Weber St. @ Arizona State

[Absolute Zero]

Now we are talking. Love the way they are integrating Ballage. Excellent drive!

 

[Mainstreet]

I thought the football can't go forward if its fumbled?

It wasn't ruled a fumble so the referees could not look at that, only if it was a TD which it wasn't.

Sometimes rules drives me crazy. Clearly ASU recovered the non-fumble.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Fun game. Coaching staff treated it like a preseason game and sat the starters after the game was out of reach (31-0 at the half). Good to get a look at some of the future stars.

 

[FArting]

Got back from the game around 11:30pm

Left before start of 4th quarter

Props to the students. Student section was packed.

ASU dominated the game.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Got back from the game around 11:30pm

Left before start of 4th quarter

Props to the students. Student section was packed.

ASU dominated the game.

Where the heck do you live?

We stayed until it was over, walked the stands, walked to our car, drove home city streets - no freeway - and got home at 11:40.

 

[Shaggy]

Where the heck do you live?

We stayed until it was over, walked the stands, walked to our car, drove home city streets - no freeway - and got home at 11:40.

I would probably been home much later then 11:30.

 

[Jay Cardinal]

Pretty good showing by ASU. I expected DJ and Strong to be good and they exceeded expectations. Taylor Kelly looked a little nervous at first, but settled in quite well. He is going to need to be more accurate on some of those outside passes-- Strong caught several passes with his athleticism that might have been defended by better cornerback play.

Impressed with the defense. I think this year's team is much bigger and much faster than in years past. They did look young and tended to bite on fakes and screens a bit too much. DJ Calhoun, wow what a player. He reminds me of Burfict or Terrell Suggs, just an incredibly instinctive linebacker. Jaxon Hood just destroyed the interior of their line. He was as unblockable as Will Sutton in recent years. I thought Salamo Fiso and Marcus Washington were excellent and both really stood out.

DeMarieya Nelson was awesome! Had a sack on defense, played well on offense and a kickoff tackle on the 6 yard line. The tackle on the kickoff was especially amazing. Good to see Graham getting him on the field as much as possible, he is probably our third best player (behind Stong and DJ).

Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard looked really good on offense. Ballage looks especially hard to tackle, Richard quick and good at catching passes. Smallwood started on defense, but didn't stand out a ton (positively or negatively) from my perspective.

I also thought that Ellis Jefferson played really well. He was out there mainly in the second half, but looked to be the best player on the field at the time.

 

[Jay Cardinal]

Thought of one more. Jamil Douglas was ruthless in the run game. He was pancaking players left and right. We will have to see how he does against better competition, but I didn't see any mistakes in his game and he often flattened more than one defender. Westerman played well and there were some huge holes in the run game, particularly to the left side.

 

[Iceman]

Pretty good showing by ASU. I expected DJ and Strong to be good and they exceeded expectations. Taylor Kelly looked a little nervous at first, but settled in quite well. He is going to need to be more accurate on some of those outside passes-- Strong caught several passes with his athleticism that might have been defended by better cornerback play.

Impressed with the defense. I think this year's team is much bigger and much faster than in years past. They did look young and tended to bite on fakes and screens a bit too much. DJ Calhoun, wow what a player. He reminds me of Burfict or Terrell Suggs, just an incredibly instinctive linebacker. Jaxon Hood just destroyed the interior of their line. He was as unblockable as Will Sutton in recent years. I thought Salamo Fiso and Marcus Washington were excellent and both really stood out.

DeMarieya Nelson was awesome! Had a sack on defense, played well on offense and a kickoff tackle on the 6 yard line. The tackle on the kickoff was especially amazing. Good to see Graham getting him on the field as much as possible, he is probably our third best player (behind Stong and DJ).

Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard looked really good on offense. Ballage looks especially hard to tackle, Richard quick and good at catching passes. Smallwood started on defense, but didn't stand out a ton (positively or negatively) from my perspective.

I also thought that Ellis Jefferson played really well. He was out there mainly in the second half, but looked to be the best player on the field at the time.

Agreed. I was slightly worried because of how we didn't just roll over them on our opening drive and then we didn't score (fg) until halfway through the first qtr. First game jitters, overly pumped, atmosphere, I get it. It was so nice to be out there and get that college football feeling. My big takeaways were, Strong was an absolute beast. Granted he was up against a smaller CB, but man he had some great catches along with YAC too. I was really impressed with the goal line stand the defense had on the 1. Great confidence booster for the D. Then the offense marching down the field for a 99 yd td shortly after.

Overall, I thought it was a pretty clean game for the Devils. Looking forward to seeing how we can improve going into next weeks game vs. NM

 

[FArting]

Where the heck do you live?

We stayed until it was over, walked the stands, walked to our car, drove home city streets - no freeway - and got home at 11:40.

