It might not have been a pretty win, but it was a win nonetheless.  A team's first road game of the season is never easy, and the game against the Aztecs of San Diego State proved to be no different.  The Sun Devils started out looking sluggish and lethargic while falling behind early.  As coach Sendek put it "We took a punch right between the eyes and then we took a number of body blows."  The difference in this one was that the team wasn't afraid to stand up and fight back. 

Even a virus can't stop James Harden from leading the Sun Devils to victory by netting 18 points and hitting a key three-pointer to give the Devils a lead they never looked back on.  Harden and Kuksiks combined for nearly half the Sun Devils points and Abbott contributed another 13 points.  Pendergraph struggled with fouls all game as he seemed somewhat overmatched.  The Devils need him to pick up his game in order for them to fight their way through the season.  ASU has 5 days off before they play their next game against Pepperdine(1-2) in Tempe on the 23rd @ 2:00 MT.

Historically, Arizona has held the perch of college basketball greatness in the southwestern desert. No other school in the region could hold a candle to the consistency of the Wildcat basketball program,a team that has made the NCAA tournament in each of the last 24 seasons.

Unfortunately for UA fans (and no one else), their long-awaited collapse is finally at hand. In an ironic twist, it just so happens that right at the same time, the Sun Devil basketball program is on a meteoric rise to stardom. The timing is so antagonizingly perfect that it must be chronicled.

Jerryd Bayless, in much greener pastures.

In the meantime, the 2008 college football season began with Arizona finally appearing to be as good as advertised. Starting off with a 4-1 record, when a Sun Devil fan looked at the recent standings and saw their beloved ASU squad standing at 2-6, it felt as though the world was ending in Tempe, with calls for Rudy Carpenter to be benched, and Offensive Coordinator Rich Olson to be fired.

But now, as we take a gander at the standings, we see ASU has won 2 in a row, and is now 4-6 with two games left to play. Their schedule is at home vs. UCLA, and on the road to Tucson to take on the Wildcats in the season finale. Arizona, on the other hand, has gone 2-3 since their 4-1 start, and is now 6-4 and has two home games to close out the season, against Oregon State and ASU.

Oregon State is not to be taken lightly, and I believe they will take care of business against UA, making them 6-5. UCLA is a poor team, and ASU should beat them at home. That would make ASU 5-6.

That would ensure that it was down to the Territorial Cup game to decide the fate of UA and ASU in the bowl season. Would ASU resurrect their season and go to a bowl? Or would UA return the favor and keep ASU out of the postseason?

Should ASU and UA both finish 6-6, ASU would actually be 5-4 in conference play, with UA being 4-5. ASU would go to a superior bowl, and have another year of bragging rights over the boys down south.

In the end, there is nothing sweeter than beating Arizona. ASU has gotten particularly used to the feeling, winning the last 3 football matches and sweeping the men's basketball series last year. Inevitably, it can only continue, as UA scrambles to save their basketball program from the depths of mediocrity and at the same time maintain a professional atmosphere in a football program led by a bumbling coach, Mike Stoops.

You will see this face again soon.

ESPN.com has a 2008 hot and NOT article up right now, and it had an interesting little tid bit in there...

HOT? Yeah. ASU                                                           NOT? U of A. who else?

Arizona State: The program is so rising so quickly, its former radio analyst is now the head coach at Arizona. Bah-dump-bump. But seriously folks, Herb Sendek engineered the nation's best turnaround last season (from eight wins to 21) and with James Harden leading a pack of five returners, the Sun Devils are as hot as their desert address.

Arizona: Lute Olson left, came back, left, came back and left for good. We think. Nic Wise rolled his ankle; an attack of teamwide leg cramps cut short an exhibition game; and the new head coach, Russ Pennell, spent last year talking about games rather than coaching them. Honestly, Susan Lucci needs to get on the bench of this soap opera. Chase Budinger and Wise have an awful lot of melodrama to overcome to keep the Wildcats' string of 24 consecutive NCAA bids alive.

That is what I am talking about. Eat it up future recruits. Tempe is the place to be.

So, homecoming day win over Washington State, everything is good right? Sort of.

Would have liked to see much more of a beat down. We were the second lowest scoring Pac-10 team against WASU (UCLA put up 28 against them) while every other Pac-10 squad scored over 50 against them! Stanford beat them 58-0, Arizona won 59-28, USC won 69-0, Oregon won 63-14, Cal won 66-3... You get the idea.

