The Arizona State Sun Devils opened up their 2010 season as they were expected to–with a good old fashioned butt whooping against the Portland State Vikings. The Devils fell behind 3-0 in the first quarter but rebounded quite nicely to notch a 54-9 win.
The 54 points represented the biggest scoreboard output during head coach Dennis Erickson’s regime, which is now in its fourth season. ASU also put up 553 yards of total offense–also a high in the Erickson era.
Here’s six things that stood out from the Sun Devils’ season opening win over the Vikings…
1
Major improvement at the RB position - In 2009, the Arizona State running backs scored a total of 11 touchdowns. On Saturday night, the trio of Cameron Marshall, Deantre Lewis and Jamal Miles scored 7. One of the keywords Erickson used throughout fall camp is ’speed’–and how the Devils finally feature some of it on offense. That was quite evident vs. Portland State from the very first Marshall run of the year which he ended up taking 50 yards to the house.
Marshall probably didn’t get the ball as much as he wanted in his first game as ASU’s starting tailback, but he made the most of his touches, runnng for 104 yards and 3 tds on just 4 carries. Lewis also showed explosion and a nose for the end zone, scoring three times, including two on swing passes that he took to the house. And Miles, the sophomore from Peoria High School, had as many touches on offense on Saturday (9) as he did in 2009.
James Morrison came in during the 2nd half and showed a combination of speed and power as well, running for 37 yards on 8 carries.
Considering that the competition was supplied by an FBS team that won two games a year ago and has a brand new coaching staff, I couldn’t be happier with what I saw from the running backs.
2
A shaky debut for the receivers - When Aaron Pflugrad dropped ASU’s first pass attempt of the night on a swing pass that would have went for at least 20 yards had he caught it, you thought maybe that it would be some sort of omen. I mean we’ve heard over and over about Pflugrad’s ability to catch anything, right?
Well, it was a sign of things to come for the Sun Devils’ receivers, although it didn’t hurt them on the scoreboard. There were just too many drops. T.J. Simpson dropped a couple of balls, including a beautifully thrown long ball by Steven Threet in the first half down the ASU sideline. Mike Willie dropped a couple as well, including one in the end zone, and Brandon Smith also let a potential td pass slip through his fingers.
For the night, only 8 of ASU’s 20 completions went to wideouts.
3
Threet’s debut and Osweiler’s relief - After winning the quarterback battle over Brock Osweiler in fall camp, Steven Threet didn’t do much to disappoint in the opener, throwing for 239 yards and 2 touchdowns. He completed 14 of 21 passes, but that completion percentage should have been higher when you figure in all the drops by ASU receivers.
Threet also showed the ability to run the ball effectively on read options that he kept. The Michigan transfer ran for 24 yards on 3 carries on the night.
Osweiler, as promised, came in during the 2nd half and played well too, completing 6 of 10 for 72 yards and also reeled off a 20-yard run. All in all the quarterbacks acquitted themselves quite nicely in game number one.
4
Noel Mazzone’s offense - There were probably some fans among the Sun Devil faithful that were confused by the Sun Devils’ offense designed by new coordinator Noel Mazzone. I mean there was a healthy bit of creativity and a concerted effort to get the ball in the hands of playmakers on the edges.
Again, you have to consider the opponent, but ASU’s offense looked sharp (outside the drops) for most of the game. I even made the comment to some friends in the press box that “this looks like a real college football offense”.
I’m really looking forward to seeing the Sun Devils’ attack against better competition–and yes, that includes NAU on Saturday. Don’t forget, the ‘Jacks are a top-25 team in the FCS.
5
A nice debut for the defense - You really couldn’t ask for more from the defense against Portland State. The Sun Devils held the Vikings out of the end zone, making them settle for three field goal attempts of 42 yards or more (man, that kicker Zach Brown for PSU is good!). In fact, Portland State not only failed to get into the end zone, but failed to make it into the ASU red zone all night. The Vikings’ deepest penetration into ASU territory was the 20-yard line. Even on their last drive of the game, ASU’s defense (with a lot of reserves on the field) stiffened up and prevented the Vikings from getting into the end zone thanks to Max Tabach’s interception with just seconds to play in the game.
Individually, junior college transfer Eddie Elder shined, with an interception and his pressure also forced PSU’s Connor Kavanaugh into an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone in the 1st quarter.
