Sam Leavitt named Arizona State starting QB and ranking each ASU game by importance

hello everyone and welcome into episode 92 of the Stomp the bus show I am your host Mark Harris coming at you with the solo episode uh today Colton will be back sometime early next week when we preview the Wyoming Game and kind of do a general preview of ASU season but this will be the last solo episode of The Summer before we get started please like And subscribe on YouTube you know say it helps with the algorithm so uh please drop a like subscribe if you can we're up to 46 subscribers so that's how you know we're killing it obviously compared to all the other YouTube accounts out there just destroying them uh no it's still good to have the subscribers we have we appreciate all of you and then please like or uh rate and review on your podcast platform of choice that helps as well we appreciate that and also please follow the College huddle podcast Network it is colge huddle on Twitter uh you can find tons of their podcasts there tons of Great Big 12 podcasts on there uh so it's it it really has a lot and there's all sorts of Great Big 12 podcasts that are part of the network as well you can find uh the website at theol huddle.com and uh they do great work you know it's a lot of fans covering their teams as well through a podcast and you get some good perspectives and good content so uh love to promote that and I mean they've helped this show grow a bit as well and it's great to be a part of their Network so done with that please like And subscribe rate and review and let's get rolling okay we are I'm recording this one week from the uh no I'm not it's I I keep thinking that the ASU game is on Thursday August 31 August 31st is a Saturday they've had a few Thursday openers recently so that's probably why ASU season opener I'm recording this on Thursday night August 22nd you'll probably hear it on uh Friday the 2 third or later but ASU season open opener is over a week away and earlier this week Kenny Dillingham named a starting quarterback and it was not a surprise Sam D my gosh Sam Sam darnold starting for ASU 27-year-old Sam darnold would be excellent no Sam levit is your starting quarterback back this was reported by Pete thill of ESPN Chris Cartman of sundevil source and many others not a surprise here at all um it looked maybe a little bit hairy early on in Camp when Jeff Sims came in and performed Better Than People thought but as Camp has gone along and has now concluded uh levit Rose Above the Rest of the competition and was just more consistent and uh took of the ball more Cartman on Twitter Chris Cartman had mentioned that he had not as many Jeopardy balls as you might think and Dillingham mentioned in his press conference earlier this week that out of 300 team situations he had two interceptions and that's a pretty good you would take that from any quarterback right so especially a red Shir freshman so lit's done what he's had to do at camp he threw two touchdowns against uh well the other not against anyone at the Campton Zona scrimmage and then in the next scrimmage that was on Saturday night in Mountain America Stadium not suble Stadium Mountain America Stadium he threw for two touchdowns as well uh 30- yard bomb to Jordan Tyson it's always Jordan Tyson Jordan Tyson his I am so so excited to watch him play because from the what I remember from his speed at Colorado two years ago this dude is going to be electric so I cannot wait to watch him play and then he also threw a one-yard touchdown to Malik mlan who has been I mean getting Malik mlan and Shaman Mater after Spring ball is incredible I the the the way that Malik mlan has come in and just is going to be a starting wide receiver on this team it is it's just crazy I I I just how quickly he assimilated in and just come in and been ready to go and just been super productive and athletic it's I I think you expect the starting white outs to be Jordan Tyson Malik mlan and then stoval as the slot guy with Giller and Troy omir rotating in and Jake Jake Smith as well I am still just blown away that mik Clan is been this impressive so anyway uh and Sam Lev has hooked up with him in a football sense frequently so uh I'm glad that connection is growing but as it as it relates to levit getting this uh back on the tracks it's so what I loved about Sam lit's kind of recent performance at Camp reportedly is that he didn't just like win the quarterback competition by default it didn't feel like Sam levit outlasted the other guys it it doesn't feel like he's being given the job because it's like wow like we have to give it to somebody and lit's younger he you know had the he was a recent four-star recruit out of high school he has the build the athleticism all this he he's actually he's he earned the job he's clinched the quarterback job and that's what you you know he's probably going to have to if Asia wants to go bowling this year levit is going to have to be the main reason they win at least one game right I said on uh last week's show talking about how good asu's defense could be that if as wants to go bowling they're going to need