Blogging with the Devils

The performance of the Arizona State defense against the rush against Stanford on Saturday was impressive, but not good enough to set a school record, as I mistakenly reported in Sunday’s edition of the Tribune. The minus-2 net rushing yards is the Sun Devils’ best only since 1996.

After Saturday’s game, an ASU official distributed a list of lowest-rushing-yards-allowed games, but writing on deadline, I glossed over the time frame that was clearly stated in the heading.

The minus-2 figure is not even close to a school mark. The Sun Devils held San Jose State to minus-107 rushing yards in 1968, and there are at least four other game totals lower than what ASU surrendered on Saturday.

My apologies for the error.

In the rankings released on Sunday, the Sun Devils are 18th in the Associated Press poll, 19th in USA Today (coaches) and eighth in Jeff Sagarin’s computer ratings. And yes, I double-checked the numbers and made sure that they are for this week.

Stanford’s Mark Bradford jumps for joy after a touchdown against Arizona State in 2005.

This week, Arizona State plays at Stanford, making its first visit to The Farm since an embarrassing loss that produced one of the most misleading final scores — 45-35 — of any football game I have ever seen. The Cardinal led 45-7 before laying off the gas pedal, which helped ASU score four garbage touchdowns.

And that brings us to the true legacy of that Oct. 22, 2005, contest, the quarterback who guided the Sun Devils to those 28 late points. For the first time, Rudy Carpenter gave ASU followers the impression that he can play, setting the wheels in motion for a QB controversy that changed the program.

Carpenter was solid in relief in blowout wins against Temple and Northwestern earlier in the season, but the Stanford game provided him with his most extensive playing time to date. In the third quarter, he relieved Sam Keller, who was ineffective due to a thumb injury suffered a week earlier against Oregon.

I can still vividly remember the sideline scene: As the Sun Devils prepared to receive a kickoff, then-coach Dirk Koetter walked over to Keller and put his arm around him, informing him that Carpenter was entering the game.

Little did anybody know that Keller had played his final down in an ASU uniform.

It did not start off well for Carpenter, whose first pass was intercepted by linebacker Mike Silva and returned for a touchdown. But the then-redshirt freshman settled in, completing 19 of 25 passes for 304 yards and three scores.

“I’ll always remember that game, even though we lost,” Carpenter said this week. “The first pass I ever threw in a game that really mattered was intercepted for a touchdown. I’ll always remember that. … It was fun for me because it was the first time I got the chance to play and do really well.”

Koetter later said that, in hindsight, he should have started Carpenter at Stanford. Carpenter took over the first-string duties for good the next week and kept playing well, guiding ASU to four wins in five starts and leading the nation in passing efficiency.

The next year brought the quarterback camp duel — and, as Paul Harvey would say, you know the rest of the story, for Carpenter, Keller and Koetter. The epilogue that is playing out in Tempe, Lincoln, Neb., and Jacksonville had its genesis on that Saturday at the old Stanford Stadium.

“That’s definitely where it all started for me,” Carpenter said.

Oregon State linebacker Alan Darlin had no chance to cover Ryan Torain, and the result was a touchdown. (Darryl Webb/Tribune)

One last thought on the nifty 48-yard touchdown pass from Rudy Carpenter to Ryan Torain during Arizona State’s victory against Oregon State on Saturday night: The Sun Devils can give partial thanks to former coach Dirk Koetter.

If fans thought they had seen ASU run the play — where Torain lined up in the backfield and raced up the middle, looking like a wide receiver as he sprinted by a helpless linebacker before, it is because the Sun Devils have. Against Oregon State, as a matter of fact.

In a Sept. 24, 2005, game at Corvallis, ASU’s Rudy Burgess, then a running back, did the same thing to catch a 49-yard TD pass from Sam Keller. Coach Dennis Erickson and his staff noticed the play during film study last week and figured that, if the Beavers employed similar coverage, it would work again.

“It was something we picked up,” Erickson said. “People are running it against that coverage. We picked a perfect time to throw it, against the exact defense for that play. The safeties had to play the corner route, so there was no one to cover Torain, other than the linebacker.”

On a personal note, I did not cover the ‘05 ASU-Oregon State game for the Tribune. I watched the contest on television, hours after my wife and I came home from the hospital with the reason that I did not make the trip. He turned 2 years old on Sunday:

Ian Zeiger

In the days before he was to be inducted into ASU’s Athletic Hall of Fame, some wondered what attire the typically-very-casual Jake Plummer would wear to the induction ceremony. On Friday night, the legendary quarterback was dressed to the nines in a neatly-pressed blue jacket and slacks and a nice collared shirt.

