The Sun Devils offense will have a new look to it. Noel Mazzone has a big task to get this offense back on track. Actually, just getting a few first downs would be a huge improvement from last year. From azcentral.com
Since his hiring in January, Mazzone, 53, not only has installed a four-wide, no-huddle offense, but also an energy that extends from the film room to the practice field. It comes in various forms. One day Mazzone is delivering a leaping chest bump to Steven Threet after the junior quarterback completes a long pass. The next he’s ordering sophomore quarterback Brock Osweiler to run two laps for making a bad decision. “He is very innovative, and I have known him a long time,” said ASU coach Dennis Erickson, who also worked with Mazzone for a season at Oregon State. “He is always staying with the trends . . . always looking for an edge.” Mazzone brought a wealth of experience to ASU. He worked as offensive coordinator at Mississippi, Auburn and North Carolina State. He also spent four years with the New York Jets as wide receivers coach and personnel consultant. But grooming quarterbacks long has been considered his forte.
I am happy Steven Threet is excited to get in the game and show Sun Devil fans what he’s got. Threet sounds a little more mature than Brock Osweiler, he’s older and been through a little bit more in his career. From arizonastate.rivals.com
After a year of sitting on the sidelines watching, followed by a heated quarterback battle that lasted the better part of six months, Steven Threet breathed a sigh of relief this week. Addressing the media for the first time since being named Arizona State’s starting quarterback, Threet said Tuesday that he appreciates the payoff for the work he’s put in since arriving in Tempe. But the junior, playing at his third school, is clearly aware his work is far from over, especially with a capable backup in sophomore Brock Osweiler still pushing to start. “I was definitely excited,” Threet said of being told he’d won the job. “It was something I’ve been working hard for, but that’s just an announcement. You’ve got to go out on the field and win football games now.”
So now we got the QB question answered, what about the O line? This was the question last year as well. Does it matter who the quarterback is, if he is on his back all the time? From statepress.com
Erickson said that he would have the starting line decided on Thursday, but even that won’t matter a whole lot. He plans to get a look at a lot of his linemen during the course of the game. “We will probably play eight or nine guys on Saturday,” Erickson said. “I don’t know (who will start for sure); we are going to talk about it tomorrow.” It seems as if junior Dan Knapp will get the start at the left tackle position and junior Garth Gerhart will be the starting center. After that, little is known.
It seems like I have been talking about quarterbacks all summer. The Cardinals made their choice in Derek Anderson. Now the Sun Devils have settled on Steven Threet. Threet a transfer from Michigan, showed a lot of potential last season, he just couldn’t play. He has opportunity to shine this season. From fanster.com
So Threet, a transfer from Michigan, wins the hotly contested battle between himself and sophomore Brock Osweiler that started all the way back in the spring. But that doesn’t leave Osweiler completely out in the cold. He’ll get some playing time against the Vikings. “In our decision making it was just that basically he (Threet) was the most consistent through all of Fall camp, although Brock had a great camp too,” Erickson said. “The biggest thing is I saw great improvement from both of them.” Threet played as a redshirt freshman at Michigan under then-new head coach Rich Rodriguez in 2008, starting 8 games while going 2-6 as the starter. He completed 51% of his passes for 1,105 yards and 8 touchdowns and ran for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns. He sat out last season after transferring from Ann Arbor.
The kids are back in town. Mill Ave looked like it’s old self this weekend. It warms my heart to see all these young girls stumbling through town, completely wasted. God Bless Them. I wonder if I can take one of those Flip Ultra camera’s into Zuma? These girls might be surprised to know that Steven Threet might turn out to be their starting QB. From azcentral.com
Threet played like a quarterback who took ownership of the position. His numbers were almost identical to Osweiler’s but his confidence behind center stood out. “He was a lot more controlled today,” Mazzone said. “He’s finally realizing that every play doesn’t have to be perfect, which was his problem.” Threet seemed particularly confident with his reads and in this offense, that means everything. It’s tempo, tempo, tempo.
I have not been to pleased with the news coming out of ASU’s training camp concerning the QB position. It looks like the competition is down to Brock Osweiler and Steven Threet. Neither one of these guys is instilling confidence in coach Dennis Erickson. From houseofsparky.com
Neither Steven Threet nor Brock Osweiler were too impressive. “Like I told them today, we’re still missing too many things,” [Erickson] said. “We’re going to miss throws; that’s a natural thing. But we’re missing too many reads right now that we need to get better at.”
