ASU's victory over San Francisco was a contest where Arizona State never trailed, yet a game still felt like a dogfight Sunday afternoon in Tempe. Nick Borgia and I break down the Sun Devils' 72-61 win
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Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = Odds and Ends

College Football Playoff...I have that darn Florida St tomahawk chant still buzzing in my head this morning, after watching the Seminoles, under Mike Norvell, beat Louisville last night to win the ACC championship...

I was interested in the game since Norvell was our OC under Todd Graham and since the Seminoles were down to their third string QB, a true FR with very limited game experience...

He looked like a true FR QB and was very lucky to have not turned the ball over several times on ill advised passes that could've been intercepted, etc...

The Noles QB situation reminded me a little about the ASU QB situation in that we were down at one point to our 4th string QB and we've had to play a TE and RB in the QB position along the way...

However, the Noles defense is at least two tiers of talent better than our Sun Devil defense, which allowed them to throttle a pretty good offense that Louisville put on the field...

But, watching the Noles offense struggle against the Cardinals, it reminded me of our situation when you don't have a talented QB with experience on the field...

ASU QB Situation...So, given the above, what is Dilly and his new OC, that looks to be Marcus Arroyo, going to do about our decimated QB position moving forward..??

We've got Trenton returning, who has the most experience between him and Rashada, and Trenton is capable, in a limited way, of leading the team but don't we need at least a couple more QBs in the QB room, moving forward, to add some depth if nothing else..??

I sure hope that Dilly has an ACE up his sleeve regarding this all important positional question as no one wants to go through another QB situation like we had this year..right..??

Marcus Arroyo...We were all relieved when Beau Baldwin was relieved of his duties at ASU and it now looks like well respected, former UNLV coach, Marcus Arroyo, will be his Sun Devil replacement...

I was wondering why he was let go at UNLV since he inherited a poor situation when he took over the Rebels program in 2020...

The Rebels didn't win a game in his first season, that was marked by the Covid pandemic, and then won only a couple of games the next season, his second year, but, by his third season, his team went 5-7, so it appeared that progress was being made but the new UNLV AD, Erick Harper, decided to fire Arroyo and hire his own coach following the dismissal...

As a result, the Rebels new coach this year inherited players Arroyo had recruited, which led to a 9-4 record, with an appearance in the MWC championship game against Boise St yesterday that they lost...

So, it looks like Arroyo is a pretty good talent evaluator and recruiter and also has a good reputation around coaches that know of him...

Speaking of Recruiting...In-home visits by coaches started on Dec 1st and it would, therefore, be nice to have a solid OC recruiter on board ASAP, especially given our QB situation...

The early signing period begins on Dec 20th and we all hope that Dilly and his staff can pull in another 10 or so HS players and/or quality portal transfers in the near future to really bolster the class...

Right now, the Cats are ranked #44 in Rivals team rankings while our Devils are ranked #52...

So, fingers crossed that Dilly and his staff can catch and surpass the Cats this next month but we'll see...

Getting Back to the CFP Situation...It would appear that Michigan, Washington, and Florida St, who all finished unbeaten and conference champions, will make it to the Final Four but who will be the other team..??

Will it be Alabama that beat #1 Georgia yesterday or Texas that has beaten Bama during the season and demolished Oklahoma St yesterday to win the Big 12 championship or will it be defending national champ Georgia..??

I think Bama will get in and hope that the selection committee doesn't really screw any of the unbeaten conference champs from the ACC, Big 10 or PAC-12 but I wouldn't put it past them, either...

Game Balls...I'll end this odds and ends segment by giving out these game balls for significant accomplishments and/or contributions to Sun Devil athletics...

To Trenton Bourguet for his NIL challenge that really shows great leadership by him in helping to raise NIL dollars for the football team...

To our Volleyball team for advancing to the Sweet 16 in the national V-ball tournament...

To Dilly for working overtime to try and elevate our football program by doing NIL fundraising along with all of his other head coaching tasks...

Who am I missing here in your opinion, if anyone or anything..??

Now, if I could just get that darn "tomahawk chant" under control this fine morning in the desert...

Have a good week...

G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!

It's last minute, but does anyone need two tickets for the game against San Francisco today?

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CU had their center enter the portal (second OL in the last couple days), one of the better lineman on a bad offensive line with 3 years to play and this guy just decommitted from UCLA. A guy we offered from the San Diego area. Login to view embedded media

Quick story on a big (and yes, pun intended) recruiting visit weekend at ASU. Will post any updates on this thread

Slow period but ASU ends the 1st on top 1-0.

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From what I gather there are a couple of ways to watch the game live.

1. Through NCHC TV. It's a pay-per-view for $16.95 per game or $30.95 for a "month" which is the way to go if you plan on watching both games.

2. The other way, and this is new for me as well, is through the MTNtv app, which is available via Roku, Firetv and Appletv, BUT it may only be for those in Colorado. I'm not sure how all of that works but I have added it to my Roku and it looks great. Fingers crossed the game is indeed on and people can get this outside of Colorado. They also stream it free via their website, so maybe a VPN in Colorado would work? I have no idea on all of that.

"We had the stops that we were able to get some baskets of transition. It was fun to watch the guys play that way tonight.” Many of ASU's 23 wins last season were a stout defensive effort fueling an offense that struggled with its perimeter shooting. Tonight that formula worked like a charm again

Hod, i know you have posted some names here and there, but do you believe KD has whittled the OC candidates down to a short list yet? With recruiting going on, guessing he would love to knock this out ASAP (if right candidate is available) in hopes might impact recruiting and even more so the portal

We had a running list last year, figured it would be good to get another going. This list excludes Arizona HS alums from ASU that will transfer.

OL Cade Bennett (Notre Dame Prep/San Diego State)
QB Ben Finley (Paradise Valley HS/Cal)
RB Stevie Rocker (Canyon del Oro HS/Arizona)
OL Brayden Rohme (Perry HS/Cal)
RB Eli Sanders (Chandler HS/Iowa State)
QB Tyler Shough (Hamilton HS/Texas Tech)
QB E.J. Warner (Brophy/Temple)

Per The Athletic.

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Word on the street is 4* RB will be visiting this weekend......most evaluators have him picked for Oregon or Washington, but lets see what KD/S Aguano can game plan to make him think about Tempe

I never hear people say much about AJ Cooper and Vince Amey ? I doubt he lets Rangle go as they are buds.

Starts at the 21:36 mark, summing up the 2023 seaosn, NIL talk, and more

Did Isaia Glass enter the portal?