No way in hell is this a Pac10 #9 ranked team.

Nasser22

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NAU ran a dumb play at second and one on the opening drive, otherwise NAU would have put up 24. NAU does have a good offense - with an excellent QB, and good line.

ASU's main advantage was the WR's - too tall for NAU's secondary.
Jon, you can't say that because ASU ran MANY dumb plays. :D Your team played well...and my team's effort made me very sad. I'm ready for a coaching change.
 
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sundevilscott

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NAU ran a dumb play at second and one on the opening drive, otherwise NAU would have put up 24. NAU does have a good offense - with an excellent QB, and good line.

ASU's main advantage was the WR's - too tall for NAU's secondary.

Are you talking about the play that Burfict shot the gap and made a great tackle? I don't think that was a bad play by NAU but a good play by Burfict.
 

ASUCHRIS

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At least when asu finishes 8th it will be an improvement over last season, so they've got that going for them.

Hilarious coming from the mighty Wildcats, who just ended what, a 9 year bowl drought?
 

green machine

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They were a bad team or a bad offense? As I recall they were a great team on the defensive side of the ball.

The 4 close loses were:
Georgia 20-17
Cal 23-21
USC 14-9
UA 20-17 (The muffed punt that gave UA the game.)

All four of those games could have been wins with a slightly better O but yet the myth is we were a bad "team" rather then a team with a bad O. But you are the KTAR writer so I guess you know best.

Haha, I hardly know best. And, in this case, you can easily accuse me of bias.

However, close losses are still losses. By this logic we could argue UofA is quite close to being Rose Bowl calibre, as their losses were close to Washington, Cal and Oregon. All one possession games, all came down to the end.

Either way I don't think ASU will be that good this year. The D took a step back from last year and Threet, while better than Sullivan, is in the bottom half of Pac-10 QBs.
 
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sundevilscott

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Haha, I hardly know best. And, in this case, you can easily accuse me of bias.

However, close losses are still losses. By this logic we could argue UofA is quite close to being Rose Bowl calibre, as their losses were close to Washington, Cal and Oregon. All one possession games, all came down to the end.

Either way I don't think ASU will be that good this year. The D took a step back from last year and Threet, while better than Sullivan, is in the bottom half of Pac-10 QBs.

Why do you care what ASU fan's think about ASU?
 

desertrat218

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ASU is still unknown at this point with only 2 games against FCS level competition to gauge them with. We'll know a lot more about this team after they play Wisconsin in Madison. If they hang tough with the Badgers, then they will probably win a few games in conference. If the Badgers manhandle them, then they may end up in that battle with UCLA for 8th and 9th.

Same goes for UofA at this point as far as being unknown. While Toledo is better than Portland St or NAU, they still aren't very good. Iowa will let us know for sure what UofA is working with. Big weekend coming up for both schools!
 

AzStevenCal

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You guys are right. ASU will shock us all by not finishing 9th...by finishing 8th.

You're not the only one to think that although you might be the only one to think he's clever in pointing it out.

Steve
 

ozzfloyd

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Not being clever at all. 8th is, IMO the best ASU can hope for this year. Can't see 9 or 10 and WSU and UCLA are even more abysmal than ASU.
 

AzStevenCal

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Not being clever at all. 8th is, IMO the best ASU can hope for this year. Can't see 9 or 10 and WSU and UCLA are even more abysmal than ASU.

Most of us (that's us as in Devils fans not us as in you and me) realize the Devils aren't in the upper tier. However, I'm not sure there's a whole lot of difference in this conference between 5th and 9th and I could see us falling anywhere in that range.

My guess, we'll battle that team down south for bowl eligibility (and probably lose that battle). We've got little to celebrate as Devils fans but I'm not sure the Wildcat fans have all that much to gloat about either.

Steve
 

ozzfloyd

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We'll know a lot more about where we all stand in conference after this weekend's upcoming games. Some good tests out there Saturday.
 

AzStevenCal

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We'll know a lot more about where we all stand in conference after this weekend's upcoming games. Some good tests out there Saturday.

