I promised myself I wasn’t going to write this. I did it last year, and I was sure I wasn’t going to resort to this again. But I just got too excited last week. Everything went my way, and I was left with nothing but optimism for the upcoming months.

I’m talking, of course, about ASU’s football season.

The Sun Devils entered the season not having much expected of them at all. Many media members were picking ASU to finish in the bottom of the Pac 12 south division. Predictions stated that ASU lost too much from their starting lineups to make anything happen this year, and that new head coach Todd Graham was all talk and no substance.

Well in one game, Graham has done a lot to silence some of those critics.

Arizona State’s game against NAU last week was nothing short of perfect. They had no turnovers, only 4 penalties the entire game (none on defense) and pitched a shutout in the first half on the way to a 63-6 win. Most people will attribute the score to the fact that it’s NAU and that ASU should beat teams like this. To someone who hasn’t been watching ASU these past few years, it seemed like they just dominated a game they should have dominated, but it was so much more.
Just two years ago, ASU played NAU in a season opener, expectations were not high for the Sun Devils that year, and they were only up by 7 points before scoring twice in the final quarter to make the score look a little respectable. However, it was a sign of things to come that year, as ASU couldn’t get over the hump, eventually losing many close games on route to a 6-6 record.

From what I see from my seats, I can say that if you take the talent on that team in 2010 (or 2011 for that matter), and give them the focus that this 2012 team has, some of those close games would have gone a bit differently. Under Dennis Erickson, it appeared that he ran a loose ship, with little to no discipline, and no one to hold a player accountable for his actions. This type of attitude is what allowed players like Vontaze Burfict to run amok and disrupt the team. (For the record, I completely backed and continuously apologized for Burfict until he showed up to the NFL combine slow and out of shape. If you can’t prepare yourself for a day that could literally make you millions of dollars or nothing, you don’t deserve my respect or a spot on an NFL roster.)

Graham is making every player accountable for his actions, as evidenced by the fact that Cameron Marshall, the team’s best running back and a senior, took his eyes off the ball for one moment, fumbled a toss, recovered it, and then was promptly benched by coach for fumbling. It was the hard lesson that needs to be taught, and it will pay dividends in the

future. Graham has also sent the team back to Camp Tontozona in Prescott for a bonding experience, something that Erickson ended during his tenure at ASU. It’s the little things that work in college football, and Graham is doing it.

I don’t want to take anything away from NAU. They are a fine program, and I have nothing against them. I’ll cheer for them and be happy for them as long as they aren’t playing ASU. But last week’s game wasn’t about them at all. It was about the possible reemergence of a program that has lacked discipline since the late 70’s when legendary coach Frank Kush roamed the sidelines. I’m really optimistic for this upcoming season, and I can’t say that I was as little as 7 days ago. There’s not a better feeling in sports than hope.