I like the shut out - first one since 1996 against #1 Nebraska..but they were also shut out by Stanford 58-0, who we beat 41-17. Take that how you will, I have no idea what it means.

Penalties, again, were a HUGE problem. 10 for 104 yards. Ridiculous, that over a field length's worth of penalties. Not sure how you fix that other than to coach the players up much more than they have been.

Some good things - defense, obviously. A shut out is always good. Doing it like this is even better. Aside from the penalties, the defense held WASU to 130 total yards. 7 yards rushing on 24 carries is amazing. We got to the quarterbacks, we have an interception and a fumble recovery. Defense is a definite strong point on this team.

The running game looked good, for once. Taking out Rudy's "carries" we ran 32 times for 150 yards. Everyone got in on the action.  Keegan Herring looked pretty bad in the first half, while DeWitty looked solid (6 per carry). The second half belonged to Nance and Bass who ran 16 times for 82 yards. Nance also had 23 yards receiving.

The passing game was eh. Rudy was 17/25 for 213 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs. Mistake free. Big play free. Stud of the day was Kyle Williams, who had 2 receptions for 72 yards and 2 TDs. Everyone else had less than 40 yards receiving. Kerry Taylor had a td. Best thing that can be said is that 11 different players had receptions. Mike Jones disappeared.

Dexter Davis now has 9 sacks and has been named to the Hendricks watch list, so that is pretty cool. Nixon has 4 ints, and has become a good cover linebacker.

Team won. Bye week before UCLA at home on the 28th.

EDIT: To temper too much joy, these last two wins have come against ESPN's top two BOTTOM 10 teams.

1.

Washington

0-8

"How the West Was Won": The winless Huskies need to discover how a team from the West can win at least one

2.

Washington State

1-8

"Code of the West": In the 2008 season, the code is losing -- and the Cougars are definitely following that code.

Last week, I did my first BCS bowls projections. This week, after some interesting games were played on Saturday, I have decided to update my projections.

Without further ado, here are your House of Sparky-Sanctioned BCS Bowl Games! As a side note, allow me to point out the BCS rules: the BCS rotates its at-large selections by year. "January 2009 games: Fiesta, Sugar, Orange" is the rotation for this round. Also, read this interesting nugget:

5. After completion of the selection process as described in Paragraph Nos. 1-4, the conferences and Notre Dame may, but are not required to, adjust the pairings taking into consideration the following:

  A. whether the same team will be playing in the same bowl game for two consecutive years;
  B. whether two teams that played against one another in the regular season will be paired against one another in a bowl game;
  C. whether the same two teams will play against each other in a bowl game for two consecutive years; and
  D. whether alternative pairings may have greater or lesser appeal to college football fans as measured by expected ticket sales for the bowls and by expected television interest, and the consequent financial impact on Fox and the bowls.

The pairings may not be altered by removing the Big 10 Champion or Pac-10 champion from the Rose Bowl.

So, even though Oregon State has already played (and lost) to Penn State, they will still meet again in the Rose Bowl if things go according to plan.

North Carolina is currently 3-3 in ACC conference play. Their schedule, however, is favorable, with games against 4-6 NC State and 4-6 Duke to close out the season. The driver's seat is held by both Maryland and Miami (FL), who are both 4-2 in the ACC.

Maryland has a tough finish ahead, playing Florida State (7-3, 4-3 ACC) and Boston College (7-3, 3-3 ACC), two teams with decent records and shots at the conference crown. All three of these teams are in the ACC Atlantic, and the winner of that section will play the winner of the ACC Coastal on December 6 to decide who will host the Orange Bowl.

Georgia Tech, at 4-3 in the ACC, has only one ACC game left: vs. Miami (FL). If they win, they are going to the ACC Championship unless UNC wins out, and then due to UNC's 28-7 victory over GT on November 8, UNC will go to Tampa for the ACC Championship Game.

The story gets even more convoluted when we look at Virginia Tech. 3-3 in the ACC thus far, they have already beaten UNC and GT but lost to Miami (FL). Should they beat Duke and Virginia, they will be 5-3 in the conference.

Long story short, I anticipate Miami (FL) and Florida State in the ACC Championship game.

As for the selection of Cincinnati to the Sugar Bowl, they don't want another SEC vs. WAC competition. Since they have priority over the Orange bowl this year, you can bet they will select the only other option, the Big East Champion Cincinnati Bearcats.

