NCAA record.

 

[sundevilscott]

I am happier then a fat kid in a hostess factory!!

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

A lot of hype surrounding ASU, hopefully they can live up to it! Go Devils!!!

 

[PoolBoy]

start of my senior year. start of a memorable season. lets go devils!

 

[TheKid_1]

Can. Not. Wait. FEAR THE FORK!!!!!

 

[Gaddabout]

games like this suck. if asu doesn't win by 40, it's going to feel like a let down. and winning by 40 doesn't mean anything. wish we could afford better opponents. maybe this new conference deal and a new stadium will change things. hope it happens in my lifetime!

 

[Mainstreet]

Go Sun Devils! I'm hoping for a great season.

Too bad the Sun Devils and the Cardinals games both start at the same time. I guess I will start watching ASU and then flip to the Cardinals game during breaks. I don't know where to place blame but it is a shame they have to compete with each other.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Would love to be going to the game, but going to the Cards' game instead.

Go Devils !!!

Go Cards !!!

 

[snowthedirtbub]

I dont know much about college football but why is a school like ASU playing a school like UC Davis? It hardly seems fair or competitive

 

[Tyler]

I dont know much about college football but why is a school like ASU playing a school like UC Davis? It hardly seems fair or competitive

Because that is what 90% of colleges do for the first game, the Big 10 does it for their first 4 tho.

 

[Bert]

Because that is what 90% of colleges do for the first game, the Big 10 does it for their first 4 tho.

Oh and dont forget their motto tho: "the scrub teams that the big 10 plays are a lot tougher than the scrub teams everyone else plays. Just the act of playing a big 10 team makes you atleast 100x more gooder at football."


Nice game from ASU tonight, Burfict is such a friggin beast.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Oh and dont forget their motto tho: "the scrub teams that the big 10 plays are a lot tougher than the scrub teams everyone else plays. Just the act of playing a big 10 team makes you atleast 100x more gooder at football."


Nice game from ASU tonight, Burfict is such a friggin beast.

Hopefully the cards can draft him somehow. He's got pro bowler written all over him! He will most likely win the Butkus award for best LB in the country. Glad hes a Devil

 

[Mainstreet]

It looked like last night that ASU's pass defense will live or die by the blitz. I hope it is not true because it can be game planned. I was hoping for a defense that would not continuously give up the big play like previous seasons.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

It looked like last night that ASU's pass defense will live or die by the blitz. I hope it is not true because it can be game planned. I was hoping for a defense that would not continuously give up the big play like previous seasons.

I agree. The front 7 is amazing, possibly top 10 in the country. Behind that, however, is extremely questionable. If the front 7 doesn't get pressure and the QB has time to throw, the secondary will be eaten alive. Bray, the DC, is not known for blitzing too much, so I like the new aggressive style, but I don't think he will blitz as much against Missouri.

 

[Gaddabout]

It looked like last night that ASU's pass defense will live or die by the blitz. I hope it is not true because it can be game planned. I was hoping for a defense that would not continuously give up the big play like previous seasons.

Actually, ASU has been remarkably consistent not giving up the big play the last two seasons, primarily because Bray preferred to stay in quarters or Cover 4 for most of the game. Offenses would see the same look over and over again, but the linebackers were exceptional knowing where they were supposed to be and the schemes did a great job taking away the long ball. It hid a lot of brain power deficiencies at safety.

Last night was something of a revelation. ASU is very poor in depth in the secondary and they lost another one to injury, but I thought the secondary -- especially the safeties -- did a very good job maintaining discipline and covering their assignments. That was actually encouraging to me, because I've never understood why you would drop a guy like Burfict into a soft zone 85 percent of the time. They unleashed him last night and he responded well.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Sending Burfict on blitzes is extremely effective. Seemed everytime he blitzed, he was either hitting the RB in the backfield or getting QB sacks. I hope Bray realizes how talented Burfict is, and unleashes him as much as possible. This defense can be very good if they play aggressive, rather than the prevent style Bray usually prefers. I think the coaches know this is a make or break year to keep their jobs, so they're going to play to win, rather than not to lose.

 

[Gaddabout]

Sending Burfict on blitzes is extremely effective. Seemed everytime he blitzed, he was either hitting the RB in the backfield or getting QB sacks. I hope Bray realizes how talented Burfict is, and unleashes him as much as possible. This defense can be very good if they play aggressive, rather than the prevent style Bray usually prefers. I think the coaches know this is a make or break year to keep their jobs, so they're going to play to win, rather than not to lose.