At least the rest of the team is fired up. I think that might have something to do with being picked to finish 9th. The team seems focused. Gotta love being the underdog. Right? From arizonastate.rivals.com
With heated competition at virtually every position on the field, players realize they aren’t afforded the opportunity to take plays off. If it isn’t the three quarterbacks vying for the starting position cranking up the energy barometer, it’s a deep pool of receivers scratching and clawing to impress coaches and earn more reps. “We’ve had the energy level out here pretty good the whole camp,” Erickson said. “Very seldom in the however-many days we’ve been out here have we had a bad energy level on either side of the football.”
I like this. Cardinals up North in camp, Devils in their futuristic blow-up dome in Tempe. Football is just around the corner baby. I am excited to see the Sun Devil defense take the field. The defense is expected to be even better than last season’s. At the heart of that defense is Vontaze Burfict. The middle linebacker had a great season as a true freshman. But his temper got the best of him more than a few times last year. To be honest, I am glad someone out there was showing some emotion. That losing record was depressing and I am glad Burfict didn’t take it lying down. Coach Erickson expects a more mature Burfict this season. From azcentral.com
“He’s a heck of a football player,” said Erickson, adding that Burfict’s intensity doesn’t just affect the defense, but the entire program. Last season Burfict had 69 tackles, second on the team. He also posted seven tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles. His energy was noticeable nearly every time he walked onto the field. Even on special teams, Burfict made his mark. But the main topic last week wasn’t so much Burfict’s talent or potential, but rather his style, which at times was reckless. “He’s young,” Erickson said during lunch. “We’ve all seen him play but we forget in that body is an 18-year-old. People forget that. There’s some immaturity issues with all young players, and that’s kind of what happened with him last year. He’s worked his rear end off this summer and has done a good job. He’s maturing.”
What about the offense? Man, we don’t even know who the starting quarterback is going to be. Hopefully this new system run by Noel Mazzone is going to help the offense improve. That won’t be to hard. There is now where to go but up. From arizonastate.rivals.com
Quarterbacks Steven Threet and Brock Osweiler began a competition to replace last year’s primary starter Danny Sullivan, with fellow signal caller Samson Szakacsy unable to practice fully as he recovered from surgery to address arm troubles which have persisted for several years. As a true freshman last season, Osweiler played in six games with one start and completed 24-of-55 attempts for 249 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. There were moments which hinted at potential greatness, but even more moments which demonstrated an underdeveloped understanding of how to play the position successfully at the highest college level. Threet, a well put together 6-foot-5 pro-style passer, has earned rave reviews for his year-round work ethic and football IQ. But the junior signal caller was relatively hit-or-miss in the spring, displaying a tendency at times to throw balls into too much traffic and force the issue with his primary target. Erickson said at Pac-10 Media Day Thursday that he’d like to have a quarterback in place by the season opener but that it’s possible one could be declared the starter as soon as a week into camp. Our guess is that won’t happen, especially if Szakacsy is able to squeeze into the middle of the picture.
This really is the first complete look fans and the media get of the ASU football team. A lot of work has to be done to get the finished product so the game is really a measuring stick. And the offense didn’t measure up. From azcentral.com:
“The offense had made so much progress over 14 spring practices, and in the grand finale, the Sun Devils sputtered, particularly quarterbacks Brock Osweiler and Steven Threet. It was an opportunity for one of them to emerge and neither one of them emerged,” Erickson said. “Over four quarters, the offense scored only one touchdown, a 5-yard pass from Osweiler to George Bell. Thomas Weber rebounded from a miserable scrimmage last week to kick field goals of 41, 47 and 45 yards. Otherwise, the offense struggled.”
I heard from a fan who was in attendance that Osweiler was the better of the two. Osweiler went 17 of 33 for 151 yards, while Steven Threet was 9 of 27 for 117 yards and 3 interceptions. So the offense needs some work. We knew that going into this season, so thats not news. I had hoped we would have made a little more progress up till this point. We still got some time. And the defense? Another thing we knew, was that the defense was going to be awesome. From fanster.com:
“But this day was really all about the defense. That side of the ball produced five turnovers, all on interceptions, including one returned 39 yards for a touchdown by junior safety Clint Floyd. Anthony Jones, Eddie Elder, Ronald Kennedy and Mike Callaghan also had picks for ASU. The Sun Devil ‘D’ also produced five quarterback sacks. Defensive lineman Toa Tuitea, Bo Moos, William Sutton and Lawrence Guy along with linebacker Jamarr Robinson each got to the quarterback. Erickson singled out the performance of his secondary. “Our corners played well but I thought our safeties played really well. They’ve done that all spring. They’ve emerged. They’re playing the run good. I couldn’t be happier with [the defensive backs].”