Should Utah go undefeated, they will take away Boise State's at-large berth. I don't know if they can beat BYU though, as this remains to be seen. I don't want to live in a world where a 12-0 Boise State team plays in some non-BCS bowl (like in 2004).

This afternoon on a warm, sunny day in Tempe, Washington State takes the field against the Sun Devils in a battle of conference bottom-feeders. At 1-9, Wazzu is awful. At 3-6, ASU is not much better. I expect ASU to take care of business, but still.

Keep your eyes peeled on this game thread, because I will be in the press box reporting live on the game, with insights and analysis you won't find anywhere else.

1:46 PM: I am in the press box, and just watched Jacquizz (edit: James) Rodgers explode for a touchdown against Cal to tie it at 7 in the first quarter. Down on Frank Kush Field, some kids are attempting field goals at the north end, and two undisclosed players are tossing a ball on the south end. No fans in the stadium yet, and most purple ProEm shirts are seated and waiting for the action to begin.

2:00 PM: Drinking a Coke Zero and getting a little antsy. I have to wait another hour and a half for this game?

2:16 PM: The press box is an interesting place, filled with media and scouts from the NFL. No specific teams will be divulged, but it is good to know that there are players on ASU (or, I suppose, WSU) that the professional teams think are worth looking at.

2:25 PM: The truly dedicated student fans are in the stands, with the front rows of sections 31, 32, and 33 covered in gold. Right now, I'd say there are 80-100 students in the section, sitting in the warm sun and getting more sober by the minute. Get back out into the tailgate! The field is being used by some WSU players to stretch.

2:40 PM: There is no TV broadcast of this game, and for good reason. Sun Devil Trivia: Frank Kush began his head coaching career at Arizona State in 1958.

2:48 PM: Thomas Weber is practicing his field goal attempts. He was true on all his tries from 47 yards, and now he is practicing 52 yard field goals. Weber is still in a cast from his broken arm. His first attempt was wide right. His second was a perfect kick that hit the "a" in Allstate.

2:57 PM: The wide receivers and running backs are running drills. They started with quick slant routes, trying to catch hard-thrown balls. Now they are working on over the shoulder catches. McGaha dropped a slant pass and looked furious with himself; Nance dropped one as well and didn't seem quite as upset. But that is just visual emotion, who knows how he truly feels.

3:00 PM: The stadium is still nearly empty, with only small pockets of fans currently seated. The student section is naturally the most full at this point, and I imagine that fans will filter in as the game nears closer. It is far too nice out in Lot 59 to come this WSU/ASU 35 minutes early.

3:07 PM: On my right is a TV broadcasting Minnesota @ Wisconsin, and my thoughts are with the hurt Badger on the field. Apparently, they are bringing out an ambulance and taking him to the nearest hospital. Hopefully he isn't permanently damaged. You can read the live blogging from Camp Randall at The Daily Gopher.

3:25 PM: 11 minutes to kickoff. Running with the Devils begins playing over the loudspeakers, and the tunnel is made for the team to run out of. Let the excitement build!.... The stadium is woefully underfilled, but there is a solid stream of maroon and gold coming through the turnstiles.

3:32 PM: The fireworks have fillled the air with smoke, but it is quickly dissipating. The weather conditions: clear, sunny skies, 81 degrees, humidity level 9%, Winds SE at 7 mph. In honor of homecoming, the Sun Devils are wearing old-school helmets! Recreation of the old design, worn from 1976-1979. A maroon sun with a gold ASU letting in the middle.

3:35 PM: The Sun Devils are going to receive the kickoff, driving towards the north endzone. Kyle Williams is back in the lineup for ASU today, ready to return the kick. Washington State tried some trickery immediately, trying an onside kick in a regular kickoff formation. #37 Mike Callaghan caught it and the Sun Devils start with a overthrown pass to an open Chris McGaha.

3:40 PM: The Sun Devils had an opportunity to inflict some early damage on the Cougars, and on 3rd and 8 Carpenter completed a pass to Kerry Taylor for the first down. Now at the Cougar 47, the Devils are well on their way to a score. DeWitty is currently the feature back.

3:41 PM: Rudy was sacked on consecutive plays by the Cougars. With their new 3-4 formation, I am surprised that they are able to get so much pressure on Carpenter up to this point. Weber's punt flies out the back of the end zone, and Lopina starts the drive for the Cougars at the 20. Their first play is a run by Tardy for 4 yards.