Happy Vally and I-17. Had to grab some food after the game.

 

[Gaddabout]

Meh.

 

[Absolute Zero]

Well, UCLA avoided a humiliating upset and eaked out a W, Hundley not looking Heisman worthy at all, Colorado got dumped, Washington State got beat, Oregon State did not look very strong against Portland State, UofA ran up the score w/ their starters, .... In this context, ASU didn't do too shabby in their opening game. But clearly, they have a ton of things to improve upon.

Stanford rolled, Cal got a nice win over a good opponent, USC is rolling big time as I write this and I expect Oregon to do the same. These teams distinguished themselves in my view. I was hoping USC would be falling apart, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

 

[TJ]

Well, UCLA avoided a humiliating upset and eaked out a W, Hundley not looking Heisman worthy at all, Colorado got dumped, Washington State got beat, Oregon State did not look very strong against Portland State, UofA ran up the score w/ their starters.

Here's better context:

-ASU played a middle-of-the-road FCS team. I could make fun of ASU and say you didn't cover the spread, but all these Power 5 v. FCS team games are are glorified preseason games to shake off the rust.

-As much as you and I want to devalue UCLA, I'm still picking them to win the South. One game doesn't make the season. Hundley is still the best QB in the division, until proven otherwise

-WSU is a one-trick pony. Can't run, can't play defense. If their passing game is even remotely off, they are a terrible team

-Colorado is....well....Colorado

-ntOSU, for one reason or another, never plays to standard against FCS teams. Last season's EWU loss is a prime example. Still love Mannion as the most under appreciated QB in the PAC.

-I'd rather run up the score with our starters (who played until 2 minutes into the fourth quarter, not all game) than have some anxiety about only winning by one-or-two possessions. You act like this is somehow a bad thing. When you're breaking in a new QB, 2 new receivers, another coming back from a major injury, and new running backs, you want them to get as much valuable experience as possible.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Here's better context:

-ASU played a middle-of-the-road FCS team. I could make fun of ASU and say you didn't cover the spread, but all these Power 5 v. FCS team games are are glorified preseason games to shake off the rust.

-As much as you and I want to devalue UCLA, I'm still picking them to win the South. One game doesn't make the season. Hundley is still the best QB in the division, until proven otherwise

-WSU is a one-trick pony. Can't run, can't play defense. If their passing game is even remotely off, they are a terrible team

-Colorado is....well....Colorado

-ntOSU, for one reason or another, never plays to standard against FCS teams. Last season's EWU loss is a prime example. Still love Mannion as the most under appreciated QB in the PAC.

-I'd rather run up the score with our starters (who played until 2 minutes into the fourth quarter, not all game) than have some anxiety about only winning by one-or-two possessions. You act like this is somehow a bad thing. When you're breaking in a new QB, 2 new receivers, another coming back from a major injury, and new running backs, you want them to get as much valuable experience as possible.

Agree with this...
I'm an ASU guy, however, I saw much more depth and team speed all over the field from UofA than from ASU.
I mean, if either Kelly, Strong or Foster get hurt, ASU is in serious trouble...


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[TJ]

Agree with this...
I'm an ASU guy, however, I saw much more depth and team speed all over the field from UofA than from ASU.
I mean, if either Kelly, Strong or Foster get hurt, ASU is in serious trouble...


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ASU could weather the storm of losing Foster or Strong. Losing Kelly would assuredly end ASU's season.

 

[Absolute Zero]

Agree with this...
I'm an ASU guy, however, I saw much more depth and team speed all over the field from UofA than from ASU.
I mean, if either Kelly, Strong or Foster get hurt, ASU is in serious trouble...


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If they didn't pull their starters until there were 2 minutes left in the game, wondering how you saw "so much depth".

But from the box score, it does look like they at least spread the ball around pretty well.

I think ASU has a lot more depth on O than they may have showed on Saturday. If Kelly goes down, Berc is a solid back up. He looked pretty out of synch for much of the time on Saturday though. Ballage and Richard are true freshman rbs, but they are both very talented and it will be fun watching them develop this year. They both showed some flashes against Weber St. And receiver wise, Strong was targeted so much because it was easy pickings, low hanging fruit. We have a very talented receiver corp.

 

[AZBALLER]

Here's better context:

-As much as you and I want to devalue UCLA, I'm still picking them to win the South. One game doesn't make the season. Hundley is still the best QB in the division, until proven otherwise

-I'd rather run up the score with our starters (who played until 2 minutes into the fourth quarter, not all game) than have some anxiety about only winning by one-or-two possessions. You act like this is somehow a bad thing. When you're breaking in a new QB, 2 new receivers, another coming back from a major injury, and new running backs, you want them to get as much valuable experience as possible.