The only laid-back element of Plummer’s wardrobe was on his feet, where he wore flip-flops. And no long-time Sun Devil football observer had to ask why — the flip-flops were a tribute to Pat Tillman, who loved to wear them.

Quarterback Rudy Carpenter had some downs on Saturday, but many more ups. (Darryl Webb/Tribune)

Arizona State’s victory against Oregon State on Saturday has landed the Sun Devils in the top 25 of both major polls. ASU is 23rd in the Associated Press poll and 25th (tied with Purdue) in the USA Today (coaches) rankings released on Sunday.

It is ASU’s first AP ranking since Sept. 17. 2006, when it was 3-0 and No. 22 after a 21-3 win at Colorado. The Sun Devils were drilled at California the following week and fell out of the poll.

Also, Dennis Erickson is the first ASU coach to have his team in the AP rankings in his first year in Tempe, according to research by the school’s athletic media relations office.

Dirk Koetter’s first ranking was on Oct. 20, 2002, his second season, after a win at sixth-ranked Oregon vaulted the Sun Devils to No. 23.

Bruce Snyder had ASU in the rankings for one week in 1993, his second year. The Sun Devils reached No. 23 with a 1-0 record, then exited the rankings after a loss at Louisville.

Larry Marmie’s team was not ranked until Sept. 23, 1991, his third year, after a 32-25 win at Southern California lifted ASU to a 2-0 record and No. 24 status. The Sun Devils lost to Nebraska, 18-9, the next week.

John Cooper did not reach the rankings until his second year, on Sept. 16, 1986, when ASU entered the poll at No. 18 and never left en route to a Rose Bowl victory and a final No. 4 ranking. Darryl Rogers’ team did not get ranked until his second year, when it was 20th in the preseason. Frank Kush’s team was not represented in the poll until 1960, his third season, when it reached No. 18 on Oct. 10.

“We were never ranked under (Dan) Devine, from what I can tell,” media relations director Doug Tammaro wrote in an e-mail to reporters. “But (that was) when the AP poll hardly had any western teams.”

Clink!

That sound was of quarterback Rudy Carpenter making a deposit in the swear jar after his postgame interview with Craig Grialou of KTAR radio.

Of course, the audio clip has found its way to YouTube. Enjoy; just make sure the kids are — as Vince Vaughn’s character in the movie “Old School” would say — wearing their earmuffs.

My bad: Carpenter made so many plays after scrambling around on Saturday that it was tough to keep track of them all, especially with a deadline looming minutes after the game ended.

Carpenter did not fumble on his 64-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jones early in the second quarter, as I mistakenly wrote in my story in Sunday’s Tribune. That happened on a 33-yard pass to tight end Tyrice Thompson late in the period, a drive that culminated in a field goal.

ASU’s planned indoor practice facility is similar to one at the University of Texas.

Arizona State University athletics has four items on the agenda at the Arizona Board of Regents meeting on Sept. 27-28 in Flagstaff.

At the forefront is ASU’s request for approval of construction of an indoor football practice facility, one of seven new university projects scheduled for the first year of a capital improvement plan for fiscal years 2009-11.

Plans call for the $6-million, 96,750-square foot facility, expected to be funded primarily through donor gifts, to have an inflatable “bubble” roof similar to a structure used by the University of Texas. It would be located adjacent to the Sun Devils’ current practice fields at Rural Road and Sixth Street, stand 65 feet tall and house a 120-yard artificial turf field.

The school has submitted for approval contract extensions for three coaches: Herb Sendek of men’s basketball, Greg Kraft of men’s and women’s track and Louie Quintana of men’s and women’s cross country.

ASU wants to award Sendek another contract year, extending his deal through April 15, 2012, at his $900,000 annual salary.

Kraft figured to be in line for a nice raise after leading the women’s team to indoor and outdoor national championships this past season. He would receive a salary bump of more than $32,000 annually — to $165,000 — on a deal running through June 30, 2012.

After working on a year-to-year basis, Quintana would receive a multi-year deal at $60,000 per (up more than $13,000) through June 30, 2012.

The former logo at Culpeper (Va.) High.

Fernando Morales travels the country, helping provide Arizona State University with protection of the school’s most valuable commodities — its name and image. And he can do that important job without leaving his desk.

As coordinator of ASU’s trademark and licensing office, Morales is always on the lookout for unauthorized use of the Sun Devils name and Sparky logo, which are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

“I do a lot of searches for ‘Sun Devils’ on the Internet,” Morales said.

