I have a bunch of questions for you this morning and I'll give my take as I go along...

Was the Sun Devils poor defensive showing largely responsible for the loss to the Trojans..??

I would say that the offense had some real good chances initially to get the ball rolling in the right direction for the Sun Devils but failed pretty badly so I would put it 60-40 on the defense...

Will the Devils face another opponent in the PAC that has the talent that the Trojans have on their team..??

I would say the answer to that is no, except for maybe Wash, which bodes well for the Sun Devils in the coming weeks...

How will the Devils respond to Brady White at QB..??

I will be very disappointed if they don't respond very positively and it was somewhat understandable, that when Manny was injured, that the offense was shell shocked and not as responsive as they should've been when Brady entered the game but, as time went on, they did respond better...

Is our season lost at this point given the loss of our starting QB..??

It will only be lost if we let it be, in my estimation, as just about every other team we will face in the coming weeks has their own issues and does not have more talent than the Devils except for Wash...

Is Patterson the big reason for the defensive decline or are other factors more important..??

I think he and Todd have to share ultimate responsibility for the defensive mess we have but, for me at least, it has more to do with poor recruiting over the past several years, at several positions, than their coaching and I really wonder, also, about the schemes they are using on defense, as well...

Can the Devils beat the Bruins this week in SDS..??

I don't see why not as long as we haven't thrown in the towel due to the bad loss to the Trojans and loss of our starting QB...there is not a large talent differential either way in this game except, maybe, at the all important QB position and in the secondary but we are playing at home and match up pretty well against the Bruins as far as I can tell...however, if we allow Rosen to sit in the pocket all night, unmolested, then he will pick us apart and we'll lose...we also need to be able to move the ball and get enough offensive production to win...

Is nine wins or more still possible for this team..??

I don't see why not if we don't sell ourselves short and play up to our potential, even given our many team deficits because our opponents have the same sort of issues and don't have the talent that the Trojans have...

Who is going to win the PAC South..??

It isn't going to be #21 ranked Colorado, the team that is currently first in the PAC South and it isn't going to be #24 ranked Utah either, which leaves us, the Trojans, the Bruins and the Wildcats and the Cats are so decimated and have such a daunting schedule remaining that I cannot see them doing much in the second half of the season....

That leaves us, the Trojans and the Bruins and we play UCLA at home this weekend so the winner of this weekend's game between the Devils and Bruins might play a big role in the south race in the coming weeks...

Based on talent alone and remaining schedules, I would pick the Trojans, although they already have two PAC losses so, I guess, a 3 loss team could still win the South...

I'll be interested, as always, to see your feedback regarding these questions..??

Go Devils!!!

I wonder if Helton will be playing for his job next week. Even though there is a lot going on at USC right now I think it will be even more difficult to bring home a win after tonight. What do you think?

My analysis from last night's game

On The Web: http://www.thesundevils.com/news/20...overcome-slow-start-in-42-20-loss-at-usc.aspx

Stats: http://bit.ly/2cKr40r

Photos: http://bit.ly/2di6RSX

Notes: http://bit.ly/2dPY3ps

Graham Postgame: http://bit.ly/2dxV2Wz

Players Postgame: http://bit.ly/2dhoAgx

TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State University Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame will welcome eight Sun Devil greats to its ranks Saturday, Oct. 8, at halftime of the ASU vs. UCLA football game.

Six student-athletes from five different varsity sports, along with two former Sun Devil coaches, comprise the 2016 induction class. Nick Brunelli (Men's Swimming), Levi Jones (Football), Zach Miller (Football), Casey Myers (Baseball), Thom Ortiz (Wrestling), and Phelan Wright (Softball) along with two former coaches, John Cooper (Football) and Marty Pincus (Men's Tennis), will be honored at the Hall of Fame football game on Oct. 8, when the Sun Devils take on the Bruins at Sun Devil Stadium. Both Cooper and Pincus (posthumously) will be enshrined into the Hall of Distinction for coaches and administrators.