3:45 PM: The Devils blitzed 5, and Lopina was able to get it out just in time for a 30 yard passing gain. Now at the Sun Devil 44, their drive continues. Lopina just got tackled by Wooten. for a loss, and now it is 3rd and 15. They complete a 11 yard pass, but it is not enough to get a first down, or into field goal range. But with a 1-9 record, what can you do? The Cougs are going for it on 4th and 4. Lopina rolls out right and completes a pass to #85, Jeshua Anderson. First down at the 28 for the Cougs.

3:48 PM: The Cougars aren't doing anything fancy, but basic out routes are working against the Sun Devils. They are attempting to emulate USC's offensive plan against ASU, but without the team speed the Cougars are finding themselves tackled behind the line fairly frequently. On 4th down, the Cougars unsuccessfully attempt a 41-yard field goal, and the first bullet of the afternoon is avoided by ASU.

3:52 PM: Keegan Herring has checked into the game for the Sun Devils, and on his first attempt loses 3 yards. 2nd and 23, Rudy finds Pettes open and he gains a handful of yards. 3rd down and very long.

3:53 PM: More of the same mediocrity from ASU, unable to move the ball at all. Weber once again punts, but this time it is a beauty: rolls all the way to the Cougar 13.

3:57 PM: Lopina nearly throws a pick, but Nolan is unable to reel it in. That was a golden opportunity for a team with no momentum. 2nd down, RB Staden loses 3 yards, and now it is 3rd and 13. ASU shows blitz from its LOLB and MLB, but drops back into zone coverage. WSU is unable to gain any yardage on the inside slant pass, but ASU was offsides, and now it is 3rd and 8. WSU in shotgun with 2 RBs. ASU sends 5 and Lopina is sacked by Dexter Davis! Loss of 6. Punt!

4:02 PM: McGaha shakes a defender and gains a bunch of yards, down to the 32. On the next play, Herring gains 4 on the ground, and it is 2nd and 6. McGaha is the target once again, and he picks up a Sun Devil first down with a 14 yard gain. The offense looks like it is finally clicking. Here ends the first quarter. Boy, this game is moving quickly so far.

Start of 2nd Quarter

4:05 PM: The offensive cannot take advantage of field position inside the 5 yard line, and Weber is now attempting an extra-point distance field goal. It's good!

3-0 ASU

4:08 PM: There is a flag down on the return. Holding on WSU, and they now start their drive at the 14 yard line. As if they needed a longer road to the end zone. Lopina passes to Brandon Gibson for no gain. Another passing play, this time to Anderson, but they only pick up 3 yards, and it is 3rd and 7 from the 16.5 yard line. Out of the shotgun, Lopina finds Tardy, but he is one yard short of the first. WSU will punt again.

4:14 PM: Carpenter is "sacked" as he ran out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage. On 2nd and 13, he passes to Kimbrough for a 11 yard gain. 3rd and 2.

4:15 PM: Carpenter's pass incomplete to Jones. It looked like pass interference to me, as the Cougar was riding him all the way across the field. Punt time.

4:17 PM: At this point, I am going to move the commentary to the "comments" section; it will be easy for you to join the conversation with me there.

Entering the season with our first preseason ranking since 1991-92 (when we immediately lost  2 of 3 in the Maui Tournament), we have a lot of work to do to live up to the ranking. 

Mississippi Valley State (Southwestern Athletic Conference Champ, 17-16 2008, lost in opening round to UCLA in NCAA tournament) played us awfully hard, hit 40% of their three point attempts, closed the lead to only 9 (50-41) in the second half, and junior Shannon Behling had 18 points. But, we still won so..

On to the Sun Devils. While I would have liked to have seen a blow out, MVS was at least an NCAA tourney team (while we weren't..hmm..)

We shot 57.8% from the field. We should have attempted a lot more shots, and Sendek notes that

"We really held the ball too much," Sendek said. "The ball didn't move freely. Everybody who caught it just kind of made sure it was orange, made sure it was a sphere, and then we passed it. Our offense is going to work better when we move the ball more freely and more sharply."

This is not just lip service - it really was true, and I expect the offense to settle down into more of a groove as they work out the early seasn jitters. We shot mediocre from the line (71%), okay  from three (35%) and were pretty good about not committing fouls (16).

As a team we were solid, but not spectacular.