This weather is amazing 71 degrees right now, it doesn’t get any better than this. Great weather for Saturday when the ASU football team will be playing at Sun Devil Stadium, signaling the end of Spring Ball. It will give us a chance to see what progress this team has made and what needs to be addressed. Fromstatepress.com;
“Erickson said he was pleased with the progress of his team at the end of spring practice, for the most part. “I like where we’re at,” Erickson said. “You don’t know until the fall, but I feel good with where we’re at. We’ve got a lot of improvement to make, there’s no question about it. Saturday is fun [and] we’ll see where we’re at in a game-type situation and where we’ve improved offensively and defensively.” “All this is preparation to be better than what people think we are going to be,” Erickson said. “We’re not picked to be very good — I think we’re going be a little bit better than what people think.”
I hope we are a lot better than what people think. I mean, we have a lot to improve on. It will be interesting to see sophomore Brock Osweiler and junior Steven Threet share snaps. Aaron Pflugrad, a junior receiver, should prosper in our short passing game. Fromazcentral.com;
“Redshirt junior receiver Aaron Pflugrad, who transferred from Oregon after the 2008 season and served on the Sun Devils’ scout team throughout last year, is being counted on to produce in new offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone’s system. Pflugrad will be on the field Saturday at Sun Devil Stadium for the annual spring game. “We’re throwing it around quite a bit, so that’s fun for me,” he said. “It’s similar to what I was doing at Oregon (with) the spread. . . . The only difference (schematically), I think, is (at Oregon) there’s more running with the quarterback, and (at ASU) it’s more passing to wideouts.”
So who is going to be the starting QB for the Sun Devils this week vs UCLA on Saturday? Does it even matter? Everybody seems banged up, Danny Sullivan with a bicep injury, Brock Osweiler has a hurt shoulder (non-throwing arm) and Samson Szakacsy has had a bad elbow all year. Szakacsy did a pretty Ok job in the loss to Oregon. From houseofsparky.com; ”It wasn’t ALL bad, however. Samson Szakacsy played well given the circumstances, and it is nice to get him playing time in a loud environment such as Autzen Stadium. He ended up going 13/22 with a TD pass, and he also ran for 9 yards on 5 attempts.” As a fan I don’t know what to expect from these guys anymore and my expectations are low. It looks like Szakacsy is going to get the start for better or worse. From ktar.com; ”With all of those factors in play Erickson is not going to rush to make a decision about who will be the signal caller when the Sun Devils travel to UCLA on Saturday. “We’ll just wait and see, I haven’t decided what we are going to do yet,” Erickson said. Erickson does expect Sullivan and Osweiler to be back and available but will need to see how practice goes throughout the week. In practice Szakacsy is expected to take most of the snaps with the first team this week. If Szakacsy would start on Saturday if would be his first career start.”
The Sun Devils get their butts kicked at Autzen stadium. It was never close. The ugly 44-21 loss means ASU needs to win the remaining two games on the schedule to become bowl-eligible. This game was on the TV at RA on Mill Ave. I was eating sushi with a friend and would glance up at the screen ever so often, nobody else was even paying attention. None of my friends met up anywhere to watch this game, nobody I talked to earlier in the week was looking forward to watching it. At this point in the season it is no mystery as to what kind of team we have. An ASU team with a defense that earlier in the season played tough but now has become inconsistent. A team that has a dismal offense with a three-ring circus at quarterback. Brock Osweiler was unimpressive and didn’t even finish the game leaving in the second quarter due to a shoulder injury. That left Samson Szakacsy who threw one touchdown and rushed for another. From fanster.com; “A diamond in the rough? Osweiler’s injury opened the door for Samson Szakacsy to finally get some extended playing time for the Sun Devils, and if there was a bright spot of the evening, it was Szakacsy’s performance. The redshirt sophomore went 13 of 22 for 113 yards and a touchdown. He used his speed to get outside of the pocket, and made plays on the run. His touchdown pass to Kyle Williams in the 3rd quarter was exceptional, and showed why Szakacsy was so highly recruited coming out of Camarillo, California. I would have liked to have seen Samson use his legs a little more and run the football, but I think that will come with time.” So we have to win the our final two games to be even considered for post-season play. Tall order for this team. Coach Dennis Erickson is hopeful. From azcentral.com; “Coach Dennis Erickson remains convinced that his players will fight for bowl eligibility, even though six wins would not ensure a postseason berth. Six other Pac-10 teams already are bowl-eligible, and the conference has only six contracted bowl slots.” I’ll be happy with a win against UofA.
