[Austroturf]

Somehow some in the media keep talking about "Oregon's Playoff chances not ruined"... They won't win the North! 
Oregon State (4-1) -- if they develop some passing game -- could unseat the Ducks; Beavs just hosed the Huskies in Corvallis. 
Jonathan Smith takes Coach of the Year easily this season.  Their O-Line is killing people, like us in 2009. 
Beavers can beat the other teams on their schedule... except AZST.  They already thumped Troy in LA. 
 
UCLA (3-2) just lost the tiebreaker to AZST in the South.  U$C is a strange mess, could blow up or get streaky hot.  
UTAH (2-2)?  Brewer left the team, after being benched vs SDST -- a loss in OT. 

AZST (4-1) gets my vote as #1 in Pac-12, and we get 'em in Tempe on FRIDAY night as a 10-point Road Dog. 
https://sportspac12.com/week-six-2021-pa...-rankings/

Oregon State was really feisty last year.  They had a losing record, but all of their losses besides the ASU blow out at the end were 1 score games.  It's not surprising they're coming around- Clearly well coached.

ASU is, on paper, probably up there with Oregon in terms of who should be the best team in the conference.  We probably were the best team on the field in all 4 games we played last year and should have gone 4-0, but it's just excuses for a weird 2-2 season.  The team returned largely intact with several draftable players forgoing the draft to win a championship, though the loss of Lole (probably the best player on the team) to injury is enormous. We have a very good roster that is getting better as the passing game improves and gets more comfortable.  Daniels and his receivers haven't really clicked just right yet, but it's trending to upwards.  Lots of athletes, and a defense that's got tons of guys who've been around forever.

I'm still a little confused why we played so poorly at BYU.  Things just weren't working right yet.  Seems like it's trending in the right direction though and this year and last year were supposed to be the years where Tempe really kind of returned to the spotlight after a pretty long absence.  We've got some serious dudes everywhere except WR, and there's still lots of talent there.  It should be the best team ASU's rolled out since the Tillman era.  It just hasn't quite come together yet.  Maybe it won't.

The fact that you guys beat Oregon and smoked USC is pretty worrisome.  Getting USC coaches Tarmac'd is supposed to be our job. We've certainly lost plenty of games to Stanford that I thought we'd win in the past, and the fact that your QB just isn't throwing picks makes me concerned.  Herm likes his games close and grindy, and I worry he won't really use what I suspect is a significant athletic advantage in favor of caution and a slow, dragged out possession game.  I think we have the better team and the better athletes, but Oregon probably thought the same thing and look what happened to them.

The big difference between our upcoming game in Tempe and the Oregon game last Saturday is that the Sun Devils have home field advantage. Yes, even though Stanford has recently had a lot of success on the road, being on our home field made the upset against the Ducks more likely.  That advantage is gone this Friday evening.  As has been noted elsewhere on this blog, Stanford currently has the chops to hang with just about any team in the conference (Oregon, USC) and the ability to look hopeless, as well (UCLA).    

I also noticed that our former offensive lineman, Henry Hattis, is still on the roster at ASU.  It would be nice to have him back.  I read an article stating that Hattis chose Stanford over ASU when he graduated from high-school, then decided to give ASU a try after graduating from Stanford.  The Covid-shortened season of 2020 gave him a chance to come back for a second "graduate transfer" year.  Anyway, it would be valuable to have him in Stanford's current O-line rotation.

As for the enmity between ASU and U of A, I am unfamiliar with the sordid history.  That said, I have had positive experiences in both Tucson and Tempe: my parents retired to Tucson and lived there for 14 years.  We went to a number of Wildcat football games during this period and got to know the 'Zona zoo.  More recently, I was working with ASU's NASA group on a project related to the new Masctcam-Z camera on the 2020 Mars Perseverance Rover.  Great people!

[Austroturf]

Somehow some in the media keep talking about "Oregon's Playoff chances not ruined"... They won't win the North! 
Oregon State (4-1) -- if they develop some passing game -- could unseat the Ducks; Beavs just hosed the Huskies in Corvallis. 
Jonathan Smith takes Coach of the Year easily this season.  Their O-Line is killing people, like us in 2009. 
Beavers can beat the other teams on their schedule... except AZST.  They already thumped Troy in LA. 
 
UCLA (3-2) just lost the tiebreaker to AZST in the South.  U$C is a strange mess, could blow up or get streaky hot.  
UTAH (2-2)?  Brewer left the team, after being benched vs SDST -- a loss in OT. 

AZST (4-1) gets my vote as #1 in Pac-12, and we get 'em in Tempe on FRIDAY night as a 10-point Road Dog. 
https://sportspac12.com/week-six-2021-pa...-rankings/

Oregon State was really feisty last year.  They had a losing record, but all of their losses besides the ASU blow out at the end were 1 score games.  It's not surprising they're coming around- Clearly well coached.

ASU is, on paper, probably up there with Oregon in terms of who should be the best team in the conference.  We probably were the best team on the field in all 4 games we played last year and should have gone 4-0, but it's just excuses for a weird 2-2 season.  The team returned largely intact with several draftable players forgoing the draft to win a championship, though the loss of Lole (probably the best player on the team) to injury is enormous. We have a very good roster that is getting better as the passing game improves and gets more comfortable.  Daniels and his receivers haven't really clicked just right yet, but it's trending to upwards.  Lots of athletes, and a defense that's got tons of guys who've been around forever.

I'm still a little confused why we played so poorly at BYU.  Things just weren't working right yet.  Seems like it's trending in the right direction though and this year and last year were supposed to be the years where Tempe really kind of returned to the spotlight after a pretty long absence.  We've got some serious dudes everywhere except WR, and there's still lots of talent there.  It should be the best team ASU's rolled out since the Tillman era.  It just hasn't quite come together yet.  Maybe it won't.

The fact that you guys beat Oregon and smoked USC is pretty worrisome.  Getting USC coaches Tarmac'd is supposed to be our job. We've certainly lost plenty of games to Stanford that I thought we'd win in the past, and the fact that your QB just isn't throwing picks makes me concerned.  Herm likes his games close and grindy, and I worry he won't really use what I suspect is a significant athletic advantage in favor of caution and a slow, dragged out possession game.  I think we have the better team and the better athletes, but Oregon probably thought the same thing and look what happened to them.

The big difference between our upcoming game in Tempe and the Oregon game last Saturday is that the Sun Devils have home field advantage. Yes, even though Stanford has recently had a lot of success on the road, being on our home field made the upset against the Ducks more likely.  That advantage is gone this Friday evening.  As has been noted elsewhere on this blog, Stanford currently has the chops to hang with just about any team in the conference (Oregon, USC) and the ability to look hopeless, as well (UCLA).    

I also noticed that our former offensive lineman, Henry Hattis, is still on the roster at ASU.  It would be nice to have him back.  I read an article stating that Hattis chose Stanford over ASU when he graduated from high-school, then decided to give ASU a try after graduating from Stanford.  The Covid-shortened season of 2020 gave him a chance to come back for a second "graduate transfer" year.  Anyway, it would be valuable to have him in Stanford's current O-line rotation.

As for the enmity between ASU and U of A, I am unfamiliar with the sordid history.  That said, I have had positive experiences in both Tucson and Tempe: my parents retired to Tucson and lived there for 14 years.  We went to a number of Wildcat football games during this period and got to know the 'Zona zoo.  More recently, I was working with ASU's NASA group on a project related to the new Masctcam-Z camera on the 2020 Mars Perseverance Rover.  Great people!