their defense to win them a game and that same logic applies to levit who knows which game it'll be right but they need him to be I think they need him to be like a little bit more than just serviceable you know what I'm saying like he doesn't need to be the the top quarterback that comes to mind when people are talking about Big 12 quarterbacks right you got no F you got shador Sanders cam Rising uh Garrett Green West West Virginia Avery Johnson at Oklahoma State there there's good quarterbacks in this conference 100% and he and Sam levit doesn't need to be in that category for ASU to accomplish its goals this year that's for sure but he can't be a liability either and I don't think he's been that and I think that you add in his dual threat ability which is real and he he did have some a few games last year where he uh had some decent rushing totals as well so it's not just something that's shown up at camp in practice right like it he you've seen it on the field as well so that's important with him back there and with this running game what we think it could be I think that really just Shores everything up and you know the first game against Wyoming is kind of getting thrown into the fire but you know you have to play your schedule and you know he would have to play a game eventually right so I'm not too worried about it but they're going to need him to be more than just a bus driver you know that's kind of what Oklahoma state is asking Alan Bowman to be who's like in his seventh year of college football yeah just just keep the Train on the tracks give the ball to olly Gordon you know our defense is fairly good you may need to score 21 points in this game and that'll do it I you know in in a handful of games that'll be the case for ASU but not on a regular basis and so levit is really going to have to step up in his first full season but I think that he's capable of doing that uh just with what he's shown at camp and then you look at some of his recent practices I believe it was reported on Tuesday's practice that he threw and ASU had a post of this on their social media he threw a great deep bomb to Jordan Tyson who Dove made a diving catch for a touchdown and then hit Malik mlan on like a 60 yard touchdown when he was rolling out of the pocket I mean that you can't teach that right and him having an arm like that and ASU having a potent deep passing attack that is complemented by its Run game or vice versa you however you want to phrase it like that can that opens up so much and if we it it will be interesting if they do hit on like two or three deep bombs against Wyoming how does that change how ASU gets defended this year because I think a lot of teams like oh we got to take take the Run game away and understandably I mean that's probably how I would game plan for ASU if I was a defensive coordinator but if he hits Jordan Tyson and Malik mlan for deep gains you know you can't just put eight in the box or whatever so that is a underrated storyline uh to look for in the Wyoming game but overall I'm happy with Sam levit as the St this is kind this is the outcome that we all expected not when he transferred here but it's what we it's what we all expected at at the end of Spring ball and I'm happy that it seems like he's earned the job he wasn't just awarded the job and you saw um in at Boise State they went with a kid named I think his I last name is Madson and he beat out five-star transfer Malachi Nelson who was at USC I bet if you asked Boise State fans a month ago who they expect to be the starting quarterback they would have predicted Malachi Nelson and he is not the starting quarterback so it's this was not a I don't think this was a guarantee love it and there was a point I don't know maybe in the second week of camp that it looked like Sims was really closing the Gap and then that kind of faded away so through it all you know whatever the competition it it seems like levit has uh stood out and I'm ready I'm excited to see what he can do this year I really am because he his dual threat ability is something that just not enough people are talking about and he clearly has the arm strength as well he had the requisite arm strring and you know I don't I would say we haven't had a dual threat quarterback like this since Jaden Daniels Emory Jones I I think he could have been but he just never really did that much on the ground when he was the ASU so I don't really know if I can call him Marie Jones a dual threat quarterback um no one last year was or maybe Drew Pine would have been but he didn't play enough and then yeah it was Jaden Daniels and Manny Wilkins and guess what like Jaden Daniels tenure at ASU left a lot to be desired specifically his junior year he did run a good about a good bit that year you know and that kind of kept a that was an extra factor for that ASU offense Manny Wilkins not a you know World beater college football quarterback but his scrambling ability was an edge that those ASU teams needed uh and most of those ASU teams didn't have good defenses either so anyway Levitz scrambling ability and rushing ability is a huge positive addition uh