Aside from the usual cannibalism that annually exists in the conference, there don't appear to be any playoff caliber teams this year, as Oregon lost its QB for a stretch that really hurt them and Stanford just lost a close game to the Ducks, knocking them out of contention, and USC had to fire another coach for all kinds of issues, some football related and some personal in nature...
ASU was slated to challenge the powers that be this season with Graham's "best" Sun Devil team but that never materialized for any number of reasons, so I wanted to use my investigative mind to uncover the "real" culprit or culprits regarding this ASU season related to other PAC programs, keeping in mind that key injuries have hurt most PAC programs this season to one degree or another...
Of course, we start with my axiom that Talent Is Destiny and I would add that experienced talent is equally important, if the talent is equal in terms of skill sets, but where one isn't as developed as much as the other, makes a big difference in how a season plays out...
I also wanted to help answer my question about which coach, out of the four that were hired four years ago, at ASU, AU, UCLA and Wazzu, has done the best, so far, using some objective criteria related to what they inherited at their respective schools that relate directly to this season...
For instance, in 2011 or in the class that contains fifth year seniors, these are the relevant recruiting rankings for the four programs...
UCLA = #45 nationally
AU = #56
ASU = # 58
Wazzu = #73
In 2012, where true seniors would contribute these are the rankings...
UCLA = #13
ASU = #38
AU = #46
Wazzu = #56
For comparison, Stanford, which has been one of the dominant programs during the past 5 years or more had these rankings...2011 = #22 and in 2012 = #5...
The Cardinal's 5th year seniors include Kevin Hogan, Devon Cajuste, Kevin Anderson, Brendon Austin and Remound Wright, with at least three of those players being NFL caliber IMHO, while ASU counters with Berco, Chambers, D Goodman, Mo Latu and Vi Teofilo and I'm not sure any are true NFL caliber players...
Additionally, Stanford does not recruit JC players and always has a lot of RS and true seniors that have been in their system for 4-5 years, while that is not yet the case with teams like ASU, that have had to use JC guys to fill holes, in order to compete in the PAC, and we all know that with those guys you are lucky to only get a productive season or two from them...
Based on these observations, perhaps, it is no real surprise that ASU is where they are right now in the standings...it's also not surprising that the Cardinal continues to "reload" each season instead of "rebuilding" continually, like many programs in the PAC that include ASU at this point...
I have also concluded that offensive schemes like what we see at Oregon, AU and Wazzu can make up for a certain amount of talent deficits, although the Ducks are at the point where they get their fair share of elite talent each year as we all know...
Rich Rod has already won a South title using his offensive scheme, while Leach has really boosted the Wazzu fortunes with his Air Raid system, and Oregon is now doing what is was predicted to do since V Adams has returned healthy to the line-up...
Do you think I'm right or wrong about my observations and conclusions related to the Sun Devils fortunes this year and those of other PAC programs..??
Does talent + several years experience in a program = championships..??
Do ultra hurry up offensive schemes overcome talent deficits by their very nature..??
Championships or Bust...Go Devils!!!
ASU was slated to challenge the powers that be this season with Graham's "best" Sun Devil team but that never materialized for any number of reasons, so I wanted to use my investigative mind to uncover the "real" culprit or culprits regarding this ASU season related to other PAC programs, keeping in mind that key injuries have hurt most PAC programs this season to one degree or another...
Of course, we start with my axiom that Talent Is Destiny and I would add that experienced talent is equally important, if the talent is equal in terms of skill sets, but where one isn't as developed as much as the other, makes a big difference in how a season plays out...
I also wanted to help answer my question about which coach, out of the four that were hired four years ago, at ASU, AU, UCLA and Wazzu, has done the best, so far, using some objective criteria related to what they inherited at their respective schools that relate directly to this season...
For instance, in 2011 or in the class that contains fifth year seniors, these are the relevant recruiting rankings for the four programs...
UCLA = #45 nationally
AU = #56
ASU = # 58
Wazzu = #73
In 2012, where true seniors would contribute these are the rankings...
UCLA = #13
ASU = #38
AU = #46
Wazzu = #56
For comparison, Stanford, which has been one of the dominant programs during the past 5 years or more had these rankings...2011 = #22 and in 2012 = #5...
The Cardinal's 5th year seniors include Kevin Hogan, Devon Cajuste, Kevin Anderson, Brendon Austin and Remound Wright, with at least three of those players being NFL caliber IMHO, while ASU counters with Berco, Chambers, D Goodman, Mo Latu and Vi Teofilo and I'm not sure any are true NFL caliber players...
Additionally, Stanford does not recruit JC players and always has a lot of RS and true seniors that have been in their system for 4-5 years, while that is not yet the case with teams like ASU, that have had to use JC guys to fill holes, in order to compete in the PAC, and we all know that with those guys you are lucky to only get a productive season or two from them...
Based on these observations, perhaps, it is no real surprise that ASU is where they are right now in the standings...it's also not surprising that the Cardinal continues to "reload" each season instead of "rebuilding" continually, like many programs in the PAC that include ASU at this point...
I have also concluded that offensive schemes like what we see at Oregon, AU and Wazzu can make up for a certain amount of talent deficits, although the Ducks are at the point where they get their fair share of elite talent each year as we all know...
Rich Rod has already won a South title using his offensive scheme, while Leach has really boosted the Wazzu fortunes with his Air Raid system, and Oregon is now doing what is was predicted to do since V Adams has returned healthy to the line-up...
Do you think I'm right or wrong about my observations and conclusions related to the Sun Devils fortunes this year and those of other PAC programs..??
Does talent + several years experience in a program = championships..??
Do ultra hurry up offensive schemes overcome talent deficits by their very nature..??
Championships or Bust...Go Devils!!!
