“It looks like heaven’s easier to get into than Arizona State,” said Ned Flanders in one of The Simpsons’ greatest lines. But I kid ASU, I kid the educational standards. We’re not here to discuss that; or the armies of ridiculous hotties that attend this party school of party schools. Hey, there’s a reason Tosh.O picked Tempe for the campus invasion. You can see from the cheerleader pics in this post, or the video here where all the hotties brutally make fun of the 90 year-old-man who invaded their tailgate, that the ASU ladies are as scorching as the July high temperatures on campus.
But enough of this silliness, let’s talk college football.
For the Arizona State basketball season preview go here
2010 was: 6-6, 4-5 in conference with a huge bowl loss to Mississippi State. The defense was an abomination at stopping the pass (101st), but great versus the run (16th). 28th in scoring, and 15th in passing, the offense was nothing short of white-collar (yes, I’m making this term happen. Everyone will refer to pass-heavy teams as such in the future). Coach Dennis Erickson’s seat as any in college football. He hasn’t been to a bowl since 2007.
BMOCs: The first two guys made Darren Rovell’s all name team, LB Vontaze Bufict (one of the most dominant defensive players in the nation, DL Bo Moos, QB Brock Osweiler (he’s only played in two games!), WRs Gerrell Robinson, Mike Willie, RBs Deantre Lewis, Cameron Marshall
2011 will be fruitful if: they play as bad ass as the new uniforms and helmets they’re wearing this fall. No more cartoonish logo, their all in with intimidation. See their “Fear the Fork” marketing campaign. With talented tailbacks and the entire starting OL returning, they should have as explosive a running attack as we’ve seen here in quite awhile.
2011 will be awful if: the inexperience at QB shows up. Other than the 6’8″ Osweiler, no signal caller has taken a snap. There’s already been substantial injury to WR and CB, a position where they could least afford it. And only one starter returns in the DL. Will this new group be better at rushing the passer than last year?
Bottom Line: 8-9 wins. It better be something like that for Erickson to stay. And to quote INXS “devil inside. devil inside, every single one of us the devil inside.” The Sun Devils will need the interior linemen to consistently plow holes open for the running backs. That’ll help the new QB settle into the position. Same thing on the other side of the ball, they need much better inside pressure than last year. Somebody needs to get the attention of opposing offenses, so Burfict can get free. And the best way to bail out a thin secondary is to finish off those blitzes!
ASU Rankings: #28 Athlon, #25 Lindy’s, #24 Phil Steele
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site that generates millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
He does regular weekly radio spots in Chicago and Cleveland and has appeared on live shows all across the world from Houston to New Zealand. You can follow him on Twitter
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