with him being named quarterback and you know I I I keep coming back to this that it did not seem like Michigan State fans were happy with him leaving it seemed like a lot of them wish he had stayed now it's who knows how it all would have played out because Jonathan Smith comes over from Oregon State and brings Aiden child so you know like who knows if levit would have beat out Aiden Charles and if you're a Michigan State fan you probably you like where you are fine even without Lev it but uh it I just thought it was interesting that they weren't happy to see him leave and hopefully that works out for ASU so good luck to levit uh you know he'll need it he'll need some luck as we're going to go through later in the um I ranked I'm going to rank ASU games by importance and there are some tough games on so like he's going to need he's going to need some some luck and some things to go his way but I think that he's capable and I think that he has the mindset as well that can really uh help him improve this year so love it qb1 and let's go all right before we uh get to ranking asus's football schedule games by importance I do want to touch on something else and I'm not going to lie when I first saw this headline it kind of shocked me but there's a key stipulation in there that um makes it really awesome so ASU men's basketball it's not sharing hold on hold on okay there we go ASU Men Basketball was playing Duke and at first thought that was going to be a non-conference game and I was excited but also a little scared because asu's non-conference schedule already is packed with Gonzaga New Mexico Santa Clara Florida Grand Canyon and I'm sure there's someone else on I think they're at UMass like that's a that's a loaded noncon so I did not want to add Duke to the nonon well they didn't add Duke to the nonon because it's an exhibition game and I love this as an exhibition game because now we'll get to see asus's fairly tal relatively talented for ASU standards or for both I mean they have two five star freshman you'll get to see that talented roster go up against maybe the most talented you know oneandone freshman roster that we've ever seen at Duke with Cooper flag there's a there's the I know there's a guy from South Sudan I don't know who it is and then I think there's a few other uh five-star freshman that are a part of that too but I mean Cooper flag is the main attraction and seeing that game is gonna be fun man I really I I haven't seen anywhere where it's televised it is a charity exhibition game that benefits the Duke Hospital Ralph amston will be there because he lives in North Carol in so I don't know where it will be televised I imagine it'll at least be on a live stream somewhere because again there's a lot of a lot of really high-profile names in that game Beyond just Bobby Hurley and John Shire for Pete's sake so Bobby put out a statement as you can see on my phone kind of I'm going to read now I'm grateful for John Shire and Duke basketball for working with Arizona State basketball to make this exhibition game a reality it will be special for me to return to Cameron indor our team is excited for the opportunity to compete against the storyed basketball program prior to embarking on our regular season schedule the collaboration between Duke and ASU to put together this charity exhibition game supporting Duke Children's Hospital is very meaningful to both programs okay so not anything of real note um it's cool unfortunately there's no mention of any sort of live stream or TV channel or anything like that but I I I bet there will be and I I really really want to watch that game because just to one just to see what these guys look like right like Joe son sonone he's not going to come into that game based on everything we've heard from him and be like like oh you know Cooper flag's the best best guy in the class so I'll just take it easy and just play Within the team and what no he's going to come in and try to show hey I'm the number one pick I'm the generational guy that you guys are looking for not Cooper flag and so they'll both I I mean I just imagine that they'll both have really good games and you know and we get just see other the other new players on asu's team like BJ Freeman Austin Nunes once again um Adam Miller he's not new but acquaintance obviously so that'll be fun um I'm really excited about that and I'm glad ASU and Duke could get that scheduled all right now let's get into the fun or the not so fun kind of uh I created a tier list which is from tier maker the same site that we used to rank asu's best head coaches since Frank Kush you can look at that episode that was probably like three or four episodes ago uh me and Colton did that that was a fun exercise and we're going to count or I'm GNA do a similar exercise right now so this is going to be ranking here we go uh okay well there's not a title here basically what this is is ranking asus's games this season by importance not these are the games you know these are I'm kind of explaining it as I go it's not necessarily ranking the most difficult opponents you play but there is an element to that