SB Nation - Lawrence Guy

Your Pac-10 Quickie Primer: Week 4 Morning Open Thread

Avinash — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 13:00:24 -0000

"Let this be a gentlemanly victory!"

IT'S SATURDAY MORNING BEARS! Who among us isn't ~~terrified like hell~~ drunkenly excited to start the conference schedule?

There are other games on the Pac-10 slate; all of them are on some form of TV, so you should get your chance to watch them (of course, if we lose, I expect all of you to go into a 24 hour mourning period, and by mourning, I mean more beer). Pregame/first quarter thread will be up at 11:45 AM!

Arizona at Oregon State, 7:30 PM EST, 4:30 PM PST (Versus)

This is probably just as big a game as ours, at least in terms of figuring out what both of these teams are like. Here are the perspectives from both sides.

Nick Foles is Arizona's new QB, and AZ Desert Swarm is excited about their future with him.

Nick Foles couldn't muster much offense either throwing 6-11 for 55 yards and a TD. His opportunities were limited by the time it got to him. There was no chance for rushing anymore and he still managed to get a score. Foles TD throw to Criner was PERFECT. Can't wait until next week.

rvm of Building the Dam is also wondering about how effective their team will be at getting at Foles.

Question Four: Defensive line: Can they continue to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks, but come up with more results? Tony Pike was adept at side-stepping Beaver blitzers, and I’m not sure the man Arizona will run out onto the field—Nick Foles— will be nearly as good in that respect. How many sacks are you looking for tomorrow?

More quick looks after the jump.

Arizona State at Georgia, 7 PM EST, 4 PM PST (ESPNU)

This game will give us a good sense as to how good the Sun Devils are against quality opponents. House of Sparky did an interview with SECRivals, mentioning how their Lou Groza award winning kicker Thomas Weber is out 4-6 weeks, and also how important the front seven will be at silencing the mob in Athens.

With the addition of true freshmen Vontaze Burfict and Corey Adams, ASU’s defensive unit has received a boost in athleticism and ability. Combined with Lawrence Guy, Dexter Davis and Mike Nixon, and we see the core of a foreboding front seven.

ASU’s secondary is a real concern with AJ Green roaming the field, but adequate pressure on Joe Cox will be the key to limit Green’s effectiveness.

It seems we're not alone in terms of bad special teams. In an interview with House of Sparky, T Kyle King of Dawg Sports notes that one of Georgia's weaknesses is directional kickoffs.

Where do I begin? The Bulldogs commit too many turnovers and are flagged for too many penalties, many of which are of the "rookie mistake" variety rather than of the "playing aggressively" sort. Although the run defense is stout, the Georgia D is fooled by too many play action fakes. The secondary has failed to take away the deep ball, often getting caught out of position, and the middle of the field frequently is left open, much to the delight of opposing tight ends everywhere. The Red and Black have surrendered 37 or more points in seven of their last twelve games. Georgia’s kickoff coverage is a mess and directional kicking often sends the ball out of bounds to give the other team good starting field position, anyway.

Washington at Leland Junior, 9 PM EST, 6 PM PST (FCS Pacific--also, Dawgman, the Husky mesageboard, will also be doing some interactive stuff with Husky fans)

Big game for the Huskies to show they're not out of tricks after playing their hearts out against the Trojans. John Berkowitz (who writes outstanding game previews), breaks down every facet of UDub v. Furd. He believes Jake Locker and the Huskies can definitely run on the Cardinal, based on their Wake Forest performance.

Stanford has an active front seven that is used to facing a power running game each day in practice. They held SJSU to only 26 yards on 28 carries last week. They didn't do so well against Wake Forest. They gave up 250 yards and that was the tale of the game. They just couldn't figure out the Demon Deacon offense which is pretty tricky.

Washington has been able to run against everyone this year. You would think that LSU and USC would have been able to hut them down but they didn't. The Huskies haven't had any big plays yet but they do pick up big yardage on first down which has helped the offense become one of the national leaders in third down conversions.

Chris Polk is the best looking Washington back in over a decade. He has all the tools. He can catch the ball, run with power, and he has the speed to break the long one. What has really set Chris apart this fall has been his ability to make yards after contact. Polk carried the USC line for valuable extra yards last Saturday.

The last time Jake played in Palo Alto he had a field day running the football. If the coaches decide to give 10-12 pre designed running plays he is very capable of picking up 70-100 rushing yards against the Tree's.