Individual performances.

James Harden - pimp. 24 points (6/11 FG, 0/4 3P, 12/16 FT), 3 rebounds, 10 assist (2 to) 3 steals in 30 minutes. A solid line. Great to see Harden dishing the ball out like that because our point guards had little production tonight. Harden on being such a player:

"I guess that's how I always am," Harden said. "I'm a playmaker. I get my teammates shots. I try to create for them as much as possible. That's pretty much my game. Today, I think I did an OK job of doing that."

Yes, you did James. Our Pac-10 title hopes rest on Harden's shoulders this year, so it is good to see him responding to all these preseason 1st and 2nd team All-American nods in a strong way.

The Point Guards, Jamelle McMillan (who started) and Derek Glasser:
Since we have two point guards, both of whom play about equal time (McMillan 21 mins, Glasser 23) we will look at them as a tandem.  McMillan has yet to live up to his hype (he was ranked by scouts as a 93 and a top 100 recruit. Harden was a 97) but that is alright, I expect some strides forward this year.

They did not score much and did not shoot that well, 9 points (2-5 FG, 0-3 3P, 5-6 FT) which is to be expected. McMillan shot 36% from three last year, so I dont mind seeing him put up some shots, but Glasser is absolute garbage. 31% last year, but in big games it was about 10%. (Oregon 1-7, USC 0-5, Wash St 1-5, UCLA 2-6). They had 1 combined rebound, 6 assists to 2 turnovers, and 3 steals. Not a lot of production for 44 combined minutes. That is ok, the ball was in Harden's hands most of the possessions.

Ty Abbott: 32 mins, 18 points (8-13 FG, 2-6 3P, 0/0 FT), 8 rebounds, 4 assist 1 turnover, 1 block.

Abbott had excellent efficieny on the other hand. Not quite Harden-esque, but 18 points in 32 minutes is great. He shot well, although it would be nice to see him drawing some fouls instead of relying on his outside shot so much. 8 boards is great to see out of the undersized guard. He also was economical with the ball.

Rihards Kuksiks: The 6'6 sophomore who played 4 minutes in our first 7 Pac-10 games combined last season, and then ended up starting by the end of the year, is poised for a breakout season as our starting SF/PF. The guy can shoot (37% 3P last year). He played 33 mins, shot 4-7 (4-7 from 3P, ha) and scored 12. 3 Rebs, 1 assist to 3 turnovers (eh..), and 1 steal.

If he wants to be effective as a college 3 or 4 he will need to improve his ball skills and improve his defense.

Pendergraph - the senior emotional leader only played half the game, had 10 points, 5 rebounds, and did not miss a shot. Solid, and I would like to see more of this. No more 18 foot jumpers this season Jeff.

The Bench:
Boateng played 11 mins, had 1 rebound 1 steal and did nothing else. Hope his ball handling had improved.

Shipp - 12 mins, 7 points? I will take it. Shipp has seen his playing time slowly decrease as Sendek's recruits have come in, but he still provides solid depth off the bench.

Kraidon woods - only 3 mins.

Taylor Rohde - the 6'8 225 pound Freshman recruit out of Phoenix got his college debut. Ranked as the #44 power foward in the country for 2008, and an 87 by Scouts Inc, Rohde played 12 minutes had 1 rebound, 2 assists and went scoreless. A scouting report on Rohde:

Rohde is an excellent all-around player who possesses a very good understanding of the game and is highly skilled. He has a solid looking frame with fairly long arms, a decent set of shoulders, and solid overall length. He has a great pair of hands as he can finish with either hand. Despite only being a decent athlete (doesn't have a lot of bounce) he's a solid rebounder - has very good instincts in the paint area. He's very skilled in the post - has a nice up-and-under move - and can use the glass very well on his turn-around jump shot. Defensively, he plays good position defense but lacks the quickness to guard athletic post players. Overall, Rohde is a fine basketball player, but he may struggle to score and defend against most "fours" in the Pac-10 (verbal to Arizona State).

2007 Pangos All-American Camp

Rhode will not "wow" you with athleticism, but his savvy and skills are a sight to see.

not as heralded as Coy, but ranked the same as Coy, and played in the first game... His size will be extremely valuable to the team.

Good start boys.

With Arizona State's basketball season opening Friday night against the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils, the stage has been set for a Sun Devils team spurred and motivated by unusually optimistic expectations.

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