Huh??? TK proved last year that he was better than Hundley both on the field in head to head and being named all-Pac12 second team.
So you're saying you'd struggle to beat unlv, if you hadn't left your starters in for almost the entire game? Doesn't sound like talented depth to me. Kind of sounds like another 4-5 Pac record Again...

 

[Absolute Zero]

Kelly and Hundley were pretty close statistically last year, with Kelly throwing more than 100 more passes than Hundley last year. Watching them both play, it seems Hundley is a bit more cautious than Kelly. Will be interesting to see how this plays out this year. Neither one looked good in their first game.

2013 Passing Stats

CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA LNG TD INT SACK RAT

302 484 3635 62.4 7.51 74 28 12 39 139.6 TKelly

248 369 3071 67.2 8.32 76 24 9 35 153.7 Hundley

2013 Rushing Stats

CAR YDS AVG LONG TD

160 748 4.7 86 (TD) 11 Hundley

173 608 3.5 44 (TD) 9 Kelly

 

[TJ]

Huh??? TK proved last year that he was better than Hundley both on the field in head to head and being named all-Pac12 second team.

So you're saying you'd struggle to beat unlv, if you hadn't left your starters in for almost the entire game? Doesn't sound like talented depth to me. Kind of sounds like another 4-5 Pac record Again...

One season of more passing yards doesn't quite make that so. The only people who'd legitimately take Kelly over Hundley reside in Tempe. Hundley is more dynamic and has excellent accuracy, especially on the run. Kelly is a nice player, but Hundley has him beat in almost every physical attribute a QB could possess.


As for UofA, considering the game was out of hand after the first play of the 2nd half, then it wouldn't have mattered. But of course, in Tempe, regardless of what happened, there's always some sort of caveat, even if you have to reach deep down to find it. Or you just struggle with perspective taking.

 

[AZBALLER]

Joke? Who do you think votes on all-pac players tj?

 

[Krangodnzr]

One season of more passing yards doesn't quite make that so. The only people who'd legitimately take Kelly over Hundley reside in Tempe. Hundley is more dynamic and has excellent accuracy, especially on the run. Kelly is a nice player, but Hundley has him beat in almost every physical attribute a QB could possess.

Except that Kelly is actually a better player when you watch them play. I want to like Hundley, being that he is a Chandler High kid, and that it would be awesome if the Cardinals could take him after this year.

But Hundley is just a great athlete with middling QB skills. The only people who would take Hundley over Kelly are people who buy the hype.

As for UofA, considering the game was out of hand after the first play of the 2nd half, then it wouldn't have mattered. But of course, in Tempe, regardless of what happened, there's always some sort of caveat, even if you have to reach deep down to find it. Or you just struggle with perspective taking.

Still searching for that Rose Bowl, huh?

 

[82CardsGrad]

If they didn't pull their starters until there were 2 minutes left in the game, wondering how you saw "so much depth".

But from the box score, it does look like they at least spread the ball around pretty well.

The bolded statement answers your first question...

 

[TJ]

Joke? Who do you think votes on all-pac players tj?

Except that Kelly is actually a better player when you watch them play. I want to like Hundley, being that he is a Chandler High kid, and that it would be awesome if the Cardinals could take him after this year.

But Hundley is just a great athlete with middling QB skills. The only people who would take Hundley over Kelly are people who buy the hype.

While I admire your guys' loyalty to your team and its players, this is just patently false. I'd encourage you to watch more UCLA games, but that's not going to change your opinion unless you take the maroon and yellow glasses off.

Hundley would have to take a step back and Kelly a step forward for these assertions to even be remotely true. "Middling" QBs don't throw for 68% completion, especially ones who throws a lot on the run.

Kelly is a great QB. You should be happy you have him on your team. But he's simply not as talented as Hundley.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Kelly is a great college QB. You should be happy you have him on your team. But he's simply not as talented as Hundley.

FIFY...

Also, this is a huge year for Hundley... The expectations for UCLA as a team were sky high coming into this season. Hundley will need to play better than what we saw this past week against Virginia in order for the Bruins to reach the lofty expectations.
Hundley is extremely talented and physically gifted. However, I would say that he is very much a work in progress... and needs to show that he can be the type of QB/Leader that is capable to bringing his team to the heights so many believe they should reach.

 

[Absolute Zero]

Here's better context:

-I'd rather run up the score with our starters (who played until 2 minutes into the fourth quarter, not all game) than have some anxiety about only winning by one-or-two possessions. You act like this is somehow a bad thing. When you're breaking in a new QB, 2 new receivers, another coming back from a major injury, and new running backs, you want them to get as much valuable experience as possible.

Well your starters didn't run up the score tonight against USTA. Good sportsmanship! UofA wins 26-23. But I am a bit underwhelmed I must confess.