The Hall of Fame Luncheon and Induction Ceremony will take place on Friday, Oct. 7, at the Phoenix Country Club from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. The luncheon will include a formal induction ceremony into the SDA Hall of Fame by the ASU Athletic Heritage Committee. Tickets are $50 per person or $500 for a table of 10. Register here for the luncheon: https://engage.asu.edu/eventapi__simple_event?id=a0z0M0000006CEBQA2&site=a0J3000000DLgx9EAD

Hall of Distinction inductee and former Rose Bowl-winning Coach John Cooper will be present for a ceremony taking place during the homecoming game, Oct. 22 against Washington State, along with members of the 1986 Pac-10 conference championship team that went on to win the 1987 Rose Bowl, in addition to being honored (but not present) as part of the induction ceremonies taking place during halftime of the Oct. 8 matchup against UCLA.

The Hall of Fame was established in 1975 to honor the school's most distinguished student-athletes in all sports. The Hall of Distinction, recognizing outstanding contributions from coaches and administrators, was inaugurated in 1982. Athletes become eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame 10 years after their senior class has graduated.

Team — National/Pac-12
Completion Percentage — 28th nationally/6th Pac-12 at .636
Fewest Penalties — 27th nationally/1st Pac-12 at 24
Fewest Penalties Per Game — 19th nationally/1st Pac-12 at 4.80
First Downs Offense — 13th nationally/3rd Pac-12 at 125
Net Punting — 6th nationally/2nd Pac-12 at 44.19
Red Zone Offense — 1st nationally/1st Pac-12 at 1.000
Rushing Defense — 18th nationally/1st Pac-12 at 107.4
Scoring Offense — 17th nationally/4th Pac-12 at 43.0
Team Tackles For Loss — 33rd nationally/2nd Pac-12 at 7.0

Individual — National/Pac-12
All Purpose — Tim White, 25th nationally/6th Pac-12 at 144.20
Combined Kick Returns – Tim White, 10th nationally/3rd Pac-12 at 413
Completion Percentage — Manny Wilkins, 25th nationally/5th Pac-12 at .651
Field Goal Percentage — Zane Gonzalez, 14th nationally/2nd Pac-12 at .929
Field Goals Per Game — Zane Gonzalez, 2nd nationally/1st Pac-12 at 2.60
Kickoff Return TDs — D.J. Calhoun, 1st nationally/1st Pac-12 at 1.0 (20 tied)
Punt Returns — Tim White, 21st nationally/2nd Pac-12 at 13.2
Punting — Matt Haack, 11th nationally/2nd Pac-12 at 45.3
Rushing TDs — Kalen Ballage, 2nd nationally/1st Pac-12 at 9
Scoring — Kalen Ballage, 3rd nationally/1st Pac-12 at 12.4
Scoring — Zane Gonzalez, 4th nationally/2nd Pac-12 at 12.2
Total Interceptions — Gump Hayes, 21st nationally/1st Pac-12 at 2
Total Offense — Manny Wilkins, 27th nationally/3rd Pac-12 at 297.4

With 6:29 left in 1st half Bailey played his final snap of the half

He had done VERY well and was not injured

Robertson came in with 4:39 left in the half and quickly gave up a sack 4 plays later

On the next drive on Robertson's 7th play we run a screen pass to White 4 yards behind the LOS & on the left side of the line. Inexplicably Robertson dives at the ankles of Nwosu and slightly slows him up (he had no chance of being a part of the play......unless Robertson is rolling around in the grass and Nwosu sprints across the field to get near the tackle 10 yards down field

Then on Robertson's 10th play Nwosu beats him around the edge and forces Manny to step up into the pocket and right into the arms of the waiting Rasheem Green for a sack...but really Robertson's fault

In the 2nd half Bailey started and played very well until he was replaced on the final drive. Once again Robertson inexplicably dove at his man's ankles on one play.

Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = Losing Builds Character

You don't really believe that do you..?? If so, the Chicago Cubs have more character than any other pro franchise in history although they are now in the process of finally turning it around after over 100 years of futility...

They are doing that because they now have more talent on their team than just about any other team in MLB and they also finally have a first class manager and owners who don't see any charm or character in losing...

