Bad news we lost to the southern school, Good News we played as bad as we have most of the season and held them to under 600 yards. Old new we can't wrap up and tackle and have had the most break away long plays against in NCAA football.

Good News Gram will not get many offers to counter. Bad news he has to recruit after this season. Good news lots of coaches available to replace some folks not getting it done at ASU.

hanging out on the field I do hear the ASU fans... they are very loud... however some interesting things im hearing from asu fans is that they want LES MILES here.. wondering how you all feel about this...

If Graham hasn't fired Patterson by Monday, then our AD should consider getting rid of both, regardless of the "who are we going to get" argument. Lane Kiffin is available. And he can bring Sarkesian for all I care at this point!

with 9 receptions he nudged Zach Miller to #2 in receptions per game

This is embarrassing.

My eldest grandson is a senior QB in the San Diego area, and is currently ranked 2nd by MaxPreps for the CIF San Diego Section in passing stat leaders after 9 games into the season. Braxton Burmeister, a spring commitment to the Rats leads the rankings in that area. Grandson has already set a school record with 31 TD passes, and is on track to possibly eclipse the 3,000 yards mark in passing yards with at least 2 more games to play. When he was 10 years old I introduced him to Coach Dennis Erickson at Don and Charlie's one Friday night, and Dennis introduced him to Rudy Carpenter, then jokingly offered him a scholarship, which I told him that I would hold him to if he lasted the additional 6 or 7 years...But this post is not about the Devils and my grandson, since our team is stacked at that position now, with Ryan Kelley a longtime 4-star commitment filling the quota at that position for this year's recruiting class. It is about my grandson's favorite target, 2018 recruiting class wideout Malachi Russell...He is by far and away the San Diego Section leader in his numbers at that position, with 66 catches in 9 games for 1.320 yards and 18 TD receptions. He ranks second in the entire state of California with those numbers at that position. He is somewhat undersized, at 5'11," and 160 lbs., but possesses both outstanding speed and great hands, with another season to grow before graduation...He is currently nowhere to be found on this site, but seems to be garnering more and more attention as the season wears on...Just a few words here

As you may recall he was seriously injured in pregame and today Graham said he is out for season . Well the injury is serious enough to also keep Bates out of spring practice . He has a long road to recovery .

Memphis leading #20 Houston 7-3 in the early going. The deputy is 7-4 on the season, and this would be the type of victory that might make teams look to poach him in the next couple years.

Houston is awesome, but they have a tendency to play to the level of their competition.

Not dressed, according to Doug Haller's Twitter
That blows....

Megan and I examine Friday's Territorial Cup game

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Personnel issues have adversely affected Arizona's offense this year. How do they matchup with ASU? Here's Fabian's analysis.

Wanted to wish all the huddle members here a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Needless to say that I'm very thankful for everyone's support here, especially during a season that hasn't been the easiest to cover or follow.

Also, very thankful for my awesome staff that every week cranks out quality content pieces!

Hope you all enjoy your family and friends this holiday!

36 ASU players have missed a combined 168 games this year. That's beyond bad luck.

Sounds like he had a heated argument with a player.

He liked to yell at guys. A lot. But I feel like Tashon Smallwood has regressed without him.

Missouri is also under investigation for academic fraud.

Definitely some serious name recognition.

Austin Lemieux, @MarioLemieuxFdn's son committed to Arizona State yesterday. https://t.co/iZTwrlUPLE

Justin's recap of ASU's 127-110 win over the Citadel

Been gathering some information on the former Alabama signal caller who left the Crimson Tide four games into the 2016 season.

As you may recall, Blake Barnett chose to leave that program at what some would call an odd time. However, to ensure that he would be able to play in 2017 and have three years of eligibility he had to enroll in a junior college, and the Southern California native is attending (but not playing) at Palomar Junior College in San Marcos, Calif.

According to NCAA rules Barnett could play at another FBS school after the fourth game of the 2017 season as long as he graduates from a junior college. Barnett, who is a redshirt freshman that enrolled early at Alabama, has accumulated enough credits to graduate from a junior college in December. Thus, he will be a spring enrollee at the school of his choice and have three years of eligibility.

Barnett did visit ASU during the Utah game, and as disappointing as the result was that night; it did nothing to adversely impact Barnett and his family who were on the visit. According to a source close his recruitment they left Tempe very impressed with the coaching staff and the overall opportunity to play for ASU which is certainly a serious option for him.

Barnett who prepped at Santiago High School in Corona, Calif. is all but a guarantee to continue his college career in the Pac-12. Washington State, Cal, Oregon, and Washington are the conference schools that are pursuing him. With very young and established quarterbacks at Oregon and Washington, Washington State and Cal are in reality ASU’s toughest competition for Barnett’s services. There is no way he will be transferring to a school where he would not be the clear leader for any quarterback competition to start the 2017 season.

So let’s take a look at all the suitors here.