6
One last negative - It seemed like last season in this very space I wrote (way too often) about the Sun Devils killing themselves with bad penalties. Well, there were a lot of penalties again on Saturday, fortunately they didn’t do much to hurt ASU. There were a few false starts. There was a roughing the passer flag thrown on true freshman defensive end Junior Onyeali on a third down that extended a Portland State possession that ended in a field goal. There was an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Marshall–but most don’t care about those type of flags when a player just reeled off a 50-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
But Erickson wasn’t pleased with the flags however. “Too many penalties,” he said. “We had three personal fouls I believe that were what I call dumb penalties. Those are controllable by our football team, but we had them, and it’s ridiculous.”
ASU was last in the nation in 2009 in penalties, drawing 9.25 for over 84 yards per contest. On Saturday, they had 11 flags for 93 yards (which by the way, ranks them 103rd in the country after one game). So I guess that remains an area of concern.
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Quarterback Steven Threet and running backs Cameron Marshall and Deantre Lewis
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Cameron Marshall racked up three scores in the Devils win. (Courtesy: Arizona Republic)
You may recall an old ad campaign Pepsi ran a few years ago where they asked unwitting consumers to see if they could tell the difference between their soda and Coke in a blind taste test.
Last night’s “Pepsi Challenge” constituted putting a running back in an Arizona State football uniform, slapping the number 26 on his chest and telling him to find the end zone.
After last night’s 54-9 win over Portland State to open 2010, you could have easily convinced me that guy in the backfield was Ryan Torain and not Cameron Marshall.
“There’s a guy that really jumped out today,” head coach Dennis Erickson said. “He’s got great speed. No one runs him down.”
As always, it’s very tough to judge a team’s talent and potential off of a blowout win over a I-AA opponent. However, I found myself comparing my optimism coming off this win and the thoughts I had after last season’s 50-3 win over Idaho State - and I like this feeling a lot better.
For starters, the Sun Devils, in their first game running Noel Mazzone’s Don’t-Call-It-A-Spread offense, did not run sweep-left until the 1:43 mark of the 1st quarter. By that point last year, the Devils had run that play approximately 37 times.
New starting quarterback Steven Threet and his offense, though, got off to an inauspicious start; Aaron Pflugrad dropped a screen pass, WR Mike Willie was called for a false start and the Michigan transfer overthrew T.J. Simpson and Kerry Taylor, prompting at least one ASU blogger (read: me) to grumble a little too early.
After that, it was game on.
It’s an understatement to say that watching Arizona State on offense was a breath of fresh air after the woeful performances we grew used to in 2009. The motion was brilliant. The play calling was creative and situationally appropriate. The pace was dizzying.
As Doug Haller pointed out, none of the first six scoring drives for ASU was longer than 2:48. We’ve heard for weeks how Erickson and Mazzone wanted to snap the ball before the 15-second mark on the play clock and run a glut of plays - 66, this time, to be exact, even after the Devils slowed down a little in the half. I expected a fast pace, but its as if Steve Nash were running this offense, not Threet.
“I think we could play faster,” Threet said. “We did a good job of getting lined up and getting the plays out there pretty quickly.”
Speaking of Threet, he didn’t get help early from his receivers, three of whom dropped balls, that hit them right on the hands and at least one to Willie that should have been a touchdown. But instead of rattling him, the Devils’ new starter rolled with it.
“We knew we just had to bounce back with it,” Threet said.
But back to Marshall. Visually, it’s clear that the sophomore running back, who rang up 104 yards and three scores by halftime, has bulked up. He’s much more top-heavy and runs like it. He hits the corner better than he did last season and has a lot more power and speed to break away down field.
More significantly, all of this coupled with the surprising play from the young, patchwork offensive line made things all the better. On both of Marshall’s first two touchdowns, he hit the B gap over Adam Tello, springing him for long scores.
“The holes were open,” Marshall said. “We just had a productive day rushing.”
Deantre Lewis was a revelation last night based on his speed off screen passes, where I’m thinking he’ll be most utilized if Marshall continues to run like he did. Lewis has a keen eye for the open field. His 62-yard TD catch and run on the first offensive play of the 2nd half was brilliant; you can tack about five yards to that run since he caught Threet’s pass so far behind the line of scrimmage, followed a great block from Kerry Taylor and then reversed his field to find the end zone.
Oh, and the defense was OK, too.
