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.

Just saw on ESPN that they've been ordered by the NCAA to forfeit all wins in 2012 and 2013 due to academic misconduct. That means technically we didn't lose to them in Dallas in 2013. That's the second of such game I can recall that we technically "won" due to academics. The other being Cal back in 1999.

Any others come to mind?

As ASU enters its final regular-season game, the stakes are high, and Arizona's defense does present opportunities. Here's Eric Smith's analysis

Every single team is just awful.

How did the Wildcats arrive at their current state and how can those factors impact Friday's game? Solid job here by Publisher Matt Moreno from Goazcats.com answering your questions.

Opened favoring the Devils at 6 and quickly swung to 3...some books showing 2.5 now

Reese's Senior BowlVerified account‏@seniorbowl
.@FootballASU kicker @ZaneG_5 has accepted an invitation to the 2017 Reese’s Senior Bowl #seniorbowl

Lets put aside the season, all that has transpired. Some good, most not so good. The talk about the firings, whether Manny can do it or not, and enjoy our rivalry week. If we win, we go to a bowl, something to at least look forward to. Time to support the team and get out of Tucson with a W.

Hopefully our running game will get going! Go Devils!

HATE WEEK!

Get your picks in!
http://jediasu.com/limesurvey/index.php/264358/lang-en

Bonus Bamp

Wilkins is terrible on soooo many fronts, I will not even go there.

AU
#113 Scoring Offense 21.9 ppg
#36 Rushing Offense 210 ypg
#101 Passing Offense 187 ypg
#76 Total Offense 387 ypg
#103 Punt Returns 4.67 ave.
#121 Kickoff Returns 17.67 ave.
#42 Punting 41.96 ave.
#91 FG Percentage 64.3% (9-14)
#112 Turnover Margin -0.73
#85 Sacks 1.82 spg
#104 Sacks Allowed 2.55
#105 Interceptions 7
#64 Touchback Percentage 36.73%
#120 Scoring Defense 38.6 ppg
#89 Rushing Defense 200.91 ypg
#109 Pass Defense 266.4 ypg
#112 Total Defense 467.3 ypg

Typically throw all the stats out the window................

To me, Turnover Margin/Takeaways/Turnovers are the most unpredictable and least controllable stat, BUT, AU is terrible in this department and we can hope that this trend continues.

We can expect AU to score far fewer points than we typically allow, throw for far fewer yards than we typically allow and return kickoffs for far fewer yards than we typically allow.

We should also get the chance to return a couple of kickoffs

We should be able to run, pass and score

Dawkins averages 13 carries, 85 yds, 6.39 ave. rushing per game

The Sun Devils switched things up and practiced this morning inside Sun Devil Stadium. Not much of practice was open to the media (stretch and tackle circuit only) as ASU prepares for Arizona this week.

Since no team periods were open, not much could be gleaned in terms of a depth chart at the moment but it appears as though the Sun Devils are getting more healthy.

Marcus Ball was not in a green jersey and only two players - Kyle Williams and Gump Hayes - were in the green, no-contact jerseys.

However, that doesn't mean the Sun Devils are at full bore in terms of health. offensive lineman Zach Robertson was on crutches and had his left foot in a walking boot. He was off to the side along with Cade Cote whose left arm was in a sling.

I also saw Salamo Fiso's left knee was in a brace but it seems only precautionary as he was full go during practice.

Finally, Bryce Perkins was out in a T-shirt and shorts throwing the football around a bit on the side. Considering he'd been in a neck brace for a significant period of time, this can really only be seen as a good thing

Story from Justin Toscano from today's presser

Saw Obert posting about this kid out of Eloy, AZ...this kid is a freak, has a similar build to DJ Foster. Can play on D but mostly killed it on offense. 4 sport athlete, what's his deal? Maybe not the greatest competition but not sure why he's out in Eloy either. He'd probably have close to 3,500 yards on the ground if he played the 2nd half of games.

https://www.hudl.com/profile/5434864/devin-neal

Tuesday will be the only media availability for practice. It will also be the only day for interviews - seniors only.

On Wednesday practice is closed to the media. Only Graham will be available for post-practice comments (won't be available Tuesday).

Team will have their usual light walk-through Thursday practice on Thanksgiving. Thursday practice is always closed to the media and because of the holiday there won't be any post-practice interviews either. The team will have their holiday meal after practice and then depart for Tucson that afternoon.

We will have our normal game week content of interviews, film analysis, and previews.