Devils in Detail
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ASU Football: Pac-12 Weeks 1-4 Outlook

By Hunter Robinson

Jul 15, 2016; Hollywood, CA, USA; General view of the Pac-12 Championship game trophy during Pac-12 media day at Hollywood & Highland. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 15, 2016; Hollywood, CA, USA; General view of the Pac-12 Championship game trophy during Pac-12 media day at Hollywood & Highland. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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ASU football ended non-conference play with a perfect 3-0 record, they now go into Pac-12 play where they will face tougher competition. Can we expect the same level of play from the Sun Devils?

The Sun Devils have found themselves in a prime position entering Pac-12 play. They are 3-0 and their remaining schedule is very favorable.

They start off Pac-12 play against a Cal team that is hard to get a reading on. They lost to a San Diego State team who, as of right now, is considered a top-25 team in the latest AP poll. Now whether San Diego State should be in the top-25 isn’t my call to make, but Cal should have beat them and because they didn’t they look vulnerable.

Cal then turned it around at beat Texas the following week, an impressive victory, but there is a silver lining to that game. Cal allowed Texas, not the best offensive team, to score 43 points. That tells me that they aren’t a very good defensive team, and we could be in-store for another offensive heavy game similar to the Texas Tech game.

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ASU will then travel to Los Angeles and take on a struggling USC team. This USC team isn’t the same team that has caused ASU trouble in the past, this is a winnable game for ASU.

USC’s defense has looked non-existent, especially against the run, and their offense seems to lack any direction at the moment. If ASU can come in with a 4-0 record then they could win this game just because of how much momentum they will have, but they could lose this game if they start listening and believing in the hype that will come with their undefeated record.

UCLA will be a whole different test for the Sun Devils. This team will be looking to make an example out of ASU and showing that it is their year to win the Pac-12 south. This game will come down to how well the defense does against Josh Rosen, who is possibly the best young pro-style quarterback in college football right now. If ASU makes it to this point in the season and their undefeated streak is still in-tact, then the Pac-12 south is theirs to lose.

With ASU potentially boasting a 6-0 record at this point, which would equal all their wins from last season, they will be in Boulder, Colorado facing the University of Colorado. This game in the past would have been the equivalent to a cupcake game, but Colorado has improved from last season. ASU should still have no trouble winning this game, but this could potentially be a trap game for the Sun Devils. On the road, in a place that isn’t always the easiest to play mixed in with the fact that it will be hard to keep all the outside noise out of the players’ minds. A perfect scenario for Colorado to pull a stunner.

Next: ASU Football: Cover 3 Podcast, episode 1

There still is a lot of time until ASU will face Colorado, but they only have a few days until they play host to Cal. Starting Pac-12 play off with a victory would go a long way to proving that ASU is a legit team and isn’t just undefeated thanks to an easy non-conference schedule.

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