and the reason why games against not as good teams are fairly important is because is if you don't win those games your margin for err just collapses and so some games this season are going to be far more important than other games if you're looking at this team with a realistic lens now if you want to be Ultimate Fan you know I I saw on so this was a bold prediction on the ph and XO I want to be very clear was a bold prediction it was like ASU wins eight games with the number one defense in the Big 12 if if that's a realistic thing then all of these games are important because you can win a lot of them because you're good I don't I don't think ASU is going to be that good of a team like may I don't I don't think there's a realistic scenario where they get to eight wins so putting that aside this is just each game how important is it compared to the other games on asu's schedule so ASU hosting Mississippi State and hosting Utah are not the same in terms of importance they just aren't and maybe you think oh Utah is more important because it's a conference rival and this is who you're striving to be as a program I understand that argument but you're just not good enough as a program to be like this is the measuring stick game in my opinion you can you know you can say that in terms of the locker room or whatever I don't think it's a realistic good idea to be like hey like the best possible team best team that we're playing this is who we have to be it's like okay how about we just try to be the average team and then if you're the average team you can accomplish your goals this year right so now that I look at this again I think I'm going to rearrange the categories so right now I have five categories of games that ASU uh is in in terms of how important each game is number one is games ASU should win self-explanatory this one is need to win two of these three to go bowling gave it away there are three teams in this category so these are the these are kind of games against teams that are at your level entering the season and people wouldn't wouldn't be like blown away at like if you told someone oh the ASU beat uh let's just use it Baylor use a team that's not on the schedule no one would be surprised that ASU beat Baylor right now right these are these are games that you definitely can win you shouldn't expect to win all of them but it's very realistic that you win them these next this one is intriguing home games these are you're hosting some decent teams at home but you are playing them in sundevil stadium and not every team adjusts to the weather realities of playing in Tempe Arizona some teams handle it better than others but some teams from certain climates don't and that's you know one reason why h maybe you could beat X team at home maybe you could I don't know for example ASU played Washington State at home last year does ASU beat Washington state if that game is in Pullman almost certainly not almost certainly not so that's kind of the idea with the third category is like these are teams that you would be not you know like you're not going to be favored to win this game but it's it's it's not crazy if you want it next one is won't be favored but winnable so this category is more this is just unlikely you're just probably not going to win these games and both of these games I believe are on the road so I'll be favored on the road but winnable so self explanatory right like these are even less likely than the Intriguing home games possibilities and then the last one is just you shouldn't expect to win you know it's it's college football and we don't know you know none of these teams are actual true like powers in the way like a Georgia and Ohio State are but you still shouldn't expect a win you just shouldn't and if you go into the season kind of just accepting that these are losses it's it's not good if you're like on the team or whatever like obviously you should try to win every game if you're a fan I think for me personally it's like okay like I'm not gonna freak out if we look bad in this road game or whatever so now that look at this again I'm G to switch I'm gon to switch the number one and number two spot so I'm going to switch these to just because I think by the fact I'm kind of contradicting myself on air I think by the fact that you're acknowledging that ASU is better no no I I had it right the first time I think yes you are acknowledging that ASU is better in these this top category but you're also you need to win these games because yes you are better you can't lose to a team that is on your level or worse than you so that's why they're going to stay uh that category is going to stay at the top so with that said let's get wrong going to start and just going to go by how the schedule is so game one you play Wyoming which game uh where should Wyoming go oh no definitely definitely not uh down there um no Wyoming is at the top ASU should win this game it's going to be difficult and this is not a FCS game where you can just sleep sleep through it and win kind of no no no ASU needs to be at 100% focus in this game against Wyoming and I think they will be uh