Since the Furd doesn't have an SBN blog, I'm going to visualize what exactly their preview would look like.

via www.lolhome.com

That wasn't very nice, was it?

Wazzu at USC, 10:15 PM EST, 7:15 PM PST, FSN HD

This game makes me sad. Even sadder that THIS is the Pac-10 national telecast this week.

Coug Center (who has been churning out quality work, go to their site and see all the great position analyses they're handing out!) at least tries to make humor of it. Nuss comes up with this jewel.

The Trojans are in trouble if

They notice that Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves are on their bus, because that means it’s about to get suddenly commandeered by Dennis Hopper.

Other than that, I think they could turn the ball over on every possession and still figure out a way to win.

At least James Montgomery is healthy. Get well James.

Conquest Chronicles hasn't even bothered with a preview, instead reviewing the shocking upset from last week and blowing apart overblown media anger with the Trojans. One Trojan fan at about the 50 yard line in Husky Stadium dissected the way USC's OC was interacting with Aaron Corp. Could Matt Barkley have been ready to go on Saturday?

Bates: yes some discussions with Corp occurred, but not that much. Contrary to some reports, it wasn't like Bates was constantly trying to handhold Corp through the game. Bates did a lot of standing and watching quietly. Not a heck of a lot of talk with PC. He didn't talk hardly at all with Barkley. The rest of the coaching staff interacted with the players and each other in what could be termed as "normal" or "as expected" - the Defensive staff was very energetic like usual.

Corp: he was really just alone in his little hell that game. Bates had some conversations. But not many, fewer and fewer as game went on. PC barely talked to Corp. Teammates pretty much left him all alone save the occasional passing word with a pat on the back or helmet. Almost no "leader"-type interactions with his line or individual players, the spirit-boosting "come on troops!" stuff we've become used to from SC QBs including Barkley. Most of the 3rd and 4th quarter Corp hung his head and stared at the ground or crossed his arms and stared into space. Then when it was time to take the field a quick word from Bates and off Corp trotted. When Corp returned to the sidelines rarely did a coach go up to him to discuss the series that just finished! Just left him to stand there until the next series.

Barkley: sorry to disagree PC even though I love and trust ya, but Barkley was ready to go and was dying to play. In the 3rd Q he pulled his helmet on and never took it off. He was jumping, smiling, moving up and down the bench talking to everyone, slapping them on the pads, making them laugh. Pumping them up. He did his damndest to catch PC's and Bates' ears. He was one of the only persons to go up to Corp after each series and talk to him, though it seemed like Corp didn't want to talk much and Barkley seemed to respect that, keeping it brief. Barkley threw the ball with zip on the sidelines. He carried a football with him constantly, tossing it from hand to hand as he watched the game. He showed as much energy and spirit as the Defense. Barkley acted like an SC starting QB should act. He was doing on the sidelines what Corp should have been doing on the sidelines.

All those games start up after ours though. There will be a link to a second open thread later on for the late afternoon/evening slate. Enjoy Gameday and the morning slate before we get to cooking duck!

Poll

Your primary feeling before Cal-Oregon is...

Excited

49 votes

Relaxed

11 votes

Nervous

85 votes

Drunk

19 votes

164 votes | Poll has closed

College Football Kickoff Saturday Afternoon Open Thread, Plus Your Pac-10 Primer

Avinash — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 19:15:11 -0000

Six more Pac-10 games, and we'll quick-hit all of them, since none are expected to be close. This should take you through the afternoon up to the kickoff of Cal-Maryland. First thread will be up 6 PM.

Afternoon games

San Jose State at USC, 3:30 PM EST, 12:30 PM PST, FSN HD (national telecast)

The focus of this game will obviously be Matt Barkley's performance. Conquest Chronicles's blogfather, the ever astute gentleman Paragon, looks at what Barkley can do in his debut performance to assuage Trojan fears before the trip to the Horseshoe:

With Kristofer O'Dowd out for Saturdays game things will change on the offensive line. Yes, USC still has some superior talent on offense but I really think Tomey is going to throw the kitchen sink at Barkley. It would not surprise me if Pete Carroll schemed to have Barkley hand the ball off for most of the game or throw short, quick dump off passes for chunks of yardage but if Barkley is on the run the question will be if he has the patience to make the right play instead of trying to make chicken soup out of you know what.

As usual the key will be offensive line. If the O line can blow some holes open for McKnight, who was named the starter for Saturday's game, then that will go a long way to calming everyone's nerves as to how the offense will work with Barkley at the helm.