The school’s reputation can ride on Morales’ searches; the ASU and Sun Devil names and Sparky logo have been featured on pornographic Web sites, he said. But much of his hunting centers on high schools and small colleges around the nation.

ASU has a legal interest in cracking down on such unauthorized use of its properties. Should a high school distribute a product with a Sun Devils name or Sparky logo on it that has, say, lead paint, sharp edges or is flammable, the Tempe university could be subject to a lawsuit.

“When we find them, we have to do something about them,” Morales said. “If we don’t, we lose the ability to protect our name. If those schools or whoever made a product that hurts someone, the courts have said that if your name or logo is on it, you can be held responsible.”

A recent discovery was at Culpeper (Va.) High, which had been utilizing Sparky as its Blue Devil mascot. The school agreed to make a logo change; it is uncertain if the nickname as drawn the interest of Duke University.

Morales said that he has dealt with unauthorized name/logo use at about 20 schools. This week, he found two more with a Sun Devils nickname; Salem High in Virginia Beach, Va., and Sandia Prep High in Albuquerque, N.M., will be hearing from him soon.

Morales said that ASU’s protection of its properties is firm, but fair.

“You don’t want to turn people off to ASU by being too heavy-handed,” Morales said. “If a school has invested a lot of money in a basketball floor with Sparky on it, we’re not going to make them rip it up right away. We will be flexible. You can look like an ogre if you do it wrong.”

A few years ago, Tucson Sunnyside High (Blue Devils) had a Sparky logo on its football helmets — which ASU officials conveniently discovered when the team played in a state championship game at Sun Devil Stadium. ASU offered to pay for the the design of a new logo for Sunnyside.

ASU afforded a small college in Mississippi four years to phase out its logo.

If a school wants to keep the Sun Devil name or Sparky logo, ASU can work out a licensing agreement. That would require assurances from the school that any name/logo products it distributes will be safe.

“We could license the logo for, say, a penny a year,” Morales said. “People forget that trademarks were not created to make money off of. They were created to protect consumers. If we have assurances that will happen, that’s acceptable to us.”

Forget about bidding on that game-worn 1975 replica helmet or jersey during the silent auction at the 2008 ASU football awards banquet.

The team wearing vintage uniforms next season — the 50th anniversary of the opening of Sun Devil Stadium — is a nice idea but will likely not happen. A school spokesman said on Tuesday that the equipment operations office estimates that such an endeavor would cost a minimum of $40,000, money that the football program feels it can spend better elsewhere.

One of the neatest new traditions in sports is, appropriately, one that pays homage to tradition: teams wearing vintage uniforms on occasion. In college football, Iowa State was the latest school to go retro, as the Cyclones donned replica 1977 gear for an upset victory against Iowa on Saturday.

The Iowa State look is on the left. Georgia Tech, Florida and Wisconsin are among the programs that have worn classic uniforms in recent seasons:

Memo to Arizona State officials: How cool would a throwback Saturday in Tempe be?

Next year is the 50th anniversary of the opening of Sun Devil Stadium, and athletic director Lisa Love said that it will be celebrated during the football season. Oct. 4, 2008, is a Saturday and 50 years to the day of the first ASU game at the stadium, but the Sun Devils are scheduled to play at California that day.

On the 2008 home schedule, there is no opponent that would be perfect for a vintage uniform day; games against rivals Arizona and Southern California are on the road, and old Western Athletic Conference foe Brigham Young does not visit until ‘09. As a result, the most ideal contest for the classic duds is the one that will likely have the highest national profile: Sept. 20 against Georgia.

What uniforms to wear? While the number-on-the-side helmets evoke memories of the era of Danny White, Woody Green and Junior Ah You, and the 1987 Rose Bowl winners sported a nifty look, there is only one choice. Throwback Saturday at ASU should celebrate the team considered the greatest in school history, the one the introduced the Sun Devils to the casual American college football fan: the 1975 squad that went 12-0.

Say hello (again) to the sunburst logo helmet and uniform modeled by John Jefferson, who in ‘75 made the greatest play ever by a Sun Devil:

Rudy Carpenter, Keegan Herring, Dexter Davis, Troy Nolan and the rest of the gang would look sharp in these. All that would be needed to make the day perfect is Frank Kush standing on the sideline and summoning son Danny to kick the winning field goal.

Kyle Dodd

Kyle Dodd recently received a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Arizona State, which makes him the 11th Sun Devil hoopster to graduate since 2004.

The others can be found here.