The Devils’ depth across the defensive line was depleted and it showed in an unspectacular performance beyond a few nice plays off the edge from James Brooks. But their grunt work to tie up Portland State’s undersized offensive line worked wonders to open up the 6-7-8 Boys (as coined by @JWilks26 on Twitter last night) to wreck Connor Kavanaugh’s plans.
No more evident of that was on the play where the Vikings quarterback was forced into an intentional grounding penalty with 4:46 left in the 1st, resulting in a safety and a 16-3 lead for Arizona State. The right side of the Devils’ line got a good push, allowing Vontaze Burfict and Brandon Magee to give chase in the end zone. With Eddie Elder bearing down on a safety blitz and pressure coming from all sides, Kavanaugh threw the ball at the feet of Jamarr Jarrett.
Speaking of Elder, he couldn’t have had a more sparkling debut. His athleticism to close the gap and make his first career interception while falling out of bounds dropped jaws. The Devils’ have yearned for a strong and heady safety since Troy Nolan’s departure and Elder might just fill that gap if he has more games like this.
What impressed me the most about the defense was their overall speed. It was hard to imagine these guys flying more than they did last year, but mission accomplished.
There were negatives. Once again, Frank Kush Field was littered with yellow. The Sun Devils, who averaged more penalty yards per game than any other team in American in 2009, found themselves on the wrong end of 11 penalties for 93 yards.
I guess the saving grace was that none of them were against Burfict, but this trend is unacceptable. It’s one of the major factors that inhibited the team from success last year. It has to stop. Immediately.
This was a good start. The Devils will have to do it again next Saturday against another Big Sky opponent because, if you didn’t notice or were asleep/on Mill, Wisconsin ravaged an admittedly sub-par UNLV team last night and John Clay looks as strong as ever.
But the opener was a good starting point.
“We’re 1-0 and that’s all you can ask for,” Threet said.
April 29, 2006 - The majority of Cardinals fans celebrate when Matt Leinart, who would have been a sure-fire top two pick a year earlier, falls to number ten and is drafted by Arizona. Then head coach Dennis Green called Leinart a “gift from God”.
September 4, 2010- The majority of Cardinals fans celebrate when Matt Leinart, who made a total of 17 starts in a Cardinals’ uniform, is released by the team.
It’s official…Matt Leinart has been released by the Arizona Cardinals. After two weeks of pouting, speculation and rumors, the one-time first round draft pick of the Cardinals is now a former member of the team, free to sign with whomever he wants. The Cardinals get nothing in return.
That leaves Derek Anderson as the starting quarterback and rookies Max Hall and John Skelton backing him up, barring any waiver-wire maneuvering to acquire a veteran.
Look, I know Leinart was unhappy here. I know his comments after being benched rubbed people the wrong way, and for good reason. If Leinart would have used the same words he said to the media behind closed doors to head coach Ken Whisenhunt, this might have turned out differently. But he didn’t, and in the process of spilling his guts, he sealed his fate in Arizona.
But I find it hard to believe that Leinart only became unmanageable for this team in the last two weeks. He’s been here for four years, and he’s always come off as aloof and a loner–two traits that many have used to describe him recently.
Kurt Warner left no doubt about his future when he announced his retirement in January, and even reiterated that fact several times to people thinking he might “pull a Favre”. Warner hung up his cleats (and gloves) a full three months before the NFL Draft and more than a month before free agency started. If the Cardinals weren’t sold on Leinart, they should have come up with a better plan than the one they executed. I don’t know, maybe Donovan McNabb? Maybe Marc Bulger.
The Cardinals opted to sign Anderson to a two-year deal in March, and at the time Whisenhunt was quoted as saying “We have seen a tremendous amount of growth from Matt. He has worked hard.” He did also make comments about having competition at the quarterback position.
But they anointed Leinart the starter, and kept him in that position through two weeks of the preseason. By the way, Leinart completed 78.6% of his passes in the preseason and had a quarterback rating of 104.6, proving the fact that this release wasn’t based on statistics. It was completely personality based. But if I was Matt Leinart and had been named the starter the minute Warner retired and had those preseason numbers to back me up and still lost my job, I’d be pissed too.