Its pretty much a done deal, Danny Sullivan injured his bicep and did not throw in practice Wednesday. And because of the injury Samson Szakacsy will likely be the backup to Osweiler. From eastvalleytribune.com; ”There is a question as to whether Sullivan could even be the backup. Samson Szakacsy has been taking the repetitions with the second team, and if Sullivan’s injury doesn’t get better, Szakacsy would be the backup. Erickson said Osweiler has done OK in the two days of practice this week. He’s not making every perfect throw or making every perfect read,” Erickson said. “He’s learning. He hasn’t played, so it’s like any guy that hasn’t played at that position. He’s like anybody else. It will be a tremendous learning experience.” This game is definitely going to be a learning experience. Playing at Oregon is never easy. From fanster.com; ”Forget that it’s Osweiler’s first start for a moment though; let’s get straight to the fact that his grand debut will take in the most hostile of hostile environments. Autzen Stadium eats players alive. Ask Matt Barkley. Brock’s first career start will be an ultimate test of his young mental strength. He already took in one complete half against a perennial conference power; a highly diluted 2009 version of USC, mind you; but he held his own.” At the very least you hope Osweiler can keep us in the game and maybe put together a game winning drive to win it at the end. I hope.
The Sun Devils lost to USC 14-9 Saturday night. The defense played great and kept us in the game until the end. The big story is who was quarterback for second half of that game. Brock Osweiler got the nod from coach Dennis Erickson, took over and attempted to pull off an upset. The upset didn’t happen but Sun Devil fans got to see what they have been wishing for. Osweiler didn’t disappoint, he led an impressive drive that resulted in a touchdown pass to Chris McGaha. So what makes this kid so special? From houseofsparky.com; ”First of all, Osweiler is very athletic and has this rare quality known as mobility. It is something that ASU’s offense has been lacking all season. Osweiler was able to turn broken plays into first downs on multiple occasions using his legs. Secondly, he has field vision. On his touchdown pass to Chris McGaha, he quickly strafed his eyes from the left side of the field to the right and immediately threw the ball to the correct spot. While he is still young, these two tools will be honed and his star will rise. And what about Danny Sullivan? He threw two interceptions, one was returned for a touchdown. He was his usual self, not accurate, and not mobile. From fanster.com; ”That should be the last we see of #15. Thank you Danny Sullivan. Thank you for four years of service as a true Sun Devil. You patiently waited for your chance for three seasons, and this year you got that chance.
But for the rest of the season, the chances at quarterback should be split between Osweiler and Samson Szakacsy. Osweiler’s arm strength, moxie and mobility will only improve the Sun Devil offense in bigger doses. And Szakacsy can be used in situations to cross things up (a variation of the Wildcat, anyone?). For the most part, Danny Sullivan did exactly what he was asked to do this season–manage the football game. My argument is, that shouldn’t have been the Sun Devils’ strategy this season. At the college level, you need a quarterback who can make plays, and for the first 8 and a half games this season, ASU didn’t have that.” Lets hope Brock Osweiler is good enough to win us our next three games and get us in the post-season.
That was horrible performance put on by the Sun Devils Saturday against Stanford. The offense is always shaky but this time the defense decided not to show up. It was going to be tough but the defense didn’t even put up a fight. From azcentral.com; ”It was head-scratching the way Stanford’s offense picked apart ASU, which came into this game ranked first in the conference in total defense and rush defense. The Sun Devils had allowed an average of 57.8 rushing yards per game. The Cardinal had that by the second quarter Saturday.” That sucks, and to think we will be facing Jahvid Best , one of the “best” running backs in the nation on Saturday. And good old Danny Sullivan? He reverted back to his uninspiring ways. And Sullivan is still going to get the start against Cal this Saturday. And how about penalties? Vontaze Burfict added two more personal fouls in the first half. So we had that going for us. Is the season over for the Sun Devils? Should we throw in the towel? If so can we please start Brock Osweiler! I don’t think so. Osweiler is not going to start any time soon. Things could get worse before they get any better if they get better at all. We face Cal then USC. Jeez , I hope we can at least beat Arizona. it looks like that may be the only thing that could salvage this season.