as far as I know there's no bull ban that's going to be announced four days before the game which I guess could still happen knock onun would uh imagine imagine if I shouldn't even imagine if Ray Anderson just like walks onto the sun double practice field on Monday Monday next week and is like hey uh actually you are you guys are going to be banned from a Bull game this year and I just wanted to tell you in person once again no that' be terrible so Wyoming is in this category I mean you should beat Wyoming you should right if you do not beat Wyoming there's no scenario where it's ah you know whatever it's acceptable no no no you need to win that game for so many reasons and and I would love if I mean I think there is a reality where it's a double digit win but we need to see it so yeah Wyoming number one Mississippi States can't put be can't be a road game obviously you host them intriguing home game no I'm going up here I think I think you can absolutely beat Mississippi State I think there's a I think Mississippi state is positioned to be one of the worst teams in the SC C and that I believe I think Ralph said this Ralph amston said this on one of the ASU spaces that Jaden rashada considered going there uh when he transferred from ASU in the spring and if he's considering going there after he left in the spring that shows me that Mississippi state was not thrilled with his quarterback position where they're you know uh talking with Jaden Rashad about hey you can come here you know we have a spot for you here right so I think that's something that needs to be considered with them I they have a new coach I mean I I haven't done a deep dive into their transfers and all that but it's not like you don't see them super high on the transfer transfer less and stuff like that so and they were a bad team last year and it's not I I'm just not like shaking in my boots of like oh playing an SEC like they're going to be one of the worst SEC teams um I think this is random but I think ASU has never beat an SEC team I don't know if that's I I can't think of many opportunities that they've had to play SEC teams right like I know they obviously lost to Texas A&M in 2015 and then before you know when I was in Middle School they lost twice to Georgia but that's it and and all three of those teams were considerably better than this the 2024 Mississippi State team so I think they can absolutely win that game I don't think it's you know like a a lock or anything like if if if I had to predict they're only goingon to win one of Wyoming and Mississippi State I would take Wyoming but I think that I don't think it's crazy if you're an ASU fan to be like yeah I think we can beat Mississippi State like I wonder what the line will be in that game honestly and it'll depend on week one but you know that's I I expect a pretty that they'll probably pretty good crowd for that game too and so it's going to be hot as balls I obviously they're coming from Mississippi it's not like they're coming from Maine but it's still a different type of heat that they'll have to deal with so it is something to watch for game two this ASU is definitely capable of beating Texas State on the road in week three but man that game scares the crap out of me it scares me so much you are playing them on a Thursday night at uh what would it be 6:30 Texas time this is a Texas State team that uh played really well in the Sun Belt last year they're kind of a trendy pick to make the make the 12 team playoff I don't think I I I don't think their defense is gonna be good enough but in this one game against ASU they are absolutely capable of winning and that is a game that just really scares me as an ASU fan however it's still a sunb team like all of those stipulation that like ASU has a more talented roster than Texas state but it's going to be a challenge it is going to be a challenge in San Marcos so if you're an hu fan traveling to that game I hope that they win you know um who knows I just yeah that the te the at Texas State game just scares the beesus out of me and I'm worried about it but not as worried about it as I am some other games um all right now we get on into the conference schedule this is I I feel like I made this C for this game won't be favored on the road but win no one's really expecting you to go into Texas Tech and win that game entering the season right things change I think Texas Tech's quarterback is this guy named Baron Morton who played a little bit for them last year I want looking this up on the Fly b e h n Morton Baron Morton he is officially their starting quarterback okay so he's 22 I thought that he was like 19 so he's older than I expected um so we played a good a decent bit last year 250 passing attempts 62% 12 touchdowns seven picks um so he's solid I don't think that he is a world beater quarterback and I think you know we'll see maybe he'll be awesome this year but I just think Texas Tech their their roster is their roster is better than Asus most likely I mean they took Jaylen Conor from us they have more niil than a lot of teams in college football but definitely ASU so they're in the won't