In 2008, with Leinart leading Kurt Warner on the depth chart heading into the third preseason game, #7 played his way out of a job. His performance in that game against Oakland was dreadful, and Whisenhunt was forced to go to Warner as the starter. That’s on Leinart. This year, he played decently in the preseason–not spectacularly, but certainly not badly enough to lose his job. That’s not on Leinart–at least not his play.
Whisenhunt commented on Friday included that he had to figure out if Leinart could survive on this team as a backup quarterback, and whether or not it was best for the team. Leinart could have been completely against being the backup–and I like that. He shouldn’t want to be the #2 guy behind Anderson.
So now the Cardinals go into the season with Anderson as the starter and Max Hall as the number two QB. I like Max Hall. A lot. He’s a proven winner at the high school and college level. He’s got a bit of a nasty streak in him, and that’s good for a quarterback too. I got the chance to interview him during training camp, and honestly, there’s nothing I don’t like about him, right down to his preseason performance.
But if somebody’s going to be a backup quarterback in the NFL, they have to be ready to be a starter–we’ve seen one hit change teams’ seasons in the NFL. Is Max Hall ready to be a starter? I’d say the answer is no right now.
And he’s backing up a quarterback who has been a model of inconsistency during his pro career. Which Derek Anderson will we see this season? The one who threw 29 touchdown passes and nearly led the Cleveland Browns to the 2007 Playoffs? Or the one who put up a 42 QB rating last season? He’s probably somewhere in the middle.
Unfortunately, the middle won’t be good enough for the Cardinals to win a third straight NFC West title. They barely got it done the last two seasons with superior quarterback play.
I’m going out on a limb and picking a team that hasn’t played in the Rose Bowl since 1965 to do just that this year.
Why, you ask? The Beavers boast arguably the best coach, the two best offensive players and the best defensive player in the conference.
Oregon State also finds themselves in a unique position schedule-wise. With two non-conference games against two of the top six teams in the preseason rankings, head coach Mike Riley’s team could rise quickly up the rankings themselves with a couple of wins. Will that happen? Probably not, but I’m saying there’s a chance.
On offense, OSU will be breaking in a brand new starting quarterback in Ryan Katz, who has the task of filling the shoes of Sean Canfield, the First Team All-Pac-10 quarterback a year ago. Katz is green (only 27 attempts in his career), but from all accounts coming out of Corvallis, he’s got all the tools. He’s got a couple of pretty good weapons to work with as well.
The Rodgers Brothers’ reign of terror over Pac-10 continues again in 2010. In the last two years, Jacquizz and James have combined for 4,820 yards from scrimmage and 55 touchdowns (1 on a kickoff return). Last year alone, as ESPN Pac-10 blogger extraordinaire Ted Miller pointed out in their College Football Preview edition, the Brothers Rodgers had more touchdowns than 32 FBS teams. Why would they slow down now?
The Beavs have three starters back on their offensive line, including Alex Linnenkohl, who has started 26 straight games and got Pac-10 honorable mention a year ago. Also back is starting tight end Brady Camp and H-Back Joe Halahuni.
The defense is led by Steven Paea, a beast of a defensive tackle who was an All-Pac-10 First-teamer a year ago, and had 8.5 tackles for loss. He’s joined up front by fellow tackle Kevin Frahm, who moves inside in 2010 and defensive ends Gabe Miller and Taylor Henry. The defense does lose All-Pac-10 linebacker Keaton Kristick, but Dwight Roberson, who started all 13 games at the weak side linebacker spot in 2009 is back.
Cornerback James Dockery and safety Lance Mitchell are back in the secondary. And Justin Kahut, who connected on 22 of 27 field goal attempt is also back and is one of the most trusted kickers in a conference that features two Lou Groza Award winners.
Is Ryan Katz good enough to guide the Beavers to a Pac-10 championship?
Well, I’m picking the Beavers to get it done, so I’ll say yes. People will point to the fact that Katz is stepping into a spot vacated by an All-Pac-10 quarterback in Sean Canfield. Don’t get me wrong, Canfield had a good season in 2009, and stuck to what he did best very well–the short pass. Canfield completed almost 68% of his passes last year (6th in the nation), and only threw 7 picks. Katz will be asked to do much of the same–and he’s got Jacquizz and James ready to inflict damage on the opponent–two pretty nice options. Katz and OSU will be fine.