Brief looks at the rest of the games after the jump!

Late afternoon games

Stanford at Washington State, 6 PM EST, 3 PM PST, Fox Sports Northwest HD

Wazzu will be going with a two quarterback system against the Furd, much like Riley-Longshore versus Michigan State. Nuss of Coug Center gives an impressive number of examples to explain why he isn't pleased:

What I ended up with were a handful of examples where it was moderately successful to use multiple quarterbacks, but many more where it was an absolute disaster -- when a two-quarterback system fails, it fails spectacularly. And since the Cougs don't possess guys like Tebow and Leak, I'm leaning towards the Cougars' two-quarterback falling on the "spectacular failure" end of the spectrum. Instead of concentrating on maximizing one guy's chance to be as successful as he can possibly be in this game through tailored game planning and a steady stream of reps in practice, you end up increasing the odds that neither can be as effective as he otherwise would have been with a full week's worth of work and game's compliment of snaps.

San Diego State at UCLA, 7:30 PM EST, 4:30 PM PST, Fox Sports West HD (LA markets?), Fox College Sports Atlantic

Bruins Nation believes the atmosphere surrounding this game and season, despite the fires blazing a few miles away, is light-hearted.

The theme I am sensing this morning is all about fun. Thank God the Bruins are not going to start the season at a hostile atmosphere (just look at what happened to Oregon even though they went in to Boise w/ an experienced backfield) with at least 10 players who are going to make their college debut this season. Kids are excited but CRN is keeping them even keeled:

Coach Rick Neuheisel has a simple message for the first-timers:

"It's got to be fun," Neuheisel said. "It can't be nervous time. You've got to try to create it to be fun."

And if there are mistakes?

"Move on and fix them and go," he said.

Evening caps

Central Michigan at Arizona, 10 PM EST, 7 PM PST, AWSN

Chris Brown of Smart Football predicts Arizona will not only play a close game against the Chippewas, but lose outright:

I like Arizona, I really do. I like what Mike Stoops has done, and within a few years, offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes (son of former Texas Tech legend Spike Dykes and protege of fellow Texas Tech legend, Captain Leach), will be a head coach for a D-1 program somewhere. But, while this game is at Arizona, I cannot justify the nearly two-touchdown spread; in fact, I think the Chippewas will win it outright. CMU has won eight games in each of coach Butch Jones's first two seasons, but more importantly they return 17 starters, none more important than Tim Tebow-lite, quarterback Dan LeFevour. LeFevour is a tough, gritty kid, and this is just the type of win over a BCS program to jumpstart his senior year. More importantly, Arizona should take a step back after losing a lot of talent from last year's squad, and I think that regression will begin in week one.

Idaho State at Arizona State, 10 PM EST, 7 PM PST, Fox Sports Arizona HD, Fox College Sports Pacific

Despite suspensions to five-six ASU players for the opening game by Coach Erickson, ASU blog Pitchfork Nation believes the Sun Devils D should carry them to victory.

The Devils’ defense will be their strength this season, and they should have no problems flexing their muscles against an inferior opponent on Saturday night. JC transfer Dean DeLeone will get the start at left defensive end, in place of Brooks. Sophomore defensive tackle Lawrence Guy is banged up, and is a question mark for Saturday, but we should see a lot of true freshman Corey Adams and Will Sutton in the defensive tackle rotation. Even without Burfict and the injured Shelly Lyons, linebacker is the deepest spot on the team. The secondary has been questioned, especially at the strong safety position, where redshirt freshman Keelan Johnson will start. Erickson said earlier in the week that physically Johnson might be the most talented player he’s coached at that position.

LSU at Washington, 10:30 PM EST, 7:30 PM PST, ESPN HD

John Berkowitz of UW Dawg Pound believes the Huskies will have a good chance against the Tigers, mainly due to their star quarterback's latent ability.

Jake Locker has made steady progress as a passer since spring practice. Most observers think he has improved enough to approach a 60% completion ratio if he has adequate protection. One thing Locker does well is throw on the run and that is a good thing because he is going to have to do that a lot this year to help out his offensive line.

Washington's receiving corps is a year older, stronger, wiser and will hit the field with the benefit of better schemes and coaching. Freshman James Johnson has pushed himself into the starting lineup and has been surprising people with his ability to get open and make catches. Keep an eye on James because he is going to be special.

I don't think the LSU pass rush is going to be a big factor in this game. The key matchup will be the Husky receivers getting open against an extremely fast and physical defensive backfield. Yards after the catch may not happen as much as we like because we are going up against some very fast closers.

