Sunday Morning Hangover: ASU-Stanford
Here are three things we think we think after ASU’s 41-17 win over Stanford last night. What did you take away from the game?
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1. Keegan Herring is as Important as We Thought
Dimitri Nance is a good back, but Herring adds a dimension to the offense that’s lacking when he’s not in the game. He averaged five yards per carry and on his first touch of the season (the 20-yarder in the second quarter) he looked like an animal finally let out of his cage. His explosive speed and burst to the hole will be badly needed as the competition gets better. It’s time to appreciate Mr. Herring.
2. Our Defensive Ends are as Good as Advertised
Dexter Davis had a pair of sacks and Luis Vasquez created some pressure as well. Stanford’s quarterbacks are pretty bad and good things happen when you get in a bad quarterback’s face. In a tight game against Oregon State, Stanford was efficient and didn’t turn the ball over. Against ASU, the Cardinal was 14-for-31 with three interceptions. Gerald Munns looked pretty darn good too, but we’ll dedicate a whole post to him in the next couple days.
3. Our Wide Receiver Depth is Among the Nation’s Best
We knew depth behind Mike Jones and Chris McGaha would be good, but not this good. Kerry Taylor and Kyle Williams combined for 10 catches for 132 yards and a touchdown. Not too shabby. How many Pac-10 teams would love to have those two in their starting lineup? Oh, and Glenn Guilbeau is a fool.
What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
We want to know what you learned from the game. Post three things you’re taking away from last night in the comments below.
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I agree with the points about Keegan and the WR’s. However, I’m still not sure about the DE’s. Sure, they played good against a bad team. But, we have no idea how they are going to do against a top-flight OL and QB. If they can get pressure against that, then I’m willing to say that they’re as good as advertised.
Keegan just brings an energy to the offense that Nance doesn’t bring. It is absolutely imperative that we keep him healthy if we want to have a chance to win the Pac-10.
One concern that I saw were the CB’s. Way too many pass interference calls. I like that they play physical, but they’re playing a little too handsy right now. Somebody needs to remind them that after 5 yards, hands off. On the flip side, Bolden and Singfield seem to be very good tacklers in the run game. I think they have the skill to be good CB’s, they just need to keep their hands off the receivers more.
The corners were definitely a little shaky last night. It seemed like NAU and Stanford (early on) were afraid to go at Bolden. Then they started attacking Bolden in the second or third quarter last night and he got those two PI calls. Troy Nolan had one on the same drive I think. Not good.
I have to disagree with Andrew and say that the secondary was outstanding. On those three interference calls on the same drive, only one was legit. One was a toss up and the other was terrible. The fact that teams already don’t seem to want to go after Bolden means one third of the field is locked down. That allows the safeties to play over and help elsewhere, or come down and fill the box. I liked that they were aggressive and fast to the ball. They were smothering the Standford receivers and did not get beat over the top. Come the meat of the schedule I think those guys will be ready to handle the speed that Georgia and USC bring.
I loved the agressiveness and speed to the ball by the CB’s. I love seeing that form the secondary, swarming to the ball the way they did.
For most of the game, they were right with the receivers, which is good. But, when the ball is in the air, get your damn hands off the receiver.
The last thing I want is for the refs to start making PI calls because the CB looked at the receiver the wrong way because our CB’s have a history of PI. That won’t help us against the better teams.
Andrew, with respect I think the defensive ends are the last thing we should worry about.
Dexter Davis has proved that he is one of the top defensive ends in the conference, if not the nation, with four sacks on the season already. He does not have the typical size of a lot of defensive ends out there, but he has a motor that doesn’t stop.
His counterpart, Luis Vasquez, was one of the best juco players in the country coming in last year and he has been fierce for the Sun Devils.
Nice to see Kerry Taylor have another good game. He was in my summer journalism class. Really good dude. And for the few of you on this blog who didn’t already know this, his uncle is the former 49ers wideout John Taylor, of Super Bowl XXIII and Tecmo Super Bowl fame.
3 things I’m taking from this game…
1) Our OL is not as bad as many had forecast. Why? Because they have either already been in the system for a year (redshirt freshmen) or they’re of the caliper that Coach E recruits and can understand and learn the O quickly (true freshmen)
2) Our QB-WR connection is spectacular. I was a little worried about where it would be, once you got past the known assets. Well, I’m not worried any longer!
3) Our D isn’t performing up to par. As a WHOLE they aren’t giving it their all. I see good performance throughout the game but not by every player on every play. If we want to play with the big boys we’re going to have to bring it….every single time. And sorry if I’m greedy but…only two sacks on Stanford? With our DEs I expected at least 4 if not 5 or 6. I’m not saying that it was their fault specifically. You rely on your other DL to help you get back there so the blame is not just with the DEs.
All in all I’m okay with our performance but I wish we had another conference game before we see Georgia. I think we could use a little in-your-face shakeup…and show these boys how we expect them to perform.
GO DEVILS!!!
Let’s not forget that Gerald Munns has turned into a BEAST!!! Stanford was by far his best game as a Sun Devil. This is a guy who was listed at the top of the depth chart by two different coaching staffs as a true freshman and sophomore but his playing time didn’t reflect that and neither did his production…likely due to various injuries/inexperience. But against Stanford he looked like he did when dominating for Hamilton High back in the fall of 05. He’s got great size, but what makes him special is his agility to go with the size. He not only just makes tackles, but is a PLAYMAKER. If he stays healthy (broken pinky excluded) we’re looking at one of the better Sun Devil linebackers in recent memory.