be like if ASU is two and two out of their opening stretch I don't think that's unacceptable and I don't I don't if they go two and two in their first four games I think all of their goals are still on the table so but winning on the road at Texas Tech will be difficult there's no two ways about it but it's within the I mean Texas Tech was a what like a six and six team last year again last year but you know that's not Alabama right like that's it's not the C it wouldn't be the craziest thing ever if as won this game Kansas was better team than Texas deck but I I have them in the Intriguing home game category I spoke earlier about the weather at sundevil Stadium this game is October 5th so there's a still a decent chance this could be like 100 degrees a kickoff and you know they're coming from the Midwest it's not going to be super hot in the Kansas City area in October now it's not going to be crazy it's probably a great time to live in that area but I think this is a game that ASU that can win I think it's a sneaky game I think that PE I think there's a lot of hype with Candace I understand why um but I don't think that this is some forone conclusion that ASU will lose now like you're going to have to win one of these intriguing home games to go bowling almost certainly so that has to be considered and I think another thing is like Jaylen jayen Daniels of Kansas is injury-prone I mean I hate using that phrase with football players but like he is more injury he is more of an injury risk than other players and he's had issues in the past so there's a decent chance that he is not playing in this game and their quarterback from their backup Jason Bean is now I think he I don't know he's in the NFL somewhere so it's you know they can't they might not be able to survive the way they did last year so I I've have caned Us in the Intriguing home games category they play the ASU hosts Utah the next week where do I put no the I'm sorry like I don't think as's I think they won't get destroyed in the same way they did last year and it is a the one thing the ASU has in its back pocket for this is that it's a Friday night game I'm almost certain October 11th is a I mean the fact that it's already scheduled suggests to me that it's a Friday night game um let's see here um let me talk for a bit this is October yeah it's a Friday October 11 so that does add a little bit of Whimsy in there it's a Friday night game but I I just think Utah's better it may not be a just blowout I could see this like Utah wins 342 24 and pulls away with you know whatever a score at the end to make it a 10-point game type of deal but I I just don't see ASU winning that game Cincinnati up here you know I don't think Cincinnati is going to I think Cincinnati The more I've learned about them the more of they have Cory ker at running back and they have uh Indiana transfer quarterback Brendan sorby and I don't think Cincinnati is going to be like a bottom two team in the Big 12 but this is a team that ASU is capable of beating I mean last year's Cincinnati team was bad and I think they were actually worse than ASU and I think if you look I'm not going to go through their game log but they got blown out more than ASU did and you know so and again they were cycling up from the group of five and they saw what that reality was like last year ASU is not cycling up to the big 12 it is a lateral move um from the Pack 12 particularly when you look at last year's Pack 12 and that's you know we can you know debate about the Big 12 versus the Pack 12 over the 10-year playoff ER or whatever we're talking about last year Pack 12 was better and then ASU is Shifting over into this league which any I'm not getting into it but like this is a game that ASU is capable of winning even though it's on the road um this is at at Cincinnati is absolutely a game that they are capable of winning you would love I would love to it would much rather have Cincinnati come to Temp B that would make things a lot easier and that would put that game in the you should win but they don't so that sucks however you get eight days of rest because you play Utah on the Friday before and you get to Cincinnati at a pretty good time of the year you know October 19th it shouldn't be it should be very pleasant weather and you know that's if you watch ASU football they gen unless they're going up to Seattle where they always win usually the road games and cold weather do not go well for them uh as you'll see in my analysis later on in this but um I just don't think that no I don't think that that's a game that you can really you can't go into that game be like oh it's a road game we're gonna lose no no you are capable of beating Cincinnati so really wish this would load here we go uh so that's that H you know what I man I don't know what to do with Oklahoma State is either going to be in these bottom two I'm going to go shouldn't expect a win I'm gonna go with my gut so the reason why I uh might have put them in the won't be favorite on the road but winnable is I just don't trust the Oklahoma State quarterback situation and I saw ASU play Oklahoma State last