Oregon State Beavers At A Glance
Head Coach: Mike Riley, 10th year at Oregon State (64-47) Offensive Coordinator: Danny Langdorf Defensive Coordinator: Mark Banker Record in 2009: 8-5 Overall, 6-3 Pac-10 Record in Last 5 Years: 41-23 Overall, 28-16 Pac-10 Bowl Games in Last 5 Years: Lost to BYU in 2009 Las Vegas Bowl, Beat Pittsburgh in 2008 Sun Bowl, Beat Maryland in 2007 Emerald Bowl, beat Missouri in 2006 Sun Bowl
Top Offensive Players: RB Jacquizz Rodgers, WR James Rodgers, C Alex Linnenkohl, T Mike Remmers Top Defensive Players: DT Steven Paea, LB Dwight Roberson, CB James Dockery, S Lance Mitchell
Distinguished Non-Football Alumni:
• Dick Fosbury - invented “The Fosbury Flop” in high jumping
• Linus Pauling - Nobel Prize Winner
• Leonard Schoen - Founder of UHaul
Things will be o.k. if: Katz takes over right where Canfield left off, and by all accounts he’s more than capable of doing that.
Sure sign of trouble: Teams suddenly figure out how to stop the Rodgers Brothers. That’s not going to happen.
Leave it the Arizona Diamonbacks to wait until football season is upon us to flip the switch and actually start playing good baseball. The D-backs won again on Friday night beating the Houston Astros 4-3. This time the hero was Augie Ojeda, whose sacrifice fly in the 8th inning scored Ryan Roberts to give Arizona their 4th win in a row and their 7th victory in their last 8 games.
• Brandon Webb was on the mound on Friday, throwing a simulated game, and apparently it didn’t go well. Webb hasn’t pitched since Opening Day of 2009, but hopes to pitch before the end of this season.
• The Cardinals announced some cuts as they get their roster down to the league-mandated 53 players. Sixteen players saw their name on the list, but that list didn’t include the name of quarterback Matt Leinart. The Cards need to cut three more players by today.
• The Arizona Wildcats opened up their season with a 41-2 trouncing of the Toledo Rockets at the Glass Bowl on Friday night. Nick Foles was on target in U of A’s controlled passing game, completing 32 of 37 passes for 360 yards and 2 touchdowns.
• And finally, Phoenix’s Bethanie Mattek-Sands, along with her partner Megan Shaughnessy, charged into the third round of the U.S. Open Women’s Doubles draw with a straight set win over the team of Hantuchova and Wozniacki.
The Arizona Cardinals’ roster is nearly pared down. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt announced 16 players who were let go on Friday as the team trims the roster to the league-mandated 53 in time for next Sunday’s season opener.
One player that wasn’t on the cut list (at least yet) is quarterback Matt Leinart. Speculation has flown hot and heavy about Leinart in the last two weeks after he was demoted in favor of quarterback Derek Anderson for the last two preseason games. There’s been rumblings about trades to a number of teams and the thought that the Cards would just release the unhappy QB.
Not only did Whisenhunt not announce Leinart’s name as a cut, but he wouldn’t even announce his starter for the Rams game.
Another player not cut on Friday was offensive lineman Reggie Wells, who instead was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for an undisclosed draft pick.
Here are the players who have been cut by the Cardinals so far:
• LB Stevie Baggs
• TE Anthony Becht
• LB Monty Beisel
• LB Cody Brown
• DE Jeremy Clark
• DE John Fletcher
• CB Trevor Ford
• WR Ed Gant
• G Herman Johnson
• WR Mike Jones
• WR Onrea Jones
• CB Justin Miller
• G Jonathan Palmer
• OL Tom Pestock
• FB Charles Scott
• WR Isaiah Williams
Surprises? Not many, although I thought Beisel was a good bet to make the team, especially after a big game last night against the Redskins in which he had 3 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack a pass breakup and an interception.
Others were surprised that Cody Brown, a 2nd-round pick out of Connecticut a year ago was also let go. Brown missed all of 2009 with a wrist injury. Brown was healthy this preseason, but just not productive. Brown played in all four preseason games but registered just 3 tackles, all of them coming in the opener against the Houston Texans.
And most close to the team thought that veteran tight end Anthony Becht would make the roster over 7th round pick Jim Dray, but that didn’t happen either.
Linebacker Mark Washington, a former Arizona State Sun Devil was waived as well.