We all know by now that Talent Is Destiny and that USC would not trade any of their players for any Sun Devil players, whether you wish to believe that or not...sure we have some very good players that could play for just about any other team in the country but USC would not be one of those teams, because they have HS All-America players at every position and go two and three deep with those type of players at virtually each position...

With that amount of talent, you and I could coach the Trojans to wins just about all of the time because I would hire great assistant coaches, while I took care of press conferences, mouthing tried and true cliches, while trouncing teams like ASU, more often than not, which is not to say that we wouldn't lose occasionally because that just happens once in a while no matter who you are...

Yes, there is still a lot of football to be played this season and the PAC South is still wide open but ASU has so many glaring weaknesses across the board I'm not all that optimistic that we will win that many games going forward, which I blame on Todd and his staff for not recruiting better over the past four seasons, that has led to today's problems...

I look at where we are in Todd's fifth season at ASU and where the Huskies are under Chris Petersen, in only his third season at Wash and at his defensive coordinator - Peter Kwiatkowski - versus our defensive coordinator Keith Patterson, keeping in mind that Todd's fingerprints are all over our defensive schemes and lack of fundamental displays of tackling, etc...

There is absolutely no excuse, in my mind, for our defensive futility when you are in the fifth year of a program....none...end of story...and this slide has coincided with the hiring of Keith Patterson three yeas ago by Todd...

Fortunately, as we move forward this season, just about every other team that we will face has their own set of problems to deal with, so all is not lost yet, although when you lose your starting QB and have a defense that is as pathetic as ours there doesn't appear to be much room for optimism...

As a wise man once said..."Lot's of folks confuse bad management with destiny" and here we can alter that to say that our destiny has not been managed well by our head coach or his assistant coaches in year five of Todd's tenure at ASU...

Don't get me wrong as I'm not calling for a new head coach because I'm still a big fan of Todd and his Sun Devil program, but there are a lot of coaching and recruiting issues that need to be addressed if we don't want to have these types of games in the future...

The PAC is wide open these days and we need to take advantage of that sooner rather than later or not at all, which has been the Sun Devil way for far too long...

Again, does anyone think that losing builds character..??

G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!

On Ralston's TD run Goodman had not quit and was playing for pride. He toyed with Connor Murphy, easily pushing him back 3 yards with one hand and rendered him helpless. Goodman then moved on the the LB Powell and destroyed him creating all the room Ralston needed for the 9 yard TD run.

The sky isn't falling. USC is a matchup nightmare for asu because of the following:
1. USC dbs are elite - our receivers are really good. Our running backs are really good. But USC could crowd the box to stop run because they trust their defensive backs to tackle in space and cover receivers. Helton beat Graham at his own game because he has the talent to do it. ASU has never had that elite level of talent at depth in secondary as a whole ever.
2. Missed opportunities in passing game - tight end in the middle of field and running back wheel routes good have bludgened usc last night just like other teams do to asu but Wilkins and maybe Lindsey missed the clues because the stacking the box was so unexpected. Hindsight is 20/20 but hopefully the lesson is learned because Washington, Utah and ucla will do the same thing. Other teams can't afford to because their defensive backs are suspect.
3. Can't cover in space - not at linebacker or as defensive backs.
4. Can't tackle - last but not least USC tackled better than asu. We have talked about this as nauseum but I listed USC db talent as number 1 because it had a trickle effect on the result of the game versus the other games asu played. We all knew asu couldn't cover or tackle but USC knew they could cover and tackle so they could stop the run. Lindsey has to help make adjustments to middle of field to make defenses pay in the future.

Joe Healey examines ASU’s upcoming opponent and the key matchups of Saturday's contest.