Zone does not = prevent defense or even "prevent style." There have been some great defenses that played predominantly zone schemes, and it's especially predominant in the NFL. Furthermore, Bray has been the best performing assistant on an ASU staff since the 80s, so I don't ride him too hard, even though I prefer more aggression myself.

Prevent defense = Rush 3, LOOSE Cover 4/drop 8. ASU didn't even play that while protecting leads late in games.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Zone does not = prevent defense or even "prevent style." There have been some great defenses that played predominantly zone schemes, and it's especially predominant in the NFL. Furthermore, Bray has been the best performing assistant on an ASU staff since the 80s, so I don't ride him too hard, even though I prefer more aggression myself.

Prevent defense = Rush 3, LOOSE Cover 4/drop 8. ASU didn't even play that while protecting leads late in games.

I was being sarcastic I realize what the difference between zone and prevent is, but thanks for the clarity...Personally, I prefer an aggressive blitzing type defense that forces the QB to make fast decisions, rather than sitting back and picking the zone apart. The only reason why I mentioned 'prevent' is due to the fact that Bray typically runs, as you said, cover 4 zones, which is basically dropping everyone back into coverage, and only rushing 4. This would usually result in fairly easy completions, because any competent WR can find holes in the zone. This is a fast defense, and it's much more effective when it's attacking, as oppposed to sitting back and waiting. That's the only point I was trying to make

 

[Tyler]

Zone does not = prevent defense or even "prevent style." There have been some great defenses that played predominantly zone schemes, and it's especially predominant in the NFL. Furthermore, Bray has been the best performing assistant on an ASU staff since the 80s, so I don't ride him too hard, even though I prefer more aggression myself.

Prevent defense = Rush 3, LOOSE Cover 4/drop 8. ASU didn't even play that while protecting leads late in games.

Prevent cost us a rose bowl.. On the bright side, we arent UA, and we have been to a Rose Bowl.

 

[Gaddabout]

Prevent cost us a rose bowl..

Are we really going to revisit this? LOL At no time did ASU play a single down of prevent defense in the Rose Bowl. It's a myth that won't die. Somewhere around here I broke down every single play on that last drive.

 

[Gaddabout]

I was being sarcastic I realize what the difference between zone and prevent is, but thanks for the clarity...Personally, I prefer an aggressive blitzing type defense that forces the QB to make fast decisions, rather than sitting back and picking the zone apart. The only reason why I mentioned 'prevent' is due to the fact that Bray typically runs, as you said, cover 4 zones, which is basically dropping everyone back into coverage, and only rushing 4. This would usually result in fairly easy completions, because any competent WR can find holes in the zone. This is a fast defense, and it's much more effective when it's attacking, as oppposed to sitting back and waiting. That's the only point I was trying to make

Fair enough. I prefer results and hate giving up big plays. I'm also in favor of taking some risks, but going crazy with it is unsound defense, IMO. I got so tired of watching blitz-crazy defenses under Snyder and Koetter get burned over and over again because they were constantly in Cover 1 or Cover 0.

 

[Tyler]

Are we really going to revisit this? LOL At no time did ASU play a single down of prevent defense in the Rose Bowl. It's a myth that won't die. Somewhere around here I broke down every single play on that last drive.

I am going to try and find this, I would love to look it over..

 

[Gaddabout]

I am going to try and find this, I would love to look it over..

In 12 Plays, this is what I counted:

- Cover 3 (6 plays)
- Cover 2 (3 plays)
- Cover 1 (3 plays)

It's important to note ASU was wafer thin on the cornerback depth chart due to injuries. It's why Courtney Jackson was playing. All the corners were gassed, so Snow did his best to hide those corners, but Germaine just picked it apart. So, ASU moved to a Cover 2 with some blitzing and, on 3 occasions, went back to Cover 1, where Mitchell Freedman was totally exposed as an awful defender in man coverage (also on display on Stanley Jackson's earlier TD catch).

 

[sundevilscott]

In 12 Plays, this is what I counted:

- Cover 3 (6 plays)
- Cover 2 (3 plays)
- Cover 1 (3 plays)

It's important to note ASU was wafer thin on the cornerback depth chart due to injuries. It's why Courtney Jackson was playing. All the corners were gassed, so Snow did his best to hide those corners, but Germaine just picked it apart. So, ASU moved to a Cover 2 with some blitzing and, on 3 occasions, went back to Cover 1, where Mitchell Freedman was totally exposed as an awful defender in man coverage (also on display on Stanley Jackson's earlier TD catch).

So what you are saying is that they played too much prevent on that last drive?