(PHOENIX) — The Arizona Diamondbacks announced today they have purchased the contract of left-handed pitcher Mike Hampton from Triple-A Reno and recalled left-handed pitcher Zach Kroenke from Reno, according to D-backs’ interim General Manager Jerry Dipoto.
Hampton, 37, went 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA (1 ER in 3.1 IP) and .273 opponents average (3-for-11) with 2 walks and a strikeout over 4 games with the Aces after being signed to a minor league contract on Aug. 21. Over 15 seasons in the big leagues, the two-time National League All-Star went 148-115 with a 4.07 ERA in 409 games (355 starts), while owning a .246 batting average with 16 home runs and 79 RBI. From 1999-2003, Hampton won five consecutive NL Silver Slugger Awards and was also a 2003 Rawlings Gold Glove recipient.
Kroenke, 26, went 7-3 with 2 saves, a 3.51 ERA (38 ER in 97.1 IP) and a .255 opponents average (94-for-368) with 39 walks and 69 strikeouts in 40 games (9 starts) with the Aces. He will make his Major League debut with the D-backs.
Last season the Ducks, who are always in the mix for a Pac-10 title, finally ended their 15-year Rose Bowl drought and represented the conference in Pasadena on New Year’s Day. They lost that day to Ohio State.
But the loss was nothing compared to what Chip Kelly and the Oregon Football program endured over the next several months. A rash of player arrests put a mark on the program, and many wondered aloud if Kelly had control over it.
The crime spree cost Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who was kicked off the team and now will have to wait a season until he’s eligible to play at Mississippi. LaMIchael James, Oregon’s record-setting freshman running back is suspended for their season opener Saturday against New Mexico, as is kicker Rob Beard.
But now that the offseason indiscretions are in the past, and football is here, things look pretty good in Eugene for the Ducks to make another run to the top of the Pac-10.
On offense, Oregon’s got nine starters back, including all three of their top wideouts from last season (D.J. Davis, Jeff Maehl and Lavasier Tuinei) and their entire offensive line. Oh, and there’s that James kid, who was thrust into the starting spot a year ago after LeGarrette Blount’s nationally televised meltdown in Boise, and responded with over 1,500 yards.
The big question on offense is at quarterback. Sophomore Darron Thomas is very talented, but inexperienced. Thomas got substantial playing time against Boise State as a true freshman in 2008, and played well, throwing for three touchdowns during a fourth quarter comeback that ended in a loss. But after that, he only threw 8 passes the rest of the season, and then redshirted last year. But it’ll be Thomas under center in the season opener.
There is an insurance policy at that position in the form of Nate Costa. The senior has started only one game as a Duck, leading his team to a road win at UCLA last season. But he only has 33 pass attempts in his career. The familiar faces throughout the rest of the offense will help both quarterbacks as they get their feet wet, and when they do, watch out.
On defense, there’s also a healthy compliment of returning talent. Up front, the Ducks boast returning starters in tackle Brandon Bair and end Kenny Rowe, who racked up 11.5 sacks a year ago. Rowe is a preseason candidate for the Ted Hendricks Award, the Lombardi Award, the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Bronko Nagurski Award and the Lott Trophy.
Starting linebackers Spencer Paysinger, Casey Matthews and Josh Kaddu are all back is three-fourths of the Ducks’ starting secondary from a year ago, including cornerback Talmadge Jackson III who had 4 interceptions and safety John Boyett, who led the team with 90 tackles.
How much does the loss of Jeremiah Masoli hurt Oregon’s offense?
There’s no doubt that Masoli was a unique talent. After his 2009 season in which he threw for 2,147 yards and 15 touchdowns and ran for another 668 yards and 13 scores, there was some talk that he’d be a dark horse Heisman candidate this season. With him in the fold, the Ducks would have been an overwhelming favorite to win the conference and a national championship contender. They may still win the conference, but I don’t think they’re a BCS title threat without Masoli.
That’s not to say Thomas or Costa can’t get the job done–they can. Oregon has proven over the years that they find superior offensive talent on a consistent basis. But there’s really only one question mark on this team heading into 2010, and it’s at the quarterback position, so expecting a step back in production isn’t a shock.
