Illinois @ ASU

[Absolute Zero]

I would also point out that Miles was suspended for game 1 and now Pennel is suspended for the Illinois game for "team rules violations". I wonder how minor the violations were. Quite a contrast to Erickson it seems.

 

[Tyler]

I would also point out that Miles was suspended for game 1 and now Pennel is suspended for the Illinois game for "team rules violations". I wonder how minor the violations were. Quite a contrast to Erickson it seems.

What I heard is that both of the suspensions wouldnt have happened at 90% of other universities. They were very small violations.

 

[Absolute Zero]

That is kind of awesome.

Apparently, one of the refs came up to Graham after the game and complimented him on his players. First time he had that experience.

When I played football, I played with a lot of emotion. But I didn't talk trash or harp on the refs. So I can see how this approach shouldn't detract from the intensity level. And it may help us get the benefit of some calls where last year I felt they were throwing flags based upon our bad reputation on occasion.

 

[Absolute Zero]

OK Prediction time. This is really guesswork as we are still learning about these Sun Devils, and to complicate things, who knows how healthy Illiniois' QB will be.

In any event, I am going with ASU 27 Illinois 24, but I am hoping it is more lopsided than that.

 

[HooverDam]

ASU wins by 14+ if Scheelhaase is out, if he plays and isn't hobbled, ASU wins by 7-ish.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Just win...

 

[Mainstreet]

Just watching LSU annihilate Washington. I am in no way an LSU fan but I like how they use the purple, gold (and white) combination of colors. IMO, ASU would do well to do the same, wear maroon, gold (and white) colors and knock off the use of of all gold uniforms and black in their uniforms. These new uniform combinations do not do it for me... and get Sparky visible again somewhere.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

ASU is looking really good through one quarter!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Brian in Mesa]

21-7. Keep it going, Devils !!!

 

[gmabel830]

UA fan who can't watch my game because I have DirecTV... Gotta be very excited if you're an ASU fan -- they look very good, especially on offense (both QB's looking great).

And hey, UA is hanging in there against OSU too. Other than the UW/LSU and Colorado debacles, could be a banner day for the Pac-12!!

 

[Gee!]

UA fan who can't watch my game because I have DirecTV... Gotta be very excited if you're an ASU fan -- they look very good, especially on offense (both QB's looking great).

And hey, UA is hanging in there against OSU too. Other than the UW/LSU and Colorado debacles, could be a banner day for the Pac-12!!

Utah lost to Utah St earlier this week too..

 

[O]

I'm very impressed with what Graham is doing.

 

[gmabel830]

Utah lost to Utah St earlier this week too..

Hey, I did say banner day and not banner weekend!

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

I can't describe how glad I am that TEs are used at ASU again.

 

[Folster]

The discipline that Graham has managed to instill so quickly is remarkable. The difference from Erickson is night and day. I'm interested to see if they can keep it up on the road.

 

[overseascardfan]

I was able to catch the game from half way through the 2nd quarter and a couple of things I noticed.

- Graham is not Dennis Erickson. Erickson always had that gloomy look on his face as his teams played undiciplined football. Not Graham, he was all energy on that sideline. He has those players on a tight leash in terms of mistakes. Towards the end of the game when ASU clearly had the win the cameras were on Coach Randolph and you see him yelling at his defensive players to "zip their lips" as they must have been trash talking with Illinois players.

- This team is very disciplined, only like 2 or 3 penalties all game. Very little mental errors and only 2 turnovers, 1 should not have been as Miles' knees were clearly down when he fumbled the ball in the red zone. But neither him, any other player or even Todd Graham argued the call with the officials. You see Graham huddled with his defensive players "Let's Go" when the fumble call stood.

- Two way football was played as both the offense and defense controlled the entire game (game would have been closer if Illinois had their starting QB). ASU was clearly better conditioned than Illinois towards the end of the game and this spread offense is really working for ASU.

With all that said I still don't think ASU wins the Pac-12 South over USC but I think they at least end with 9 wins.