This week's Pac-10 picks: Central Michigan +13.5, USC/SJSU under 47, Washington +17.5

Feel free to leave your Pac-10 predictions and observations in the comments.

Arizona State Roundtable

TwistNHook — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:30:08 -0000

via azmc.org

TwistNHook: There are many concerns about the upcoming football season for any self-respecting, self-loathing Cal fan. Last year, we lost every road game save for WSU, ensuring that many of our home games are now revenge games. Two years ago, we lost every road game save for Oregon, ensuring that every return trip now is a revenge game.

And ASU is no different. Two years ago, we went to Arizona State right at the start of the Cal-lapse. We lost a game where we were up 13-0 and 20-7 at various points. But ASU came back furiously and the Cal-lapse was in full motion. It was frustrating and I very much look forward to Cal taking care of business at ASU.

The first thing that jumps out at you when you think ASU is Rudy Carpenter is gone. Now they appear to have former backup Danny Sullivan at QB. After 4 years of Carpenter, you have to wonder how things will move forward. And it appears my concerns might have some foundation in reality (a first).

Article:

It wasn’t a surprise to see the Arizona State defense control Saturday morning’s scrimmage inside the practice bubble. The unit has meshed well and is expected to be the Sun Devils’ calling card this season.

Previously offensively oriented, now they seem to be working towards leaning on their D. We'll see how well that works out. They do appear to have a bright young talent on D: LB Vontaze Burfict

Article:

via www.eastvalleytribune.com

The ranking of high school football players is often a ridiculous exercise. No one had heard of Tedy Bruschi when he went to the University of Arizona. Similarly, wide receiver Derek Hagan, who leads ASU in career receptions, was a lightly regarded two-star recruit out of high school.

But the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Burfict may actually be worth the hyperventilating. Erickson has compared him to Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, a future Hall of Famer.

Bray said, "He’s one of the better high school linebackers I’ve seen on film in a long, long, long time. We were extremely fortunate to get him. He will be a force as he grows and matures."

What makes Burfict special — aside from the physical intimidation — is his instinct for the game. Both Erickson and Bray noted that Burfict seems to have the innate ability to be in the right place at the right time.

Bray said Burfict has a better feel for what’s happening around him than Mark Fields, a standout linebacker for Washington State in the early 1990s and a first-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in 1995.

"He does some things in practice you just can’t coach," Bray said.

Avinash: For some reason, when I think of ASU, all I think of are coeds. Does ASU have the hottest coeds in the country?

TwistNHook: Look, Avi, I understand what you are doing. I know you are trying to give carp some life and energy after being so tired with the birth of his son. And I'm sure he appreciates that!

But maybe we should just stick to talking about the football team and other related things. I'm sure if our readers want to read frustrated single males prattling endlessly about women they'd never have a chance with in real life, they can read Arthur Kade or Tucker Max.

Avinash: I believe Malcolm Gladwell's next book should investigate the relationship between the attractiveness of a team's coeds and their football team's relative success. Maybe he'll find out that all of Florida and USC's coeds were born during the summer months!

TwistNHook:

via www.fidrabooks.co.uk

I went to google Arizona State football to do some research and the google map link showed up. Where do they show ASU football being? In the middle of a river. Salt River. Literally submerged in water. Salty water (maybe).

If that isn't apropros, I don't know what is.

If you want to find a place to start with the woefully underperforming 2008 team, look no further than the OLine:

ndeed, it's a small miracle that ASU has won 15 games in Erickson's first two years. In 2008, the Sun Devils allowed 34 sacks — that made it 89 in two years — and rushed for only 89 yards per game, or 113th in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

If you're surmising that ASU has had offensive-line problems, bingo. Erickson inherited a shortfall of big uglies when he took over in 2007 for Dirk Koetter, whose recruiting classes affecting Erickson's teams included seven offensive linemen who either left or didn't qualify, including a 4-for-4 wipeout in 2004.

They feel better about their O-Line this year. Certainly, one of the most memorable moments of the 2008 season was due to poor O-Line play.

"Maybe you should recruit better linemen."

Avinash: It's always a scary game in the desert. It's usually at night, which means the fans are loud and rowdy, so it can definitely give some added impetus to the home team.

I really don't know. ASU has played us tough in Erickson's tenure, splitting the series. This could be a dangerous game if we're playing up to our potential going into it.