Not including FGs or punts, in the first half USC ran 36 plays.
ASU rushed 4 on 25 plays
ASU rushed 5 on 7 plays
ASU rushed 6 on 4 plays

There were 2 good defensive series in the 1st half.
Series #1 we sent 4/4/4/6 and stopped them on 4th down (in what appeared to be a desperate move by a desperate coach going for it in his own territory on 4th and 2)
Series #3 we sent 5/5/5/6 forcing a punt after they picked up 41 on 1st down

In the 2nd half USC ran 33 plays (not including FGs or punts)
With the game being out of reach less than halfway thru Q3, not much can be learned by the 15 blitzes

Comfortable lead (41 ypg) over #127 after 5 games.
Giving up 396.4 ypg
Oddly Rice is #127 and Pitt is #126

127th in allowing plays of 10 yards or more with 93
122nd in allowing plays of 20 yards or more with 33
118th in allowing plays of 30 yards or more with 16
123rd in allowing plays of 40 yards or more with 10
122nd in allowing plays of 50 yards or more with 6
126th in allowing plays of 60 yards or more with 5
127th in allowing plays of 70 yards or more with 3
122nd in allowing plays of 80 yards or more with 1

Hello huddle. I'll be your game thread host this evening. Kickoff has been pushed to 5:45. VegasInsiders has USC favored by 9. I picked the Trojans for the simple fact that I picked ASU to go 4-0 then split the rest. I'd be hapoy to be wrong.

I also thought USC played well against Utah, despite losing.

Key for ASU will be running game. At least in my head.

Who do you like in these games...??

Stanford @ Wash...the Huskies are favored by 3.5 pts at home...the Cardinal knows who they are and what is it stake...I'll pick Stanford 24-17...

Oregon St @ Colorado...Buffs are favored by 19 pts and who can argue with that against a pretty bad OSU team...Colorado 35-17...

Utah @ Cal...the Bears are favored by 2.5 pts which sounds about right to me...will be interesting to see whether the Utes defense can slow down the Bears air attack....Cal 38-31

Oregon @ Wazzu...the Ducks are favored by 2 pts and I have no idea what may happen in this game but will go with the Cougs in an upset because they are coming off a BYE....Wazzu 42-38

Arizona @ UCLA...AU is really beat up so will go with the Bruins in the Rose Bowl since they are favored by 13.5 pts...UCLA 35-21

ASU @ USC...if talent is destiny then the Trojans should win this game and are favored by 10 pts which sounds about right to me...USC 38-27

Go Devils and Beat the Trojans!!!

Notes courtesy of ASU's Media Relations

Justin Toscano's column from Los Angeles

Fabian's postgame story from Los Angeles

Thanks to Bruce and Paul

Photo Gallery

Fired from LSU... one of the few people that would scare me as USC's head coach.

Am I crazy to think that if ASU beats USC this week, USC fires Helton and Miles/USC start talks?

63.4%

ASU is 26th in FBS at 77.78%

ASU is tied with 13 other teams with 100% scoring percentage when reaching the Red Zone

ASU is tied for 33rd-45th with 12 other teams for times entering the Red Zone with 18

I know there's always a lot of interest about the locals, and so I thought I'd throw out some names and talk a little about where the prospect is at and what the viability is of ASU recruiting/offering them is, or what the status of current local ASU offerees are.

2020

Jack Miller, QB, Scottsdale Christian

Arizona Christian offered Miller today. First time they've ever offered anyone younger than a junior. It's the start of what will be a wild recruiting process. ASU will offer. It's just a matter of when. He has family connections to SEC country and is being mentored by Tim Tebow. Keep an eye on him.

2019

Spencer Rattler, QB, Pinnacle

ASU has offered, and stays in close contact. Rattler in the Tate Martell mold of QBs, and he'll probably be looking at a 4-star status in the near future.

Jacob Conover, QB, Chandler

Conover will be compared to and measured against Rattler a lot over the next couple of years. Part of that is just being the top 2019 QBs, and another part is that they're the star pupils of once-partners, now rivals Dennis Gile and Mike Giovando. ASU is in a strange place where if they offer Conover, it might scare away Rattler. These are sophomores in high school I'm talking about... recruiting can be gross sometimes- but these kids are great young men, and great football players as well.