I doubt that we learn all that much this week. At least, we won't learn all that much about UA and ASU. I think both teams get mauled by superior foes. Outside of Oregon, I don't know if the Pac 10 has a team that could play with either Iowa or Wisconsin. And although we have some decent second tier teams, it's doubtful that includes either Arizona team.

Steve
 

MaoTosiFanClub

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Pretty sure Arizona is a top 25 team right now, if that's not second tier I'm not sure what is. It's ASU that's staring down the barrel of a 3-4 maybe 2-5 record in the next few weeks.
 

AzStevenCal

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Pretty sure Arizona is a top 25 team right now, if that's not second tier I'm not sure what is. It's ASU that's staring down the barrel of a 3-4 maybe 2-5 record in the next few weeks.

You're right about ASU but I remain unconvinced about the Cats. Let's see how Foles does against a real opponent. If he can be effective against a very good Iowa Defense than they'll deserve that top 25 ranking. Even at home, I think the Cats come up short but I'll be impressed if they can keep it close.

Steve
 

MaoTosiFanClub

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You're right about ASU but I remain unconvinced about the Cats. Let's see how Foles does against a real opponent. If he can be effective against a very good Iowa Defense than they'll deserve that top 25 ranking. Even at home, I think the Cats come up short but I'll be impressed if they can keep it close.

Foles was just fine last year against real competition.

Regardless, the reason I wouldn't be so optimistic is the historical success (or lack thereof) with both programs in these types of games. It's gotta be the early 90's since Arizona beat a top 10 caliber OOC opponent during the regular season or around the same time or earlier since ASU did such on the road. These are simply the types of games that marginal programs like the Arizona schools find a way to lose.

With that being said, both teams could lose and still have successful seasons. Both coaches will tell you that a win on Saturday means nothing if it means laying an egg next week against Cal and Oregon.
 

AsUdUdE

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Watch ASU go into Madison and pull the upset... Then We will either hear silence from the UofA haters, or that Wisconsin just wasn't that good... I am predicting that now...

That said I have said it before I will say it again.. ASU looks BETTER than last year, and with Mike Willie/Steven Threet has actual playmakers for the first time in a while... But their have a brutal schedule and will finish somewhere around 5-6 wins at best, and if they make it to a bowl game this year, it will be because they beat UofA in the last game of the season to get to 6 wins... just my opinion, but if that happends it will be a stepping stone and looked at as a successful season...
 

Dback Jon

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Six wins doesn't get ASU into a bowl game FYI, you're only allowed to used one FCS win.

Correct - ASU only has one qualifying win so far this year, with 10 to go.

Kansas State played two FCS teams last year, went 6-6, and stayed at home.



One Caveat: If there are not enough eligible teams (i.e. 70 slots, only 69 qualifying teams), then a bowl may ignore the six win rule, only after ever eligible team has been selected.
 

desertrat218

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Watch ASU go into Madison and pull the upset... Then We will either hear silence from the UofA haters, or that Wisconsin just wasn't that good... I am predicting that now...

That said I have said it before I will say it again.. ASU looks BETTER than last year, and with Mike Willie/Steven Threet has actual playmakers for the first time in a while... But their have a brutal schedule and will finish somewhere around 5-6 wins at best, and if they make it to a bowl game this year, it will be because they beat UofA in the last game of the season to get to 6 wins... just my opinion, but if that happends it will be a stepping stone and looked at as a successful season...

Hate to break it to you, but ASU is going to have to win 7 games this year to make a bowl game. Only 1 win against an FCS level school counts towards bowl eligibility.
 

AsUdUdE

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Hate to break it to you, but ASU is going to have to win 7 games this year to make a bowl game. Only 1 win against an FCS level school counts towards bowl eligibility.

lol.. thanks.. though you were about the third person to make that same assessment... Missed it by THAT much... :D

I stand corrected... I do not think the Devils will be going to a bowl game this year..
 

desertrat218

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lol.. thanks.. though you were about the third person to make that same assessment... Missed it by THAT much... :D

I stand corrected... I do not think the Devils will be going to a bowl game this year..


lol. I never saw posts on the next page.
 

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