HydroTech: So their starting QB from last year Rudy Carpenter is gone. Their top WR, Michael Jones is gone. Sounds like their passing game might not be as good as it used to be? Danny Sullivan is their new QB but he's largely untested having only played in garbage games when the games have already been won and lost. How glad do you think Sullivan is now that the Pain Train is gone?

TwistNHook: Probably as happy as NFC North QBs that Follett has suffered a shoulder injury!

So, that's the O. What about the D? Well, I talked previously about that incoming LB who could make some strides. But he might not be a big player until next year. Right now, their leader is Dexter Davis.

via www.nationalchamps.net

Heres what the official site has to say about him:

ASU: One of the Sun Devils' most consistent defenders and most dangerous pass-rushers...ranks as one of the top defensive ends in school history...enters the 2009 season fourth in Sun Devil history with 27.5 career sacks (minus 179 yards)...has finished in the top three in sacks in the Pacific-10 Conference each of the last two seasons...has started all 38 games of his ASU career...totaled 113 tackles (72 solo), 39.0 tackles for loss (minus 212 yards) and eight forced fumbles in his three seasons at ASU...led all Pac-10 freshmen in 2006 in quarterback sacks (6.0), tackles for loss (10.5) and forced fumbles (three)...recorded the third-most sacks by an ASU freshman in school history, trailing the 10.0 sacks made by both Terrell Suggs (2000) and Shante Carver (1990).

He has some elite stats in the Pac10:

This is where Davis comes in. He doesn't look all that imposing, and he's not full of pomp and swagger. But he's a quarterback's nightmare and one of the nation's top returning sack artists. He has 27 1/2 sacks for his career, and is the only returning player in Division I to have double-digit sacks in the past two seasons.

He's the kind of player who can disrupt an offense, change a game.

"I want to be known as a relentless player who worked hard, and made something of himself," Davis said. "And I want to go down as one of the best ever."

Along with Davis, linebacker Mike Nixon, defensive tackle Lawrence Guy and defensive back Omar Bolden are all highly-touted players. They will give Pac-10 offensive coordinators much reason for pause. If not, the season already is lost.

In some ways, the upcoming season is a bridge year to 2010, when a Pac-10 title may be within reach, when Dennis Erickson can be judged on the impact he's making in Tempe. But in the short term, the coaching staff is letting the current group know that losing records are simply unacceptable at ASU.

To avoid another, the defense must be spectacular.

Avinash: You're right Twist, this is going to be about Cal's offense not making mistakes against ASU's defense.

From Pitchfork Nation.

One first down on their first six possessions.

I’m not quite sure whether to chalk that up to Arizona State’s defense being all it’s hyped up to be or to be even more concerned with the state of this team’s offensive attack.

Either way you look at it, there’s one thing to take from yesterday’s scrimmage at Sun Devil Stadium: this team is going to have to win games based on defense and nearly defense alone in 2009.

Sure, there were the offensive highlights. Kyle Williams broke off a stunning 79-yard punt return. Gerrell Robinson, who has been highly praised by everyone in the program for making so much progress between this time last year and now, caught a touchdown pass from Danny Sullivan and gained 116 yards.

However, beyond that, you could hear crickets chirping from the Devils’ offense.

As I harped on earlier this week, this team simply has no running game. Dimitri Nance turned a corner early in the session for a nice 20-yard dash, but then averaged 1/3 of a yard on each of his subsequent three carries. Cameron Marshall led all rushers with 23 yards, but six ASU running backs combined for just 92 yards of total rushing. That doesn’t include Brock Osweiler’s 22 yards and touchdown on the ground, however.

Basically, we have to ask Kevin Riley not to throw interceptions and Jahvid Best not to fumble the ball, and everything will be ok.

HydroTech: Who has tougher academics? Your local community college or ASU?

Yellow Fever: But who has more attractive co-eds?

TwistNHook: I hope someday that our female readers will return to this blog.

Avinash: Twist, when you tell your wife she's attractive, does she throw you out of the house?

TwistNHook: What an ever so delightful non-sequitir!

Avinash: Here is another one:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Arizona State Snubs Obama

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Healthcare Protests

TwistNHook: So, who do you guys think will win this one? I say Cal holds on 21-10.

Avinash: In terms of the score, probably.

But we're still bringing up the rear in terms of coeds.

Whoops, double entendre!

TwistNHook: Triple le sigh.

Poll

How will Cal do against ASU?

Big win

75 votes

Close win

45 votes

Close loss

11 votes

Big loss

5 votes

136 votes | Poll has closed