Even though Washington State’s Luke Falk is only a junior the consensus is that he would enter the NFL draft following the 2016 season. There doesn’t seem to be a clear heir apparent that could be a challenge to Barnett if he decided to go there, although Tyler Hilinski was the no. 10 quarterback in his class and is the only signal-caller to play when Falk wasn’t on the field. Hilinski is just a redshirt freshman though so he’s not an established veteran that has been patiently waiting his turn, etc.

Needless to say that the Air Raid system is one that can help a potent quarterback put up incredible stats that would be appealing to the NFL scouts, so that is a major attraction there. Aside from the sacrifice, you have to make to live in Pullman, the Cougars along with Falk will lose their two best wideouts in Gabe Marks and River Cracraft. So that is another aspect that could be less appealing to Barnett.

When looking at Cal in comparison, there seems to be a more established candidate to start in 2017 for the departing Davis Webb, in Max Gilliam a freshman who redshirted this year. Gilliam was ranked 6th among signal callers in his class and on paper could be a stiffer challenge to Barnett. On the other hand, much like Tyler Hilinski, Gilliam is a very young player so that can help Barnett’s chances. Cal’s own version of the Air Raid, being closer to home and having a pair of talented freshmen wideouts in Demetris Robertson and Melquise Stovall are other advantages here.

So that brings us to ASU’s quarterback situation and the level of competition for Barnett.

In theory, the Sun Devils may offer him the easiest path to start. There are questions over Manny Wilkins’ abilities and his security as a starter next year. True freshman Dillon Sterling-Cole is still a big unknown, Brady White will probably not be able to practice full contact until fall camp, and Bryce Perkins will have a lot of rust to knock off in the spring after not practicing for the majority of fall camp and the entire season. Ryan Kelley as an incoming true freshman is a virtual lock to redshirt.

I don’t think anyone including the ASU coaches is, in essence, giving up on any of those signal-callers I mentioned. Yet, when a prospect of the caliber of Barnett comes your way there is no reason to turn him down and the competition will sort everything out like it always does.

Seeing the exploits of N’Keal Harry and recently Jay Jay Wilson, as well as the promise transfers such as Ryan Newsome and John Humphrey pack, are aspects that haven’t gone unnoticed by Barnett. Chip Lindsey has had a ridiculous number of challenges presented to him and overall had done an admirable job navigating the rough waters. That along with being an astute quarterback coach is appealing to Barnett.

I would expect Barnett to make a decision in the first part of December. I know he visited Cal, and I’m not aware of any other visits he took. My read right now is that ASU is situated in a very good place. I wouldn’t call them the favorite, but they are very much in the thick of things with Barnett.

Slow day at the office today and was thinking about this. Would you rather:

1) Beat UofEh on Saturday (securing a bowl game and handing the kitties their worst season in forever) if it means that RichRod gets fired and they somehow manage to hire Les Miles

or

2) Lose a close one on a controversial call but RichRod gets to be their coach for the next few years of amazing mediocrity

Thoughts?

Joe Healey details the abundance of storylines and history within this rivalry matchup

Joe Healey takes a look at the challenges and the opportunities that Arizona will present

I've heard some pretty bad things about Tucson during the t-cup, and never having gone myself would like to hear your guys' good, bad or interesting experiences.

Are the rats' fans really all that bad?

So, the Big Little Game is coming up on Friday...does anyone care at this point..??

AU is win-less in the PAC and ASU is not far behind and both teams are basically playing down to preseason expectations as the Cats were picked the 8th best team in the PAC and the Devils 9th by the preseason conference media...

The only teams rated below them were Cal, Colorado and Oregon St so the preseason prognosticators were not far off with their crystal balls...

Obviously, Colorado has far exceeded expectations while UCLA, that was placed 2nd in the PAC by the media, is not even close to meeting those preseason expectations...

So, ASU has lost to all of the teams picked above them except UCLA and five of the teams they have lost to are now rated in the Top 25 of the AP Poll so they are all very good teams as we all know...

Why was ASU picked so low in the preseason..??

Breaking in a new QB and new OL were mentioned along with a questionable secondary and they certainly were contributing factors to this bad season but I would also argue that when the media looked at the overall talent on each team, that ASU just didn't measure up all that well against most other PAC teams on its schedule...

And, I don't think anyone could argue, if you believe your own eyes while watching games this season, that virtually all of the teams the Devils have lost to this year had better overall talent than the Devils, whether it was at QB, along either line or in the secondary...

Does anyone think that any of our young QBs are as good or better than Sam Darnold at USC or Jake Browning at Wash or Luke Falk at Wazzu or the QBs at Colorado or Utah either for that matter..??

Does anyone think our OL is as good as or better than those at USC, Utah, Colorado, Wash or Wazzu or most other lines in the PAC for that matter..??

Does anyone think our secondary can stack up with those at USC, Utah, Colorado, Wash and just about any others in the PAC..??

It appears that those five ranked teams have better overall talent than the Devils or would you like to argue with that at this point for whatever reason or reasons..??

There are some that point out that coaches like Urban Meyer could've done a better job with the talent the Devils had this year but do you really believe that he would've done that much better given the talent disparities that exist between the Devils and most other PAC teams..??