The first formal basketball practices are but a month away. Meanwhile, coach Herb Sendek has been on the road recruiting. His latest stop is to watch Austin Dufault, a 6-foot-10 forward in North Dakota.

September doesn’t usually conjure up thoughts of college basketball at Arizona State, not with Dennis Erickson’s team off to a solid start, but I thought I’d paste from a recent Andy Katz story on ESPN Insider. I can’t post a link because you need to sign up for the Insider, but it’s free.

Katz begins by talking about how the Pac-10 could have eight teams in the NCAA tournament (sorry, Oregon State).

Here’s an excerpt:

The team that the majority of Pac-10 coaches are abuzz about as a sleeper in this league is Arizona State. USC coach Tim Floyd and I were sitting next to each other for a three-hour drive in Mexico from Mazatlan to Culiacan a week ago, and the one Pac-10 team he couldn’t say enough positive things about was ASU.

Here’s the deal with ASU: The Sun Devils were one of the toughest teams in the Pac-10 to score on last season but they couldn’t score themselves.

“We became a pain in the ass to play,” said second-year coach Herb Sendek. “We played hard, we became a very good defensive team. Our struggles were on the other end of the floor. We didn’t make enough shots to give ourselves any room for error. We had to pitch shutouts.”

Check the results: ASU lost by only four home against Cal, five to Oregon, five to Washington, one to Washington State, four at Oregon and four at Oregon State, and only three to Arizona. So, the 2-16 Pac-10 record (8-22 overall) didn’t truly show how close this team was to being much more respectable in the standings.

More from Katz:

The Sun Devils return solid role players in senior Antwi Atuahene (6.9 ppg), sophomore Jerren Shipp (7.6 ppg) and classmates and fellow guards Christian Polk (12 ppg) and Derek Glasser (6.3 ppg). But the reason for renewed optimism lies with a heralded newcomer class that includes guards James Harden, Jamelle McMillan, Ty Abbott and Duke transfer center Eric Boateng.

Sendek calls Harden a “really, skilled” scorer and McMillan, son of Blazers coach Nate McMillan, “the ultimate team person and a winner.” Sendek added that Abbott is a legit scorer and Boateng is a committed player who “transformed his body and added strength cut down on body fat.”

“We’ll have upwards of 24 games against high RPI games on our schedule,” Sendek said.”We could have eight teams from our league somewhere in the [preseason] top 25 with ourselves and Oregon State not considered in that mix,” Sendek said.

Somehow, Kyle Williams hung on to this pass. (Darryl Webb/Tribune)

Perhaps it is fitting that Kyle Williams’ touchdown catch against Colorado on Saturday occurred in the South end zone at Sun Devil Stadium, not far from the spot of the most famous reception in Arizona State University football history.

I will not unfairly crank up the hype machine and suggest that the Williams catch — as impressive as it was — is as spectacular an individual effort as John Jefferson’s diving parallel to the ground and plucking the ball out of the air against Arizona in 1975.

However, while the Jefferson catch left ASU fans wondering how he pulled the pass in, there is dual amazement at the Williams grab. First, how did the ASU sophomore manage to backhand the ball? And how in the world could Rudy Carpenter’s throw have eluded multiple Buffaloes defenders to reach its intended target?

Williams said not to ask him. He has replayed the catch in his mind and watched it on film, and he is still somewhat bewildered.

“I came out of my break, and I’m looking at five white shirts,” Williams said after practice on Tuesday. “I start looking at other receivers, wondering who is going to get the ball. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a flash and a brown little ball going right through the Colorado players. I threw my hands out there, and it stuck.”

ASU trailed 14-13 late in the first half when the Sun Devils, in a no-huddle offense, marched 86 yards in nine plays. The culmination was Carpenter’s 22-yard TD toss to Williams, which threaded the sea of Colorado hands and was the pendulum-shifting play of the game, taking the air out of the visiting team.

“I threw the ball on time with good anticipation, and that’s why the ball got there,” Carpenter said. “More important, Kyle ran a great route and made a great catch. I think there were three or four defenders around him with hands in the air. I don’t know how the ball didn’t get tipped. Kyle had great concentration and made a great catch and did a good job of keeping himself in bounds.”

While the catch thrilled ASU football followers, at least one reacted to it with an eye toward the spring. Did Williams show off the quick hands and diving reach of a second baseman or center fielder? Baseball coach Pat Murphy thought so.

“That was good hand-eye coordination,” Williams, who plans to play baseball in 2008, said, smiling. “I talked to Murphy (on Monday), and he said, ‘I can’t believe you caught that ball. I want to see what you can do on a baseball diamond.’ “