ASU Football: 2017 Home Opponents

September 9: San Diego State Aztecs

This would have been a great game for ASU in 2016, but it may not be much of a contest come kickoff.

The Aztecs will be a significantly worse team in 2017, most of that stemming from the graduation of star running back Donnel Pumphrey. Pumphrey was the main source of offense for San Diego State and they benefitted from being a part of a weak Mountain West Conference.

Coming off of a long week, the Sun Devils should be fully rested. They also get the benefit of starting the season off with back-to-back home games which helps provide some early momentum for a team, and in college sports momentum is everything.

San Diego State will be a more difficult matchup than New Mexico State, but it shouldn’t be an incredibly difficult game. They aren’t expected to be as difficult of a challenge as some may see them as, but it will be important that the team doesn’t get overly confident.

If the Sun Devils are able to start off 2-0, everyone needs to stay calm. Victories over two teams that are going to struggle to even reach the .500 mark isn’t something to get excited about. Fans should expect them to win games like that, save the excitement for the conference season.