 

[HooverDam]

I can't describe how glad I am that TEs are used at ASU again.

me too. Any school that produced Steve Busch, Todd Heap and Zach Miller shouldve never abandoned the TE.

- This team is very disciplined, only like 2 or 3 penalties all game.

Try ONE penalty for five yards. It was a delay of game penalty that in the post game show Graham said was on him because he wanted them to back up to get some more room or something...? I don't remember the play specifically, so I dont recall if that makes any sense---was it before a punt maybe?

EDIT: Yep, it was intentionally to set up more punting room for Hubner.

THink about that for a second, ASU effectively had ZERO penalties. ZERO. Last year I couldn't even have imagined that. Through 2 games, the defense and special teams have ZERO penalties. This is so freaking refreshing.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

It's ridiculous how much of an impact a competent coaching staff can make. The offense was extremely versatile and used their speed as a huge advantage -- no more stupid lateral swing passes every 2 plays. The defense is doing what I've been preaching for several years, which is blitzing and actually 'creating' pressure rather than hoping your d-line will do everything for you. I'm now 100% certain that Bray was the most incompetent DC known to human kind -- the guy ran base cover 2 99% of the time which was the most idiotic thing I've ever witnessed -- so it's extremely refreshing to have some real coaches on the sideline. Also, not sure if anyone noticed, but Will Sutton was virtually unblockable; he was stuffing the run, getting to the qb, and creating tons of plays for his team-mates. The only thing that concerns me is the poor tackling and some broken coverages, but other than that I love everything I see, and so far Graham is looking like a genius hire. Go Devils!

 

[AsUdUdE]

A few thoughts:

1. This was one fo the most complete games I have ever seen the Sun Devils play... And the score was much closer than the actual game was due to two fumbles inside the 10 (which is totally ridiculous)

2. As I watched the game I saw a bit on the bottom of the screen that NAU had upset UNLV on the road.. It made this soo much sweeter.. Not saying UNLV is a good program, but the way NAU looked last week in Tempe it looked honestly like a High school team and I was a little afraid maybe NAU was just a terrible team... Combined with the win tonight, it has been a VERY long time since I have been this excited about Sun Devil football..

GO DEVILS!

 

[Mathew81]

THink about that for a second, ASU effectively had ZERO penalties. ZERO. Last year I couldn't even have imagined that. Through 2 games, the defense and special teams have ZERO penalties. This is so freaking refreshing.

It is. Maybe I can finally break my habit of looking for flags before I celebrate anything (I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm not the only one).

 

[Absolute Zero]

Our TE Coyle was unreal, where did he come from? Wow.

The play calling was excellent. It must be tougher for opposing teams to prepare for the mix of Eubank and Kelly. Both of them did great.

The Illinois defense was supposed to be stellar, but we just ate them up.

On D, we were way overmatched upfront by about 50 pounds per player. Got pushed around a bit and Illinois really racked up some run yards. But somehow, we were able to keep them out of the endzone. Great game!

 

[Gaddabout]

me too. Any school that produced Steve Busch, Todd Heap and Zach Miller shouldve never abandoned the TE.

Not even Steve Bush thinks Steve Bush should be mentioned in that group. I know that to be true.



You COULD have said Bruce Hardy.

 

[Absolute Zero]

Not even Steve Bush thinks Steve Bush should be mentioned in that group. I know that to be true.



You COULD have said Bruce Hardy.

Bingo.

What are your thoughts on the game Gaddabout?

 

[HooverDam]

Not even Steve Bush thinks Steve Bush should be mentioned in that group. I know that to be true.



You COULD have said Bruce Hardy.

Well Hardy was way before my time. Bush isn't in Heap and Miller league, but he was good in college (I think he was at least All Pac 10 2nd team once if I recall) and he had an admirable NFL career.

 

[Gaddabout]

What are your thoughts on the game Gaddabout?

Lots of good stuff and few things to be concerned about as the competition gets tougher (starting next week). I'm trying to savor my Sundays by enjoying wins and not overanalyzing them.