2007 Arizona State Sun Devils

[jared]

Here are the projected white starters for ASU:

OFFENSE
QB - Rudy Carpenter
LT - Brandon Rodd
C - Mike Pollak
RT - Zach Krula
TE - Brent Miller (Zach's brother)
WR - Chris McGaha

DEFENSE
DT - David Smith
DT - Michael Marquardt
OLB - Travis Goethel

*updated (lost one defender) Edited by: jared

 

[Colonel_Reb]

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter was unable to throw in practice Tuesday due to swelling in his sprained right thumb.

But coach Dennis Erickson said Carpenter is almost certain to play when the Sun Devils (No. 4 BCS, No. 6 AP) visit Oregon (No. 5 BCS, No. 4 AP) on Saturday.

Carpenter took snaps and handed off but didn't throw Tuesday, his first practice since he sprained the thumb handing off to tailback Keegan Herring in a 31-20 victory over California last weekend.

"He couldn't throw," Erickson said. "His thumb swelled up. It bothers him a little bit."

Erickson reacted with disbelief when asked if there was any chance Carpenter would sit out against the Ducks.

"He'll play," Erickson said. "I would be shocked if he didn't come out throwing by Thursday, but I'm not a doctor."

Carpenter didn't speak to reporters.

If Carpenter can't play, the Sun Devils would turn to sophomore Danny Sullivan, who has completed 11 of 14 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown in mop-up duty this season.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

 

[jared]

ASU's newspaper reported that Rudy Carpenter was throwing all over the field in practice last night. He should be good to go as the swelling continues to go down.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

That is great news jared!

 

[jared]

I didn't realize until a few days ago that WR Chris McGaha was actually fairly highly rated by Rivals.com. He ran anchor on the 4x100 relay team for his high school.
His stats don't tell the whole story this year. We sub a lot of WR's in and out so Rudy spreads the ball around. Rudy is not the best at scanning the field and finding the open man. Something that's hard to tell from TV (but easy if you've got season tix like me) is that McGaha is open a lot more often than Carpenter finds him. He has outstanding hands, good jumping ability, and at least decent speed (hard to tell as I haven't seen him rip off a big gain yet). Coach Erickson has repeatedly praised him as being the most consistent WR on the team. The good thing is he's only a RS Soph so we can look forward to watching him progress for another two years as a guaranteed starter.

 

[jared]

Well, I'm sure you all saw how we got shellacked yesterday by USC. Hopefully you at least had the chance to see Chris McGaha make some plays, including a 42 yarder with plenty of jukes.

 

[Stonewall]

Jared:


I don't know much about ASU. Will McGaha be the top returning receiver next year? Are they bringing in any highly regarded recruits at WR for next year?


Thanks.

 

[jaxvid]

Jared:


I don't know much about ASU.  Will McGaha be the top returning receiver next year?  Are they bringing in any highly regarded recruits at WR for next year?


Thanks.


 


 

They were really bringing out the cliche's with McGaha. He was a hard worker, smart and has good hands but wasn't a "playmaker". Then they went over a stat about how many receptions he had for first downs. Seems to me making first downs is "playmaking". But I sympathise with the announcers, they have a script to go by and it says "white receiver=non-athlete" numbers or reality be damned.

 

[jared]

Jared:


I don't know much about ASU.  Will McGaha be the top returning receiver next year?  Are they bringing in any highly regarded recruits at WR for next year?


Thanks.


 


 

Rivals lists two WR recruits right now on
ASU's recruiting page. McGaha was a pretty highly regarded prospect as well. He was starting by the end of last season and he was a lock for starter at the flanker receiver position before this season began. He's only a RS Soph and he's also our secondary kick returner and 2nd string punt returner. ASU always gets pretty good receiver recruits but I fully expect McGaha to hold his job. He's been praised by the head coach as the most consistent receiver on the team. I think Rudy Carpenter is finally figuring that point out too as he has been targeting McGaha a lot more in the last two weeks. Here's the highlights from the ASU - USC game. McGaha's big play comes about a minute in.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

jared, i had the chance to watch a large portion of the game against USC, and McGaha looked really good.

i also heard the announcers parrot all the tired old cliches about his ability. but after the 42-yard catch and run with lots of jukes, i also heard Doug Flutie admit that his brother would call him crazy for saying McGaha is a 'posession' receiver.

he went on to say that he obviously had speed.

give me a receiver who can get open and catch the ball over a no-separation, ball-dropping, ghetto superstar any day.

 

[jared]

The big rivalry game with U of A was a good one that showcased some excellent play by white athletes.
Chris McGaha made a couple of spectacular catches, including this one which made the ESPN highlights. Sadly he fell just inches shy of the endzone. He is our leading receiver with 52 catches for 751 yards but no touchdowns

. He really is a treat to watch, I just wish Rudy Carpenter would do a better job of scanning the field and finding him.

 

[jared]

On a side note, I think ASU will be back and looking even better next year. We're really only losing about 5 or 6 total starters to graduation.
The D-line will feature two white interior linemen again (a rarity in college football) and probably 2, maybe all 3 of our LB's will be white as well. Not too shabby, we just need a big DB back there in the mold of Archuleta or Catanese.