Then factor in all the key injuries and do you really think that he would've some how magically transformed our Devils into championship contenders this season..??

When he went from Bowling Green to Utah he inherited a Ute program that had been very competitive under coach Ron McBride, who had been there over 10 years and when Urban went to Florida he took over from Ron Zook, who was not a great coach but was a great recruiter and left plenty of talent for Urban when he took over the Florida program and when Urban went to Ohio St he took over from Jim Tressel who left him all sorts of great talent...

Urban is not stupid...he might have gone to ASU when he was younger and looking to move up in the world but he wouldn't come to ASU now because the talent isn't close bye like it was in Florida and Ohio...

It took Harbaugh four years to turn around the Cardinal and he had a great QB in Andrew Luck and the cupboard was not bare when he went to Michigan and the same can be said about Nick Saban and where he has coached at the college level...

The bottom line is that we don't have the necessary talent and quality depth right now to compete with most upper division teams in the PAC, whether you want to believe that or not, which is not to say that we shouldn't be playing better in some or many ways but until Graham gets better talent to ASU we will be playing around the conference margins like we did this season and last...

On the positive side, it looks like there is some quality talent on the team that just needs some seasoning and further development to get better but there are still some gaping holes at some positions that really need to be addressed quickly if we want to move up in the PAC world...

Have a great Thanksgiving Day week...Go Devils!!!

I don't think I've read a definitive answer to why the Pac 8 let the AZ schools in. Today, I read an au homer's version of it.

"UofA President John Schaefer’s many negotiations with USC President John Hubbard and UCLA Chancellor Charles Young led to Arizona’s acceptance into the Pac, and ASu was able to follow them in."

Anyone know the "real story?"

West Palm Beach, Fla.— Senior Zane Gonzalez has been named one of the three finalists for the 25th Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award by a national panel of college football experts and announced by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission Monday afternoon. Gonzalez is joined on the three-man finalist list by Daniel Carlson (Auburn) and Younghoe Koo (Georgia Southern).

Gonzalez, a senior from Deer Park, Texas, will finish his four-year career as the all-time FBS leader in made field goals and points by a kicker. His 23-for-24 season leads the nation in both number and accuracy of field goals. Those kicks have come from an average of 40.9 yards away, hitting a national-best 13 from at least 40 yards and a remarkable 7-for-8 from over 50. That mark, the second-most ever from long distance in an FBS season, includes the longest FG of the year, a 59 yarder that was also the kick to give him the all-time record for career points by a kicker.

Through the season, Gonzalez has claimed four Lou Groza Star of the Week honors, the most by any kicker in the country and one more than the other two finalists combined. With his four 'Star of the Week' honors this season, Gonzalez has earned an unprecedented six career Groza honors, topping 2014 Groza Award winner Robert Aguayo's mark of five career 'Star of the Week' recognitions. Gonzalez is one of two players in the country to earn the award in back-to-back weeks this season as Ole Miss' Gary Wunderlich earned the recognition the past two weeks.

Carlson, a junior from Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the nation's top-scoring kicker, tallying 115 points on 22 field goals and 43 extra points. His 22 made FGs tie for second in FBS, and give him 63 for his career, making him Auburn's all-time record holder with a year still to play. A finalist for the Lou Groza Award last year as well, he has yet to miss on 140 career PAT attempts, the longest streak ever at Auburn and second in SEC history. Three times this season he provided Auburn's margin of victory, including a 6-FG game against LSU in which he scored every point in an 18-13 win.

Koo, a senior from Ridgewook, New Jersey, set the Georgia Southern record with 14 consecutive made field goals, a stretch snapped only by a missed 54-yard attempt going into halftime against Ole Miss. That would be his only miss on the season, finishing 19-for-20 for a 95.0% accuracy rate that ranked third in the nation. The 19 total FGs ties the Eagles' all-time record, while his career 88.6% accuracy easily tops the school record books. Koo's season is highlighted by his 4-for-4 FG performance against Arkansas State that included a season-long 53 yarder.


Gonzalez will look to join Thomas Weber as the second ASU kicker to win the award. Weber set a Sun Devil record in 2007 by successfully kicking the first 17 of his field goals and kicked 22 of his 23 tries during the season.

This year, fans can have their part in naming the winner of the Lou Groza Award. Fans can visit www.lougrozaaward.com and cast a vote for their favorite of the three finalists selected by the national panel of voters. The finalist who receives the greatest total of fan votes will be given one vote on the final ballot. One vote can make a difference in the final outcome so fans are encouraged to participate.

The three finalists will be honored at the 25th Annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards Banquet on Monday, December 5th at the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. For more information on the Groza Award and the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, visit www.palmbeachsports.com.

The three Lou Groza Award finalists will be highlighted on ESPNU during The Home Depot College Football Awards Nomination Special airing Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 5 p.m. ET.

This year's Lou Groza Award winner will be revealed on ESPN during The Home Depot College Football Awards Show airing live from the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta on Thursday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. ET.

The Lou Groza Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast 722 years of tradition-selection excellence. To learn more about the NFCAA www.NCFAA.org.