Head Coach: Chip Kelly, 2nd year at Oregon (10-3) Offensive Coordinator: Mark Helfrich Defensive Coordinator: Nick Aliotti Record in 2009: 10-3 Overall, 8-1 Pac-10 Record in Last 5 Years: 46-18 Overall, 31-13 Pac-10 Bowl Games in Last 5 Years: Lost to Ohio State in 2010 Rose Bowl (2009 season), Beat Oklahoma State in 2008 Holiday Bowl, Beat South Florida in 2007 Sun Bowl, Lost to BYU in 2006 Las Vegas Bowl, Lost to Oklahoma in 2005 Holiday Bowl
Top Offensive Players: RB LaMichael James, WR Jeff Maehl, the entire offensive line Top Defensive Players: DT Brandon Bair, DE Kenny Rowe, LB Casey Matthews, S John Boyett
Distinguished Non-Football Alumni:
• Bill Bowerman - co-founder of Nike/portrayed on film by Donald Sutherland and R. Lee Ermey
• Stephen J. Cannell - television writer and producer
• Ann Curry - NBC News
• Howard Hesseman - Dr. Johnny Fever
• Ken Kesey - wrote “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
• Phil Knight - doesn’t he own the University of Oregon?
• Chuck Palahniuk - gave the world “Fight Club” and “Choke”
• Steve Prefontaine - record-setting distance runner
Things will be o.k. if: Everybody picks up the slack while Thomas or Costa gets acclimated to being a starting quarterback.
Sure sign of trouble: Another crime spree in Eugene. That won’t happen, right?
Cameron Marshall has a chance to be a big change-of-pace to the Devils air attack. (Courtesy: AP)
‘Tis the night before Sun Devil football and all through the Carson Center, there’s a quiet anticipation.
Or not so quiet. I’m sure there’s some screaming, pacing and fidgeting going on within the bowels of Sun Devil Stadium.
I know that’s what’s going on in my apartment and the homes of thousands of you throughout Pitchfork Nation.
In just under 36 hours, the endless talk, criticism and hype will end - foot will meet pigskin and 2010 will be underway. The Sun Devils, clad in Maroon & Gold, will finally line up against an opponent wearing a different helmet. The tackles will count and the score will matter.
But with so many questions still surrounding this football team going into tomorrow’s opener with Portland State, the season’s opening two games provide a platform to iron out wrinkles.
It all starts and ends under center, where Steven Threet will get his first start since 2008. I don’t expect the offensive playbook to be totally exposed against the likes of Portland State and Northern Arizona, but now that Dennis Erickson and Noel Mazzone have a heady, confident quarterback at the helm, creative playcalling will return to the agenda for the Sun Devils.
It will be interesting to see at what point and in which situations Brock Osweiler will make his first appearance. One thing I’m nearly sure of is that it will definitely be before the 4th quarter. Even if tomorrow’s game isn’t a blowout, I expect to see Brock taking snaps as early as the 2nd quarter. There’s nothing to base that on; it’s just a hunch. The Threet/Osweiler decision wasn’t based on lack of trust - both guys performed admirably during camp and both have a firm grasp of this offense.
Plus, Osweiler is past the point of mop-up duty. He’s started in big games and led the Devils in tough spots. He’ll play and he’ll play early.
Meanwhile, I’ll be curious to see just how much of a factor Cameron Marshall is in this new offense. Marshall is a dangerous weapon out of the backfield when used appropriately, but in what seems to be a football version of Seven Seconds or Less, room to run the ball may be at a premium.
What the Devils might consider is how Texas Tech used Baron Batch in 2008, when the Red Raiders made their dramatic run to the top of the polls. Certainly, their spread offense revolved around Graham Harrell, Michael Crabtree and Danny Amendola, but Batch and Shannon Woods paced their running attack. Most fans don’t even remember that those two combined for over 1,400 rushing yards in an offense based around a strong air attack.
Depth obviously remains an issue on the defensive line thanks to ineligibility and injury, which makes personnel an issue going into tomorrow. The question there lies in the rotation - will the Devils try to plug gaps in a standard four-man front? Or will we see shades of the 30-front that has been floated throughout the offseason? With the depth that Arizona State boasts at linebacker right now, there’s certainly a reason to have as many talented LBs on the field as possible, especially considering their speed.
But the questions will be answered. I can’t guarantee that we’ll necessarily like the answers, at least early on, but one thing is clear.
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The Arizona State Sun Devils opened up their 2010 season as they were expected to–with a good old fashioned butt whooping against the Portland State Vikings. The Devils fell behind 3-0 in the first quarter but rebounded quite nicely to notch a 54-9 win. 
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