year in Tempe and I was not impressed by Oklahoma State you know I just wasn't and again huge stipulation this was before they like went with Bowman and really focused it in with olly Gordon right so it's that is huge context but on the flip side this was the game where ASU had to deal with losing its two starting tackles in the same game and so that's why they got shut out in the second half um I'm going to put Oklahoma State in the should expect to win it's a road game you know that's a tough Stadium it's not going to be warm right like November 2nd in still water is not the coldest place ever but it's not going to be warm and the the benefit you do have is that you get more time to rest because you have a buy so that helps but and I didn't mention that with Kansas too so that strengthens my my Kansas point is that you have two weeks two weeks off so that helps but with the Kansas Oklahoma State I I just I don't think that I think that overall they're a good enough team where ASU just can't really expect to win that game but of you'll see the of the three teams that are in the shouldn't expect a win category I would say Oklahoma state is the weakest of those three but they're good enough that you I just can't expect to win UCF is intriguing home game I think UCF is a team that has the capability of winning the Big 12 but they were still you know they went six and six last year they were the best of the G5 teams moving up but they still weren't that good they they weren't incredible and they they they have good running backs they bring in KJ Jefferson it's going to be a difficult win I feel like probably more difficult in Kansas now that I just sound it out but who know I mean this is two months from Two and a half months from now like we don't know we we'll have we will know who who will have won the presidential election by that point so that's a while from now so but that's why I have in the Intriguing home game category I just I don't think UCF defense is going to be that great and this will also be their first time coming to Temp B so you know they say oh it's like you got to deal like ASU has to deal with being in a new leag leue well if you're coming to Arizona State you have to deal with being in a new league with Arizona State right and that applies to any big 12 school going to a new uh the Pack 12 school that came in so uh that's why I got UCF this this one might be my least like I just don't really know as much but yeah I'm just gonna put in the Intriguing home games and I it wouldn't surprise me if they won that game so uh Kansas State this is the easiest one you know easiest one there in the should not expect a win category uh if you go to Kansas State uh in mid November in Kansas so not in Oklahoma which is you know obviously southern south to Kansas north you know it's almost winter it's the end of fall it's Manhattan Kansas easily could be snow on the ground like this is a game I mean if is having a bad season worse than we've predicted on this show then I do not want to even imagine what this game will look like if they're having a decent season then it's still going to be very difficult to win there so uh at Kansas state is just going to be extremely difficult I I think that like I say this as someone I think the Avery Johnson Heisman hype stuff is just a little overblown uh and I believe they have some a lot of guys to replace on their old line and those are real you know issues but but it's it's just not I I would be that at can if they won at Kansas state that is the most shocking when um it would be kind of equivalent to beating udub which they didn't do obviously but had they beaten udubb last year in Seattle it would be kind of equivalent to that like it just like whoa like you didn't you just would not expect winning at K State so there's that I got BYU in the games you should win category I think I am BYU was bad last year they were a bad team a lot like ASU except the different they went five and seven but they won all their close games so I'm going to look at see even even ESPN analytics not exactly loving ASU understandably um but they they expect us to win that one I I would expect a big crowd there will be a good chunk of BYU fans there but I think there will be a good chunk of ASU fans there as well because BYU is a known name brand for your average Joe ASU fan they are familiar with B BYU much more than they're familiar with UCF or Oklahoma State or whomever so there's that now I'm gonna look because BYU did go five and seven in last year and I believe the southern so they beat Southern Utah way more than we did whoopy freaking do whoopy do uh their first win was 14 to zero over Sam Houston that's weird at Arkansas that's a big that was an impressive win I'll give him that like that's a that's a that's a good impressive win okay you lose at Kansas you beat Cincinnati at home a bad Cincinnati team but you beat him at home you get to four- one start like okay destroy at TCU again this was a 5- seven TCU team you they got uh you know they didn't they didn't get doubled up they literally got quartered up how often does that happen you lose