D'Shayne James, ATH, Perry

I'm not very impartial when it comes to D'Shayne James. I can say objectively he has great size for a sophomore, and has good receiving skills. I'll let @Hod Rabino comment further on him since he's seen him play more than I have. I think he'll be on ASU's radar for sure, but as of a month ago, no team had reached out to James in any official capacity.

Matthew Pola-Mao, DT, Mountain Pointe

The younger Pola-Mao will be a Rivals250 prospect, just like Isaiah, but he'll have twice the offers, if not more. He was just offered by USC this week, and wherever Isaiah commits will be the school that has a clear leg up on Matthew. USC being unstable right now is helpful. Washington not coming through on promises to Byron Murphy might hurt the Huskies, who are recruiting Isaiah as hard as anyone.

De'Carlos Brooks, DB, Chandler

I like what I've seen from Brooks so far this year as a defensive back. If he continues to progress you could see him as a Pac-12 level recruit.

2018

Jack Plummer, QB, Gilbert

It's honorable when kids don't transfer to better schools to get offers, but despite any opinion you've ever heard on the matter, it can backfire. Plummer should already hold D1 offers, but he's playing on a roster full of kids who wouldn't see the field for other East Valley teams. I do not expect ASU to offer Plummer, and with the emergence of Tyler Shough at Hamilton, who has similar skills and size as Plummer, with an OL that actually allows him to put completed passes on film, Plummer might not even be the best AZ QB prospect in this class anymore.

Max Massingale, QB, Saguaro

I don't believe an FBS team will offer Massingale, due to his height, and that's a shame. He has Jake the Snake-like instincts. He'll probably make some FCS team very happy.

Jamarye Joiner, ATH, Cienega

Joiner was supposed to be the next Cam Denson, but in his first two years at Salpointe, personal issues kept him off the field. Ever since transferring to Cienega, he's been lights out as a running QB, and committed to Arizona just a few days after getting the offer. Southern AZ kids usually stick those commitments out, so I don't anticipate ASU offering.

Draycen Hall, ATH, Higley Login to view embedded media Ja'Tai Jenkins, ATH, Verrado Login to view embedded media Jawhar Jordan, ATH, Hamilton http://www.hudl.com/profile/5132727/jawhar-jordan

The three athletes above are wildly athletic slotbacks that are competing against their own size for more recruiting attention. ASU is aware of Jordan, and Oklahoma State has already offered him. I'm not sure what ASU does here. Jordan is so skinny, and they might feel LA or Texas talent is more worthwhile to pursue. Jay Norvell gained a rep at Texas for offering very few prospects at WR- all three of these guys are versatile enough to play on the defensive side of the ball.

Zidane Thomas, RB, Centennial

Arizona running backs don't often get recruited, but if you're going to go after one in the mold of Demario Richard, this might be your guy. He's probably the most aggressive runner I've seen in the last 5 years doing this. Mountain Pointe's Gary Bragg could have been another option at RB, but teams shy away from guys who have major injuries as a junior.

Joey Ramos, OL, Deer Valley

I went out to see Ramos in person. Utah, Nebraska and UCF have all offered, and I really don't know what ASU is waiting for here. He's a legit 6-4, 280 with a good build, solid strength, feet and technique, and is one of those bright-eyed leadership types that Todd Graham has been fond of in the past. If I had to bet on ASU offering any 2018 kid, of which there are currently still none with offers, I'd say it'd be Ramos.

Kenny Oliver, DL, Saguaro
Josiah Bradley, ATH, Saguaro
Gio Miranda, WR, Saguaro

The next crop of Sabercats worth monitoring. Oliver and Miranda have D1 size, Bradley has D21 talent.

Solomon Enis, WR, North Canyon

I'm not as high on Enis as some, but Austin Jackson believes he'll be as good as 2016 WR John Okwoli, if not better. You can view his highlights here: Login to view embedded media
Gunner Romney, WR, Chandler

There aren't as any LDS kids on the roster as in years past with teams all over the country less willing to take a flyer on guys who won't enroll for 2-3 years, but this is one that I'm 100% sure is worth pursuing. Might be the best 2018 skill guy, looks a lot like late-bloomer Justin Jan did as a senior.