Sparky’s Lunchbox: He’ll Take the Sun Devils, but It Won’t be a Rout
We asked the sports editor of NAU’s The Lumberjack five quick questions about the Sun Devils’ first opponent. Oh, and Herb Sendek received a little bad news today.
(At Echo from the Buttes, we celebrate Eric Bunyan’s entire collection.)
Leveraging the power of our new Facebook fan page, Eric Gallo, sports editor of NAU’s The Lumberjack, offered us a quick preview of this weekend’s opponents.
Q: Give us two guys we should know about for their football prowess.
A: Two guys you should know about for their football prowess are cornerback K.J. Gerard and running back Alex Henderson. Gerard last season ranked fifth in the Football Championship Subdivision in interceptions, and Henderson will not have to split carries this season. In 2006, Henderson became the first NAU freshman to rush for at least 1,000 yards.
Q: Give us one guy we should know about for something off the field.
A: Off the field, I am not too sure. They all do community work, but I have never really sat down to talk about what one player has done.
Q: What’s the best case scenario for your squad this weekend?
A: Best case for NAU would be if their passing game got going. They have a deep corps of receivers that they haven’t had the past few years. If they can move the ball through the air then they can be deadly.
Q: And the worst case?
A: Worst case would be if they turn the ball over. Going up against a team like ASU, the Lumberjacks cannot afford to squander scoring opportunities by giving the ball up. If they do, the game will be a blowout.
Q: OK, the ‘Jacks are 34-point dogs. Who you got straight up? Who you got in Vegas?
A: While I would love to say the ‘Jacks are going to win I don’t think I can bring myself to do it. I think it will be a competitive game more so than a 34 point blowout, because NAU is going to be really good this year. In the end I will have to take the Devils, but only by 10-14 points. If NAU should pull off the upset though, it will be the best ride ever back up to Flagstaff.
Only one note today, and it’s a sad one. Gilbert Highland sophomore guard Matt Carlino will not be following his father’s path through Tempe.
A top 10 recruit for the class of 2011, Carlino committed over the weekend to Indiana, no doubt bumming out a certain gentleman down South who’s been stalking him since he was in seventh grade. ASU was also in pursuit, though we believe coach Sendek waited until the kid was in high school to offer.
Of course, Carlino can’t sign until November 2010. So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.
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Be sure to check out our farewell to Camp Tontozona and our assessment of Rudy Carpenter’s legacy.
Isn’t it nice having an in-state opponent whose fans are a bunch of kool-aid sipping psychopaths who rant about their superiority in face of overwhelming proof?
Big congrats to the ‘Jacks for coming down and playing our Devils. Any way you look at it, it’s going to be a fun game and we’ll be able to gauge both the Devils and the ‘Jacks for their prospects this season.
GO DEVILS!!!
Given what a mess Indiana is in, that must’ve been one heck of a selling job that Crean put on. And let’s cue all the rat fans saying “Aw, we didn’t want him anyway — we’ll get 5 players better than him cuz we’re AWESOME, brah!!!”