you score exactly one4 of the points as the opponent that that's the team you're playing like that's bad big win over Texas Tech as I I remember this game because I covered it for the Action Network Texas Tech was down to their third string quarterback so congrat on winning that game you deserve it but uh it it wasn't the most impressive win when you consider the circumstances at Texas okay like ASU played tough teams last year and they got blown out so you lose 356 at Texas okay at West Virginia you lose 35 to7 that's bad at or you host Iowa State get absolutely destroyed Oklahoma okay this was a these last two were legitim and these last two were um legitimate competitive performances so I'm not gonna nope stop it es oh my gosh oh my gosh now this is what I need the backend coding of espn.com uh these last two were not disastrous performances and heck I mean they came pretty damn close to going to a blll game so there's that but what you can can clearly see is like their depth when you get destroyed three weeks in a row like that and you get really destroyed three out of three out of four weeks or four out of five weeks and then in the big in Big 12 Play you have two wins you're one two three four so you have five of your set yeah five of seven Big 12 losses are by double digits because that's Kansas loss that's bad that is bad I don't think as I don't think it was because they lost three games so even ASU stayed more competitive I believe but and and again ASU or BYU won it's uh more of it closer game so BYU last year was probably better than ASU but not by much and uh guess who's not there keen slovis and there's no way they got the same type of portal impact that ASU did I haven't looked at 247 rankings or whatever but that's a tough spot to be in at BYU in terms of the portal so I I'm putting that in the game in a game that ASU should win well this one it's only two possibilities for U OFA because they play him in Tucson shouldn't expect a win no I'm gonna be should won't be favored on the road but Winn a so I don't think ASU I think if ASU goes into the territorial cup with only having five wins they're almost certainly not going to go bowling U OFA is the better quarterback until further know this they 100% have the best player on the field and Teto McMillan they have a future NFL I think he's like a first rounder I'm not I don't know his name but uh offensive lineman and tario Davis is a good corner and they have Jacob Manu like they have some guys particularly on offense and they have they have some good running backs too I think UA's running back room is pretty good the reason I put it in this category in one there's a RI it's a rivalry game so there's a little bit of that spice but two I think that I just we don't know what the what like we know about the the high-end stars on U right like uh I just you know T-Mac and you know Montana lonus Craig is a good receiver and like they have some guys like they legitimately have some guys what does the backand of the starting 22 look like what does their depth look like I mean I'm sure it's better like it's better than ASU but the reason I'm putting it as winnable is just we just I we don't know what to expect from U OFA so that's why I'm putting it there now that I look at this again I'm debating flipping U and Oklahoma State in this uh oh man do I make a new category no I'm not going to do that um I'll just keep it as is but that's how this shakes out and so let's say if ASU wants to go B let just give the two games I think they should win not guarantees they are not guarantees say they win two out of three right so that's four wins you split in the Intriguing home games and you pick off one of these games four of which are on the road that's how you go bowling now the downside is let's say you only win one of these games you win one of these that's two wins and you don't get either of these like there's a reality where you get I went on the West Virginia The rhan Rush show a few weeks ago low low Point could be two and 10 and like if you only beat Wyoming and Cincinnati then yeah like that'll be bad I don't think it's going to be like that but I guess when you look at the schedule there is room for opportunity but you also you need to take care of business a a loss to Wyoming would be very detrimental it I don't it wouldn't kill you but it would be very detrimental it would be and you know at that point I'm really hoping to get to five wins more than I'm hoping to get to six wins you know I just that's that's a game you need to win particularly with their top running back out so anyway that's how I see it I'll share this on social media when I get the get the show posted but uh yeah that'll be it so next episode we we will preview game one against Wyoming and uh kind of get into it and G give our official season predictions so should be fun hopefully there's no crazy breaking news that happens between now and our next episode which should be sometime early next week so we can get it get it up but yeah uh please like And subscribe on YouTube rate and review on your podcast platform of choice and as always go sevil