We asked the former football beat writer for the Arizona Daily Wildcat five quick questions about the Sun Devils’ next opponent. And don’t forget to add your score prediction in the comments!

(Too bad we’ll have to retire this one later this month.)

Leveraging the power of our new Facebook page, we asked Arizona Daily Wildcat sports writer Michael Schwartz five questions to acquaint us with this week’s opponent. (Read more Schwartz on the Phoenix Suns blog, Valley of the Suns.)

Q: Give us two guys we should know about for their football prowess.
A: I remember showing up to the final scrimmage of fall camp four years ago, in which a speedy, diminutive freshman receiver from Nowhere, Texas, impressed the hell out of all the fans in attendance. Seriously, he was the best guy on the field, burning everyone deep. Four years later Mike Thomas’ name dots the Arizona receiving record books with over 3,000 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns in his career. UA fans are lucky he’s only 5-foot-8, or else he never would have chosen Arizona when the football program was a mess.

Everyone knows about Willie Tuitama, but everyone should know about The Beast, tight end Rob Gronkowski. Gronk is Willie’s go-to guy in the end zone with a team-high nine TDS, and his favorite hobbies include running over helpless defensive backs as he rumbles for another big gain. Get ready to hear his name quite a bit on Saturday.

Q: Give us one guy we should know about for something off the field.
A: UA linebacker Adrian McCovy has quite the unusual nickname: Taliban. No, he’s not actually a terrorist as much as you ASU fans may want to believe so. But from what I’ve been told, the hard-hitting linebacker earned his nickname for the kind of licks he dishes out. And he’s proud of it too, with a MySpace profile and video channel under the nickname complete with Taliban’s greatest hits. McCovy has had a penchant for serving up bone-jarring hits throughout his life, even back in Pop Warner when he paralyzed an opponent.

Q: What’s the best case scenario for your squad this weekend?
A: Revenge is a dish best served cold. I’ll personally never forgive the Sun Devils for beating my Wildcats the last two years to prevent me from ever seeing my school reach a bowl game before I graduate (I knew I should have gone with the five-year plan). Nothing would be sweeter than to return the favor, on a 55-yard Jason Bondzio field goal with no time left after rallying from a 24-0 deficit with 27 unanswered points, as Rudy Carpenter’s career ends in the exact same spot as Andrew Walter’s.

Q: And the worst case?
A: Another devastating loss to the Sun Devils, the fourth in as many years. The Wildcats blow a 10-point fourth quarter lead by self-destructing once again in crunch time, this time on a pick-six thrown by Willie T deep in ASU territory for the deciding points. ASU players disgracefully stomp on our logo at midfield, a skirmish breaks out in the stands and 15 students are Tasered. ASU somehow reaches a bowl despite an ugly six-game losing streak, and the Wildcats head to Hawaii, where they will get smoked by the Fighting Rainbows, lose money on the trip like ASU did a few years ago, and have exactly five fans make the trek despite the 10-year bowl drought. But could this still be considered worst case if Mike Stoops gets fired in the aftermath?

Q: OK, the Cats are 10-point favorites. Who you got straight up? Who you got in Vegas?
A: I always was a homer when I did staff picks for the Daily Wildcat, so I see no reason to stop that trend here. Not only do the Wildcats own home-field advantage, but they’re flat-out the better team. This is a squad that’s been in every game, even against USC, losing its five contests by a combined 28 points. Can ASU say that? You guys may scoff, but making a bowl game is a huge deal around these parts after the last 10 years of hell. That’s all anybody could talk about during the preseason the last four years, everyone saying, ‘This year is the year.’ Now this year actually is the year, but it certainly won’t feel that way with the same 6-6 record the Wildcats have compiled the last two seasons, the same loss to ASU and the feeling of backing into a bowl because the rest of the conference sucked so badly. Seniors like Willie T, Money Mike Thomas and Ronnie Palmer won’t let the Wildcats lose their last game in Arizona Stadium.

What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
Do Rudy Carpenter and the Sun Devils have a fourth straight win over Arizona in them? Give us your score prediction in the comments below.

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