Our quarterback throws three interceptions, the team combines six total, the kicker misses two extra points and our head coach gets tackled on the sideline. You’d think it would be a loss but ASU managed to pull it off with a 27-14 win. Danny Sullivan still sucks and Dennis Erickson is still behind him %100. It wasn’t all that bad was it? From eastvalleytribune.com; “He did throw a pair of touchdown passes and was at the controls for all four scoring drives, including an impressive two-minute drill to close the first half in which he connected on 6 of 7 passes — five of them to Kyle Williams, who had a career-high 13 catches for 126 yards.” At least Brock Osweiler got a few snaps on three possessions in the second quarter. “The 6-foot-8 freshman — who had a large rooting section on hand from his hometown of Kalispell, Mont. — completed 3 of 4 passes for 21 yards, but fumbled away a snap and missed on an easy third-down pass to a wide-open Gerell Robinson that “I complete 99 times out of 100,” he said. “I’m just really hoping my performance today leads me to getting some more time out there on the field. I’m to the point where I’m ready to roll and whatever this team needs me to do I’m ready for.” I bet he could do a lot better if he had more playing time. Our kicker is almost as bad as our quarterback. Bobby Wenzig missed two extra points. Thomas Weber needs to get healthy and fast! Then coach Erickson gets taken out in the third quarter, apparently by one of his own players. He was on his back for a moment then yelled the staff to fuck-off when they wanted him to sit down for the rest of the quarter. Now the good news. The defense played great as usual. From fanster.com; “After registering just 1 sack in the Sun Devils’ first 4 games, the defensive line imposed their will and dominated on Saturday, piling up 9.5 sacks against the Cougars. Granted, the Washington State offensive line was banged up, and was starting 253-pound freshman Alex Reitnouer at left guard, but it’s still an impressive performance. The trio of Lawrence Guy, James Brooks and Dexter Davis combined for 6.5 sacks by themselves. I think the overall domination was a combo of Wazoo’s line being overmatched and ASU’s talented front four getting sick of hearing about how they only had one sack on the season.” And Dimitri Nance had a career high 113 yards rushing. Good job buddy. You can’t really put any of this into perspective because WSU sucks. If any of this post doesn’t make sense or is not true it’s because I didn’t actually see the game. For some insane reason the game wasn’t on TV. Thanks PAC-10.
So do you remember what we were talking about at the beginning of the season? Well I think we are right back where we started. Can the Sun Devils finish above .500? The only reason I ask that question is because of who is starting at quarterback. Danny Sullivans play cannot win a game. I think he is respected but I don’t think he inspires confidence from the fans, media or his teammates. From fanster.com; “Twenty years from now, folks will thumb through the Arizona State football media guide (or whatever the digital version of it looks like) and see that Sullivan completed 32 of 58 passes for 332 yards against Oregon State. But anyone who watched last night’s game knows that Sullivan is doing his best, but doesn’t belong as the starting quarterback for Arizona State. By all accounts, Sullivan is respected by his teammates, and gives it his all every Saturday for head coach Dennis Erickson. But he’s got an average arm at best, isn’t mobile, lacks accuracy on mid-range and deep throws, and if his post-game press conference on Saturday is any indication, doesn’t necessarily display the requisite thick skin successful quarterbacks possess. Sullivan was short with many of his answers, thought he played “good enough” and left in a huff about 4 minutes into the proceeding. Sullivan’s reaction reminded many in attendance of a sore loser who just wanted to “take his ball and go home”. Having a quarterback struggle this much wouldn’t be so bad if said quarterback was a freshman. There’s always the possibilty a freshman quarterback will improve. However, I think we are seeing senior Danny Sullivan at his best and that just isn’t good enough. There are other problems with this team, The Offensive line leaves a lot to be desired and special teams have struggled. There are also some really positive things about this team, The defense is great and the running game featuring Dimitri Nance has been impressive at times. If we take those positive things and couple them with Brock Osweiler I think we have a shot at a winning season.
