Mornin Mates...
Today's Topic = It's Coming Together Nicely
You would have thought that with the firing of Todd and hiring of Herm that an earthquake had taken place at ASU, as if the Sun Devils had fired Nick Saban and hired John Mackovic to replace him...
Or, that ASU was the victim of a raging forest fire like a village burnt down and would now have to be rebuilt, brick by brick, starting this season...
Nothing could be further from the truth, as Todd had a good overall record at ASU and left Herm a lot of talent, with which to renovate the Sun Devil football program, rather than rebuild it...
There may be a new style involved in all this change but the substance remains the same, as defined by the personnel inherited by the new regime, and that talent finished second in the PAC South last season just behind USC...
Third year starting QB Manny Wilkins returns as does an AA receiver in N'Keal Harry, plus many pieces of the OL and many pieces on defense, especially in the secondary, that was improved last year...
Heck, little Kobe Williams would be an AA candidate if he was taller and weighed more and now I'm reading about Isaiah Floyd, who is going to make a name for himself at RB, along with some other newcomers like Brandon Aiyuk and Merlin Robertson, that are going to make names for themselves as well...
Admittedly, we do not have a large Margin of Error (MOE) like the Trojans and Huskies have due to their overall talent and depth but we're not behind AU, Colorado, UCLA and Utah in that regard, either...
Just about everyone has enough talent at the start of the season to make a contest of it with most others in the PAC but, as the season wears on and attrition takes place, the pretenders fade while the contenders do not...
This season could turn out like the 2014 season where the Devils went 10-3 thanks to a player like Jaelen Strong, who caught that last second pass for a TD against the Trojans allowing the Devils to beat the Trojans, following a 62-17 loss at home to UCLA the week before...
And, thankfully, we have another player in N'Keal Harry that can make those sorts of catches when needed by the Sun Devils this season...
The only real question is whether Manny is enough like Tyrod Taylor, who took the Bills to the playoffs last season, as Tyrod is a game manager, not to be confused with an Aaron Rogers or Tom Brady, who are at an elite QBs...
That and whether our defense will be that much better especially when it comes to giving up big plays, by the dozens, in games...
The Sun Devil Brotherhood is still in place, as far as I can tell, and Herm is still a football coach that understands the game probably as well as any other coach out there, although we will see about that very soon when the season starts...
So, my optimistic message remains the same...that the Devils have more than enough talent to compete and beat most of the teams on its schedule and, the more I read about our new staff and our players, both returning and new, the more convinced I am that we are going to be a team that will make a lot of positive noise this season...
Do any of you really still doubt that..??
There are no sure things in life but I'm very sure that we are much better than what is being advertised by the preseason media...
Yep, it sure seems that things are coming together nicely for our Sun Devils this season...
So nicely, in fact, that if we don't have a lot of critical injuries (knock on wood) that we may even make a run at the South title...
Thank Goodness It's Football season once again...
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
Today's Topic = It's Coming Together Nicely
You would have thought that with the firing of Todd and hiring of Herm that an earthquake had taken place at ASU, as if the Sun Devils had fired Nick Saban and hired John Mackovic to replace him...
Or, that ASU was the victim of a raging forest fire like a village burnt down and would now have to be rebuilt, brick by brick, starting this season...
Nothing could be further from the truth, as Todd had a good overall record at ASU and left Herm a lot of talent, with which to renovate the Sun Devil football program, rather than rebuild it...
There may be a new style involved in all this change but the substance remains the same, as defined by the personnel inherited by the new regime, and that talent finished second in the PAC South last season just behind USC...
Third year starting QB Manny Wilkins returns as does an AA receiver in N'Keal Harry, plus many pieces of the OL and many pieces on defense, especially in the secondary, that was improved last year...
Heck, little Kobe Williams would be an AA candidate if he was taller and weighed more and now I'm reading about Isaiah Floyd, who is going to make a name for himself at RB, along with some other newcomers like Brandon Aiyuk and Merlin Robertson, that are going to make names for themselves as well...
Admittedly, we do not have a large Margin of Error (MOE) like the Trojans and Huskies have due to their overall talent and depth but we're not behind AU, Colorado, UCLA and Utah in that regard, either...
Just about everyone has enough talent at the start of the season to make a contest of it with most others in the PAC but, as the season wears on and attrition takes place, the pretenders fade while the contenders do not...
This season could turn out like the 2014 season where the Devils went 10-3 thanks to a player like Jaelen Strong, who caught that last second pass for a TD against the Trojans allowing the Devils to beat the Trojans, following a 62-17 loss at home to UCLA the week before...
And, thankfully, we have another player in N'Keal Harry that can make those sorts of catches when needed by the Sun Devils this season...
The only real question is whether Manny is enough like Tyrod Taylor, who took the Bills to the playoffs last season, as Tyrod is a game manager, not to be confused with an Aaron Rogers or Tom Brady, who are at an elite QBs...
That and whether our defense will be that much better especially when it comes to giving up big plays, by the dozens, in games...
The Sun Devil Brotherhood is still in place, as far as I can tell, and Herm is still a football coach that understands the game probably as well as any other coach out there, although we will see about that very soon when the season starts...
So, my optimistic message remains the same...that the Devils have more than enough talent to compete and beat most of the teams on its schedule and, the more I read about our new staff and our players, both returning and new, the more convinced I am that we are going to be a team that will make a lot of positive noise this season...
Do any of you really still doubt that..??
There are no sure things in life but I'm very sure that we are much better than what is being advertised by the preseason media...
Yep, it sure seems that things are coming together nicely for our Sun Devils this season...
So nicely, in fact, that if we don't have a lot of critical injuries (knock on wood) that we may even make a run at the South title...
Thank Goodness It's Football season once again...
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
